 "A Dog and Pony Show" included guest appearances by actors Michael Constantine, Larry Gilliard, Jr., Lisa Gay Hamilton and Edie Falco. Tom Fontana cast Falco as Officer Thormann's wife Eva after watching her performance in Laws of Gravity. Fontana said of her, "She's an actress who's unadorned by any embroidery. She does everything with such simplicity and honesty, it's breathtaking." Falco was a struggling actor at the time, and said her salary from one Homicide episode paid for one month's worth of rent. Fontana cast Falco as a regular in his HBO series Oz based on her work in the Homicide episodes. Larry Gilliard, Jr. later starred in a leading role as drug dealer D'Angelo Barksdale in The Wire, another Baltimore police drama created by Homicide producer and writer David Simon. Lisa Gay Hamilton later starred in the legal drama The Practice, making her the second future Practice star to appear on Homicide, after Steve Harris in "Gone for Goode". Hamilton also later starred in the 2009 comedy-drama series Men of a Certain Age as the on-screen wife of a character played by Homicide co-star, Andre Braugher.
