While working on the pilot of Minoriteam for Cartoon Network and Adult Swim, creator Adam de la Peña began writing the script that would become Code Monkeys.

The show was originally titled 'Dave And Jerry VS The World' before being renamed Code Monkeys after the creators secured the rights to use Jonathan Coulton's song of the same name as the theme.

After making a seven-minute animation test, de la Peña shopped the show to networks and chose G4 because he felt they understood the premise best, leading to a full-length pilot and an initial order of 13 episodes.

The show is entirely computer-animated and produced in-house at G4's studios in Los Angeles, with the exception of a live-action 'game crash' scene in the episode 'Todd Loses His Mind'.

The original video game-styled underscore music was composed by Jon and Al Kaplan, while Los Angeles heavy metal group Tinhorn also prominently contributed music to the series.

To simulate an authentic 8-bit video game aesthetic, episodes open with a 'PLAYER 1 START!' screen and end with a 'Game Over' screen, complete with status bars, health meters, and 'Game Over/Continue?' prompts when Jerry dies.

Several months before the show aired, G4 ran an advertising campaign presenting GameaVision as a real game company, complete with fake commercials for games like 'Crosswalk' and 'Barfight' and a dedicated GameaVision website featuring unwinnable playable games such as '2 Card Monte' and an insulting version of 'Hangman'.

According to G4's president, the first season was a major success, drawing more than 20 million viewers, though critical reception was mixed, with reviewers from The New York Times, Wired, and Zap2it offering varying opinions on the show's humor and animation style.