Emergency!

I could never understand why in this episode they chose to show Nurse Dixie McCall (Julie London) on a break in the hospital smoking a cigarette. I believe Julie London appeare  in every episode of Emergency, yet this was the only time she is shown smoking. In real life she was a very heavy smoker, allegedly smoking up to 3 packs a day. It was this smoking habit which led to her lung cancer death. Does anybody else have a theory as to why London was smoking in this episode and no others?

Was this "Special" ever shown on TV  south  of the Canadian border?   

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the basketball player stuck in his Mercedes -- unbilled??