The character of detective Stuart Bailey originated with writer Roy Huggins in his 1946 novel The Double Take, which was later adapted into the 1948 film I Love Trouble.

Tab Hunter was the first choice to play the lead role but turned down the part.

The breakout character Kookie, played by Edd Byrnes, was not included in the original pilot film.

The show's offices were fictionally located next door to Dean Martin's real-life lounge, Dino's Lodge, on the actual Sunset Strip.

During a contract dispute in Season 2, Edd Byrnes left the show for 16 episodes starting in January 1960; his role was covered by beefing up the Roscoe and Suzanne characters until he returned in May.

Kookie's habit of combing his hair led Edd Byrnes to record the novelty single 'Kookie, Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb)' with Connie Stevens on chorus vocals, which became the first hit single for the newly established Warner Bros. Records.

The 1960 episode 'The Silent Caper', written by star Roger Smith, told its story entirely without dialogue.

In the 1961 episode 'Reserved for Mr. Bailey', Efrem Zimbalist Jr. is the only main actor seen on screen for the entire hour; the episode was excluded from syndication and did not resurface until it aired on MeTV in June 2017 after 56 years.

The office and bar/nightclub sets of 77 Sunset Strip and its spin-off Hawaiian Eye shared the same Warner Bros. soundstage, intertwined to save space with shared walls and hidden connecting doors between the sets.

In the sixth season episode 'The Target', several of the show's behind-the-scenes crew played key roles, including producer William Conrad, associate producer James Lydon, writer Tony Barrett and director Lawrence Dobkin, with executive producer Jack Webb appearing briefly as a bystander.

For its controversial sixth season in 1963, the entire cast except Efrem Zimbalist Jr. was dismissed, Jack Webb was brought in as executive producer, and the show was retooled into a darker, unrelated series that used the same title and lead character name; it was canceled halfway through the season in February 1964 due to poor viewer reception.

The show was parodied in an episode of Jay Ward's Fractured Flickers as a fictional series called '77 Gaza Strip'.