Rumors have persisted that Bill Cosby bought the television rights to make sure this movie would never appear on television. It made its network television debut on CBS on April 24, 1990.
After this movie's release, Bill Cosby publicly criticized it and urged people to not waste their money on it, despite being the star, co-writer, and co-producer.
During his brief period as head of Columbia Pictures, David Puttnam tried to cancel production on this movie.
This movie won three Golden Raspberry Awards: Worst Picture, Worst Actor, and Worst Screenplay. Bill Cosby requested special Razzie awards made of 24-carat gold and Italian marble, which cost the FOX Network twenty-seven thousand dollars. They were presented to him on The Late Show (1986) a few weeks after the Razzie ceremony. Cosby brought the awards with him to show off, when he was a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962), happily declaring, "I swept the awards!"
This movie contains numerous product placements for Coca-Cola. Bill Cosby was a spokesman for Coca-Cola, and this movie was produced by Columbia Pictures, then a division of Coca-Cola.