Creator Suzanne Martin got the idea for the show after actress Estelle Getty died and clips of The Golden Girls were being replayed on the news, which made her think about women in their 50s and what such a show could mean for women today.

Martin devised a scenario in which women in that age group land somewhere in America and become 'hot again' there; she initially pitched the series to CBS, which rejected it, reportedly because it involved women older than the demographic they were targeting.

The concept behind the show was based on an original idea by Lynda Obst, who serves as an executive producer, and Martin was unaware of TV Land's existence at the time of the pickup.

Betty White was originally only meant to appear in the pilot episode as a guest role, but her performance was so well received that producers decided to make her a series regular for the whole run.

The character Elka was written as 88 years old at the start of the series, matching Betty White's real-life age in 2010.

Jon Lovitz's character Artie Firestone, a mentally unstable billionaire, is a reference to another character Lovitz played, Artie Ziff, on The Simpsons.

The season 2 premiere reunited Betty White with Mary Tyler Moore for the first time since The Mary Tyler Moore Show ended in 1977, with Moore guest starring as Elka's jail cellmate.

A season 4 episode reunited the surviving cast of The Mary Tyler Moore Show on screen for the first time in 36 years, featuring Mary Tyler Moore, Valerie Harper, Cloris Leachman, Betty White and Georgia Engel as members of a 1960s bowling team.

The series crossed over with the daytime soap opera All My Children in a two-part episode where Wendie Malick appeared in character as Victoria Chase on All My Children while Susan Lucci appeared as herself on Hot in Cleveland.

A season 2 episode featuring Cedric the Entertainer as a minister served as a backdoor pilot for the spin-off series The Soul Man, which premiered in 2012; Betty White later reprised her role as Elka on that spin-off.

The series premiere was TV Land's highest rated telecast in the cable network's 14-year history at the time, drawing a total of 4.75 million viewers.

Betty White received Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for her role as Elka Ostrovsky in consecutive years and won the award both times.