Tina Fey wrote the character of Dr. Drew Baird with Jon Hamm in mind. She even referred to the character as "Jon Hamm" early on but did not think they would be able to get him to guest star on the series. Executive producer Lorne Michaels approached Hamm about "30 Rock" while he was hosting Saturday Night Live (1975), and Hamm, who was on hiatus from filming Mad Men (2007), agreed immediately.
Jon Hamm originally auditioned to play Jack Donaghy, but the part went to Alec Baldwin, Tina Fey's ideal choice for the role.
Teresa Yenque, who portrays Elisa's grandmother Concepción, previously appeared on "30 Rock" in The C Word (2007) as a cleaning woman Liz accidentally hits with a cellphone she threw.
In her 2011 autobiography "Bossypants", Tina Fey names this one of four favorite scripts written by Robert Carlock, the others being Jack-Tor (2006), Sandwich Day (2008) and Apollo, Apollo (2009).