When writing the episode, Gilligan lobbied for it to be a crossover with the NBC show ', which also takes place in Baltimore. He later recalled, "I realized that the whole episode was framed around Byers telling his story to a Baltimore homicide detective. So I figured 'what the heck? "Homicides a great show, so why not try to get Richard Belzer to play his Detective ] character?'" Despite some hesitancy from Fox's lawyers, NBC's executive producer Tom Fontana was eventually contacted, and he was more than willing to allow the use of Belzer. Gilligan later described Fontana as a "great guy" for assistance in the matter.