 Garner said that, despite the low ratings of the series, "Nichols" had better ratings than any show launched the following season on NBC and that the ratings for the series steadily improved which gave Garner, Warner and his producers hope that the show would be renewed.Garner discovered Stuart Margolin, his frequent co-star on this series and "The Rockford Files", while watching an episode of the anthology comedy series "Love American Style".He also promoted his agent Meta Rosenberg to the role of producer for the series.