Producer Kenneth Johnson initially turned down the offer to develop a Hulk TV show, but was later inspired while reading Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, combining that with elements of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and the concept of Greek tragic hubris to shape the series.

Johnson deliberately made the show as different as possible from the comic book, since he disliked comics; he changed Banner's profession from physicist to physician and made the Hulk mute, only growling and roaring instead of speaking.

The character's first name was changed from Bruce to David for TV; Stan Lee and Lou Ferrigno claimed CBS thought 'Bruce' sounded 'too gay-ish,' though Johnson said on a DVD commentary that he chose 'David' to honor his own son.

Kenneth Johnson wanted the Hulk to be red instead of green, arguing red is the color of rage and a more 'human' color, but Stan Lee refused to allow the change since green was too iconic to Marvel.

Arnold Schwarzenegger auditioned for the role of the Hulk but was rejected for not being tall enough.

Actor Richard Kiel was originally cast as the Hulk, but was replaced during filming after Kenneth Johnson's son pointed out that Kiel's physique didn't look like the Hulk's; a brief shot of Kiel in the role remains in the pilot. Kiel himself didn't mind losing the part since the contact lenses hurt his one good eye and the green makeup was hard to remove.

Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno, who played the two forms of the same character, deliberately avoided discussing their roles with each other or watching each other film, to keep their performances natural as if unaware of the other's actions.

The transformation from Banner into the Hulk was created by editing together five stages of makeup, from Bixby's normal appearance to green contact lenses, green makeup with prosthetics, green hair dye, and finally Lou Ferrigno in full Hulk makeup.

Ferrigno's full Hulk makeup took three hours to apply, and his hard green contact lenses had to be removed every 15 minutes because they were painful to wear; his fright wig was made of dyed yak hair.

Lou Ferrigno performed many of his own stunts, though bodybuilder Manny Perry served as his stunt double since few other performers could match his physique.

Bixby described the filming schedule as intensive and exhausting, noting the crew had already lost a third of its members to sickness or exhaustion during the fourth season due to constant location shooting with no permanent soundstage.

Composer Joe Harnell, a favorite of Kenneth Johnson from their work on The Bionic Woman, scored the series; its main theme 'The Lonely Man' was played in an upbeat arrangement over the opening credits and a melancholic solo piano version over the closing credits.

Hulk co-creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby both made cameo appearances in the franchise: Kirby in the season two episode 'No Escape' and Lee as a juror in the 1989 TV movie Trial of the Incredible Hulk.

The 2008 MCU film The Incredible Hulk homaged the TV series by depicting Bruce Banner's origin-story experiment the same way it was shown in the show's opening credits, and the Disney+ series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law later recreated the same opening sequence centered on Jennifer Walters.

Stan Lee created the character She-Hulk specifically to prevent CBS from creating its own female Hulk character and acquiring the rights to the concept.

Despite superheroes generally being less popular in Europe than in the United States, The Incredible Hulk became a hit there and was a solid ratings performer, usually winning its Friday night time slot in the US.