Burt Reynolds said the most fun he ever had in his whole career was working on this show.
There really is a town called Evening Shade, Arkansas which is located in the north-central part of the state. During the show's run, gift shops in the real town would sell t-shirts and other trinkets with the show's logo on them.
"Harlan & Merleen", an unsold hour-long pilot for an "Evening Shade" spin-off aired as a two part special on 7/13 and 7/20/93. It starred Charles Durning and Ann Wedgeworth in their "Evening Shade" roles and was written by James Hampton and Burt Reynolds (who also directed).
Burt Reynolds suffered minor burns on his face while filming a scene in which a heated baby bottle explodes. The powder from a prop fire extinguisher used by Michael Jeter in the scene caught fire and singed Reynolds' eyebrows.
According to Rider Strong in an interview with Vanity Fair Magazine, he was scared of Burt Reynolds because Reynolds often lost his temper on-set.