The Lucy writers got the idea for this episode's plot from a scenario that happened one time when Bob Carroll, Jr. was coming home from Europe. Carroll saw a man with a huge 20-pound wheel of foreign cheese. The customs officials chopped open the cheese, because they thought the man was trying to smuggle in jewels by using the cheese as a vessel.
Guest stars Mary Jane Croft (as Evelyn Bigsby) and Frank Nelson (as a customs officer) would return in the 6th season of the show as the Ricardos neighbors Betty and Ralph Ramsey (when the Ricardos move to Connecticut).
This is the last episode Jess Oppenheimer worked on. He left for NBC after this episode was filmed, due to unresolved power struggles between him and Desi. Film editor Dann Cahn eloquently explains the impact of Jess's absence in season 6 in the following words: "After [Jess left], the show changed. Jess had a spark that was missed. A lot of the flavor of the show came from Jess Oppenheimer." The loss of Jess Oppenheimer is what allowed season 6 episodes like "Lucy Meets Orson Welles" and "Little Ricky Gets Stage Fright" to be produced.
The Desilu prop man had the tricky task of getting all of the gooey cheese out of the rental instruments before returning them.
Frank Nelson made 11 appearances on I Love Lucy appearing as several different characters through the run of the series.