The episode was written by consulting producer Dan Greaney, marking his first writing credit for the series, and was directed by Charlie Grandy.
The series—presented as if it were a real documentary—depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania, branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company.
In the episode, Robert California (James Spader) brings his wife (Maura Tierney) into the office for a job, and tells Andy Bernard (Ed Helms) behind her back not to give her one.
Meanwhile, Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) opens a gym in the building and tries to get Darryl Philbin (Craig Robinson) to join it.
Tierney was brought in to play the role of California's wife because showrunner Paul Lieberstein stated that he was "a big fan of hers".
Jim then runs all over the building (at one point encountering Creed Bratton flying a toy helicopter on the roof), but Andy and Robert find him and take him back to the office.
In the episode's b-plot, Dwight Schrute opens a gym in the building, which intrigues Darryl Philbin, who has been looking to lose weight.
[5] The episode also marks the third appearance of Lindsey Broad who plays Cathy, Pam's replacement during her maternity leave.
[9] Darryl comments that Dwight's gym looks like "a scene out of Saw V."[10] Finally, Andy mentions that he "was watching a movie, and a bunch of apes took over San Francisco.
"[11] In its original American broadcast on December 2, 2011, "Mrs. California" was viewed by an estimated 5.74 million viewers and received a 2.9 rating share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49.
He also called the subplot a mixed bag for featuring Dwight as a caricature of his former self, but complimented the character development for Darryl which started in "Lotto".
[16] Chris Plante of New York called Robert California the worst part of The Office and said that he kept Andy from being more of a lead character for the series.
[17] TV Guide writer Bruce Fretts criticized the episode for under using guest star Maura Tierney.
[20] After viewing "Mrs. California," Washington Post writer Hank Stuever named The Office one of the ten best TV shows of 2011 and said that the episode proved the series could still deliver cringe humor without Carell.