Al Rosen's first appearance in the Cheers bar, although unbilled and without dialogue.
The episode's title comes from "The Boys In The Band," the groundbreaking Off-Broadway play which was one of the first to deal with homosexuality in a serious manner. The play's title in turn comes from a line in the Judy Garland version of A Star Is Born.
This episode won a Media Award from GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation).
Carla says, "Say it ain't so, Tom." This is a reference to the legendary (but apocryphal) story of a little boy outside a Chicago courthouse saying to "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, "Say it ain't so, Joe," in the wake of the infamous "Black Sox" scandal.
This episode aired less than four months after Glenn Burke of the Los Angeles Dodgers became the first MLB player to come out as gay.