The show was originally announced in May 2001 under the title 'The Dad,' with the pilot shot in mid-2001, before the title was changed to 'According to Jim' in July 2001.

Series creators Tracy Newman and Jonathan Stark originally wrote the pilot so that Jim would apologize to his wife at the end, but Jim Belushi pushed back, questioning why the character always had to be shown as wrong, which helped set the show's trademark tone.

Jim Belushi has said that many episodes were based directly on real-life experiences from his own home as well as from the homes of the writers and other cast members like Larry Joe Campbell and Courtney Thorne-Smith.

The series was filmed at CBS Studio Center in Los Angeles.

Jim Belushi's real-life son Robert played an adult version of Kyle in several episodes where Jim imagined his son grown up.

Kimberly Williams-Paisley left the regular cast at the start of Season 8 to focus on motherhood and was omitted from the opening credits, only returning for a guest appearance in the series finale.

In the show, Jim's fictional garage band is portrayed by the real-life House of Blues band The Sacred Hearts, for which Jim Belushi often serves as lead singer.

None of the main characters had a surname revealed for most of the series' run; only Dana's character got a last name, becoming Dana Gibson after marrying Dr. Ryan Gibson in Season 4.

Co-star Larry Joe Campbell revealed in December 2008 that the show's sets had been destroyed and a series finale had already been recorded, signaling the show's cancellation before ABC officially confirmed it.

The pilot received a mixed critical response, with The New York Times' Caryn James calling it 'among the season's worst new shows' while Variety's Laura Fries said it worked better when focused on the family unit.