This episode was the final one to air before the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike, which put a hiatus on television production for three to four months.
Sheldon's request for a Virgin Cuba Libre made with Diet Coke is reminiscent of the famous scene in Five Easy Pieces (1970) in which Bobby Dupea (Jack Nicholson) wants a side order of wheat toast, but the waitress tells him they don't serve side orders of wheat toast. Bobby then orders a chicken salad sandwich on wheat toast, but asks the waitress to hold the mayonnaise, butter, lettuce, and the chicken. He then tells her, "...bring me the toast, give me a check for the chicken salad sandwich, and you haven't broken any rules."
With 9.32 millions viewers, The Grasshopper Experiment is the third most watched episode in the first season with a rating of 3.8 (adults 18-49)
This episode was originally titled The Slippery-Nipple Effect.
In this episode, Howard jokes that his parents have a happy marriage because they live in silence and drink often. However, later episodes changed his backstory to an overbearing, boisterous mom and a deadbeat dad who abandoned his family.