When Mr. Koepeknie is explaining to the detectives that he is a werewolf and must be locked up, he gives his date of birth as September 13, 1943. He claims he was born on the night of the full moon. This date did indeed have a full moon.
There was a 1976 U.S. outbreak of swine flu A/H1N1,a variation of the same strain that had killed millions in 1918, and is almost always included in today's annual flu shots. The 1976 outbreak began at Fort Dix, New Jersey, about 60 miles from Barney Miller's precinct.
When Mr. Fuller says that he and his wife are out of their traveler's check money because the thief also took the list of check numbers, Yemana says "Karl never mentions that." This is a reference to Karl Malden, who at the time was appearing in a long-running series of commercials for American Express Traveler's Checks.
Kenneth Tigar appears 8 times on the series as 5 different characters. Koepeknie, Fletcher, Elliot Porter, Philip Pollock and Jesus Christ.
September 13, 1943 was NOT a full moon as stated in this section. It was a Waxing Gibbous moon. The full moon was the following night, September 14, 1943.