Actress Meryl Streep was considered for the "She-Devil" character. But due to some conceptual similarity with Streep's then previous picture Un llanto en la oscuridad (1988), Streep decided to portray romance novelist Mary Fisher instead.
The movie was filmed in New York in the spring and summer 1989, which was during the first season break of Roseanne Barr's popular ABC television sitcom Roseanne (1988)
Before doing this movie, actress Meryl Streep was criticized and questioned as to whether she could do comedy.
Director Susan Seidelman reportedly didn't realise that a highly-regarded BBC adaptation had already been made of Fay Weldon's novel until she was well into production. (Edited 1 scene in between the car ride after the party when Ruth gets dropped off near her house when Bob drives Mary home)
Prior to this picture, considered Meryl Streep's first-ever full comedy feature film, the closest thing to full comedy movies that Streep had appeared in were the comedy-drama El difícil arte de amar (1986) and the romantic-comedy drama Manhattan (1979).