The American Ghosts is an adaptation of the original British BBC One series of the same name, developed for CBS starting in November 2019, with the pilot picked up in February 2020 co-produced by CBS Studios, BBC Studios and Lionsgate Television.

The original British series was created by Mathew Baynton, Simon Farnaby, Martha Howe-Douglas, Jim Howick, Laurence Rickard, and Ben Willbond, several of whom also make guest appearances in the American version, such as Mathew Baynton playing an actor in a reconstruction of Pete's death.

Filming for the third season began in Montreal on December 2, 2023, relocating production from its earlier filming location.

Production was temporarily halted in December 2021 due to a positive COVID-19 case on set during the first season.

The character Crash was played by two different actors for his head (Hudson Thames in season 1, then Alex Boniello from season 2 onward) while his body was played separately by Matt Keyes, since his head goes missing after Thorfinn accidentally knocks it off in the pilot and isn't recovered until a later episode.

The ghost Flower disappears from the plot for most of season 3 because actress Sheila Carrasco was on maternity leave, with the storyline explaining her absence as the character going missing before being rescued near the season's end.

The show's depiction of Alexander Hamilton, played by Nat Faxon, is historically inaccurate, portraying him as a middle-aged man in 1776 involved in drafting the Declaration of Independence, when the real Hamilton was only 19 or 21 at the time and had no involvement with the document.

An episode featuring guest star Justin Kirk, who co-starred on Weeds, was intentionally the 20th episode of the fourth season, giving it a 420-theme nod to marijuana culture.

The first season earned a 93% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 27 critics and a 69/100 'generally favorable' score on Metacritic, while the second and third seasons received 100% approval ratings on Rotten Tomatoes.