The title is from the saying "Beware of Greeks bearing gifts". In "The Aeneid", the epic poem by Virgil, the Greeks have sailed out of sight of Troy and left the wooden "Trojan horse" outside the gates. The Trojans are unaware that soldiers concealed inside it, and they discuss what to do with it. Laocoon, a priest, warns the Trojans, saying in the poem "timeo Danaos et dona ferentes", which correctly translated means "I fear the Greeks, even bearing gifts." The saying is a slight modification of this.
Patti LuPone appears in this episode as Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) & Niles' (David Hyde Pierce) Aunt Zora. In episode 1.3, Dinner at Eight (1993), she posted as a caller to Frasier's radio show named Pam.
Screen debut of Joseph Will.
Although her character plays Frasier and Niles's aunt, Patti LuPone is less than six years older than Kelsey Grammer.