The show takes place in the fictional Hotel Baltimore in Baltimore, Maryland, and draws its title from the cheap establishment's neon marquee which has a burned-out letter "E".

The half-hour series premiered January 24, 1975,[1] and was produced by Norman Lear for ABC.

(All in the Family, also produced by Lear, ran a similar disclaimer when it debuted in 1971 on CBS, but ceased doing so with its second telecast.)

The network supported the show and gave it a full publicity campaign, but it failed to win an audience and was canceled after 13 episodes.

This series is notable as the first failure for Lear after a streak of mega-hit TV series, beginning with All in the Family (1971) and continuing with Sanford and Son (1972), Maude (1972), Good Times (1974), and The Jeffersons (1975), the last of which premiered six days before this show.