In an interview, writer/director Jim Rash said the script's main inspiration was the opening scene, inspired by a similar conversation he had with his own stepfather when he was 14.
In order to save money, the filmmakers decided to not get trailers for the actors, and instead decided to rent a house for the duration of filming (approx. 6 weeks), where the actors could go between takes. The house turned into a popular hangout spot for the cast and crew, and they would often go to the house even during weekends or days off.
Sam Rockwell would often improvise and joke around on the loudspeaker during scenes. One time, forgetting that there were children around, he made an inappropriate joke about herpes, which upset the owner of the park. Rockwell had to go and apologize so that they could continue filming.
While location scouting, Jim Rash would take pictures of beach houses that he felt would be good to film in. During filming, he discovered that one of the houses he photographed belonged to Steve Carell's in laws.
The script was written in 2007 as "The Way Back", but the title was later changed to avoid confusion with the film The Way Back: Der lange Weg (2010). The title refers to the "way back seat," the 1970s colloquial expression for the third, often-hidden seat located in the cargo section of a station wagon.