Regal Entertainment Group theatres did a cross promotion with NBC advertising this show. All of the promotion materials (i.e. posters, carpets, popcorn bags, etc.) had the show titled as "Fathom" well after the series was renamed "Surface".
The character of Richard Connelly is based partially on Roy Neary, the main character of Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) played by Richard Dreyfuss.