MISTAKES/GOOFS

TRIVIA

• In the opening credits, Hugh Wilson (I) used the name Raoul Plager. He was under pressure by CBS to write a more broad comedy, and since he did not want to do work that he felt was beneath him, he used an alias. This episode turned out to be the highest rated during the show's run.
• While on break from production, Hugh Wilson (I) visited his father who was a law professor at Harvard. Some students from the law class came to visit Wilson and told them they had just seen "Fish Story" and thought it was the most hilarious TV episode ever produced. Even though Wilson "disowned" the episode, he couldn't resist getting a little recognition, so he told the students, "Well, do you want to know something? I wrote it!" One of the students asked, "Well, what's your name?" Wilson replied, "Hugh Wilson." The students got somewhat irate after his reply and one of them added, "You did NOT write it! We saw the credits. Raoul Plager wrote it!"
• Creator Hugh Wilson (I) wrote this episode in response to CBS's demands that he make the show more farcical and kid-friendly. It was the last episode of the initial 13-episode order, and Wilson was so embarrassed by the finished episode that he used a pseudonym for the writing credit.