Alan Ball fought for the 3-minute closing credit roll as a tribute to the crew who had worked so hard on the show for 5 years.
Although her character Brenda gives birth at the beginning of the episode, Rachel Griffiths was still, in reality, 8 and a half months pregnant with her own child. To disguise this fact, the costume and prop department had to devise numerous ways to hide her belly. These included dressing Griffiths in outfits with big shawls or capes, or having her hold a large purse between her body and the camera. One of the concerns when filming Brenda giving birth to Willa was that Griffiths would actually go into labor for real. Griffiths gave birth to her second daughter 3 days later.
For a scene such as the one where Claire listens to Ted leaving messages, an assistant director would usually be employed to stand off-screen and read for the on-screen actor to react to. Chris Messina, who plays Ted, came on set and read so that his chemistry Lauren Ambrose would translate into the scene.
Shot in 13 days.
The title not only reflects Nate's line "Everybody's waiting" near the end of the show, but also the song from the pilot, "Waiting", performed by The Devlins.