The show was based on the single-panel comic strip of the same title by cartoonist Ted Key, which appeared in The Saturday Evening Post.

Hazel's life is sometimes complicated by George's snobby Bostonian sister Deirdre Thompson (Cathy Lewis) and his gruff client Harvey Griffin (Howard Smith).

Dotty neighbors Herbert and Harriet Johnson (Donald Foster and Norma Varden) often call upon Hazel's expertise in household matters, of which they seem ignorant.

Hazel and Harold (who did not depart with his parents so he wouldn't miss any school) moved in with George's never-before-mentioned younger brother, Steve (Ray Fulmer), a real estate agent, Steve's wife Barbara (Lynn Borden), and their daughter Susie (Julia Benjamin).

As for the drop in two of the main characters, CBS had said that Blake was not available after the move to the network, although DeFore stated that he was never informed of the change and found out about it while reading a newspaper.

This movie ranch facade used as the Baxters' house had previously been seen in several Three Stooges films, and was used as the home for the Lawrences on the sitcom Gidget.

NBC, which aired the series, was owned by RCA, the largest seller of color television sets, during the period when most viewers still had black-and-white TVs.

There were different theme songs as the series progressed, including later versions by Howard Greenfield, Helen Miller, and Jack Keller.

As a result, Ford vehicles, including the Mustang when it was introduced in 1964, were often prominently featured on the series, even as a part of the storyline, an example of product placement.

The original NBC series starred Don DeFore and Whitney Blake as George and Dorothy Baxter.

When CBS picked up the series for the 5th season, they replaced DeFore and Blake with Ray Fulmer and Lynn Borden who played the character George’s younger brother and sister-in-law.

ABC loosely copied the Hazel theme in the 1962–1963 series Our Man Higgins about an English butler of a suburban American family.

Buntrock remained in the cast as Harold Baxter; DeFore and Blake were dropped and replaced with Fulmer and Borden.

According to Playbill a New York City reading of Hazel, a musical based on Ted Key's cartoon character and the 1961–1966 TV sitcom, was scheduled for October 24–25, 2014, at the June Havoc Theatre, directed by Lucie Arnaz.