The Cast Showoff: Very (extremely very) occasionally an episode has used, to perfect effect, Edward Woodward's magnificent singing voice by having McCall croon a few lines of a song at tender or melancholic moments.
Colbert Bump: Before the movie put the show back in the public consciousness, there was Rob Reiner's epic rant about getting a phone call right when it starts in The Wolf of Wall Street.
Defictionalization: Sometimes while on location on the streets of New York, Woodward would add money to parking meters that he noticed were about to expire, to save complete strangers a ticket — an act that some NYC officials called (mildly) illegal. He would often leave a small card marked "Compliments of The Equalizer." Once the show became a hit, Woodward was also approached for assistance by so many people he started carrying flyers with the phone numbers of social service organizations and legal clinics for them to contact.
Out of Order: Some networks aired the second episode "China Rain" first instead of the pilot episode "The Equalizer", presumably because it concentrates on a single case and has an action-packed climax, making it a better audience hook.
Real-Life Relative: Edward Woodward's second wife, Michele Dotrice, appeared as the central character in the season 2 episode, "Heartstrings". Her father, Roy Dotrice, also guest-starred on the show in season 4's "Trial By Ordeal". Edward Woodward's son, actor Tim Woodward, appeared as McCall's father in a flashback scene in "Prisoners of Conscience", also in season 4.
In The Wolf of Wall Street, Max Belfort is first seen swearing like a sailor when a phone call interrupts his plan to watch The Equalizer; the show's opening sequence is visible on his TV during this.
In Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange tells Peter that an episode of The Equalizer was shot in the undercroft of the Sanctum Sanctorum in the 80s.
Star-Making Role: Long-established in Britain, this series made Edward Woodward a well-known face on the other side of the Atlantic. When he died in 2009, many American news sites put The Equalizer in its obituary headline.
Martin Shaw turned down the lead role, not wanting to be typecast in tough-guy roles following The Professionals.
According to William Zabka (Scott McCall), there were talks of a Spin-Off with his character in the starring role, but it never materialized.
Universal requested a script for a crossover episode with Magnum, P.I. despite the objections of the crew due to the vastly different tones of the two shows. Ultimately, the crossover did not happen and the episode was re-written as "Beyond Control".
Actor-Inspired Element: The script originally had no back story about Robert, so Denzel Washington contributed much to the character's background and back story, including his OCD. In addition to his daily physical and fight training before filming, Washington met and interviewed several real-life OCD sufferers in order to gain insights on how to play that disorder correctly.
Beam Me Up, Scotty!: The movie opened up with the Epigraph, "The two most important days of your life are the day you're born and the day you find out why." However, while the movie attributes the quote to Mark Twain, the actual source of the quote is unknown.
Nicolas Winding Refn was the original director, but he left the project one month later when he could not agree to contractual terms with the producers on his deal.
