Written by Tony Phelan and Joan Rater, and directed by Donna Deitch, the episode aired on the American Broadcasting Company in the United States on January 21, 2010.

In the episode, Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl) returns to Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital, fearing that her estranged husband, Alex Karev (Justin Chambers), has moved on, and hoping to reconcile.

Additional storylines include Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) grappling with whether to report Chief of Surgery Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.) for his alcoholism, and Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez) dealing with a bout of chickenpox.

Kim Raver (Teddy Altman) guest-stars in the episode, alongside Jesse Williams (Jackson Avery) and Mitch Pileggi (Larry Jennings).

Upon its original broadcast, "I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked" was watched by 12.70 million viewers in the United States, ranking #2 in its time-slot, and earned a 4.7/12 Nielsen rating/share in the 18–49 demographic.

The episode opens with a voice-over narration from Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) about the paradox of healing through exposure, taking risks to mend what's broken, and hoping it leads to recovery rather than further harm.

In an attempt to reason with Meredith, Derek makes her an offer: if she lets him report Webber, he will use his influence to get Izzie reinstated at the hospital once he takes over as Chief.

Meanwhile, Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh) deals with the aftermath of telling Teddy Altman (Kim Raver) that she could have her boyfriend, Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd), if she continues to mentor her.

[3] Featured music included Ingrid Michaelson's "Everybody" and Amanda Blank's "Something Bigger, Something Better", and the episode was named after the song "I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked" by Norwegian rock musician Ida Maria.

[7] Rater explained that, while writing the scene where Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) and Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) argue, the goal was to show the characters’ maturity.

This high rating allowed it to outperform other typically strong contenders, including its spin-off Private Practice, Fox's Bones, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, The Mentalist, and NBC's juggernaut, The Office.

Online's Jennifer Godwin expressed concern, stating, "[I'm] a little afraid that Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl) is just stopping by to break Alex Karev (Justin Chambers) heart before vanishing again.

"[12] BuzzSugar highlighted Mark Sloan's (Eric Dane) inability to forgive Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh) as "an unexpected twist" and described the tension between Yang, Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd) and Teddy Altman (Kim Raver) as "awkward".

"[14] Pascua also called Altman's decision to tell Hunt about Yang's offer "stereotypical" and commended Chambers' character for refusing to take Izzie back.