50 sets of twins appear in the movie.
David Byrne's band Talking Heads was unable to perform at Live Aid (1985) due to Byrne's commitment to this film.
The "Puzzling Evidence" segment of the film was inspired by the Church of the Sub-Genius, a parody religion to which David Byrne is an adherent. In "church" lore, Puzzling Evidence is the name of the assassin of the religion's fictional founder, J.R. "Bob" Dobbs.
Most of the vocal work done by the film's stars, including that of singer Roebuck 'Pops' Staples, was not released. Instead, Talking Heads recorded an album featuring their versions of the songs. Nearly every song from the movie was released on a soundtrack album, performed by the film actors and nearly all of the background music as well. It included John Goodman's version of People Like Us.