Episode titles throughout the series were taken from Shakespeare quotations, and the show's own title 'Outrageous Fortune' is itself a Shakespearean phrase.

Creator Rachel Lang got the idea for the show after hearing a radio report on the low median income of women, which led her to wonder why more women didn't turn to crime, sparking the concept for the series.

After experiencing declining ratings on her previous series Mercy Peak, Rachel Lang decided her next show would deliberately feature abrasive, in-your-face characters, a philosophy she carried into creating Outrageous Fortune.

Antony Starr played both West twins, Jethro and Van, who have starkly different personalities: Jethro is a slick, amoral lawyer while Van is a good-natured stoner.

Antonia Prebble, who played Loretta West in the main series, also briefly portrayed Loretta's grandmother Rita West in flashback scenes during season 4, a role she later reprised as the lead in the prequel series Westside.

For the 2006 telemovie, the West family camps at a fictional location called Tutaekuri Bay; the Māori word 'tutaekuri' actually translates to 'dog shit'.

After the series concluded, the West family house set was put on display at Auckland Museum for six months.

In season 6, New Zealand TV presenter John Campbell made a small cameo appearance as a news reporter.

The show spawned two international remakes: 'Honest' for UK television in 2008 (ITV) and 'Scoundrels' for US television in 2010, neither of which was renewed beyond their first season; an earlier US adaptation attempt called 'Good Behavior', developed by Rob Thomas, was never picked up by any network.

In Australia, Network Ten pulled Outrageous Fortune's fifth season from its schedule midway through its run because New Zealand-made shows counted against the quota of Australian-made content networks were required to broadcast, according to star Robyn Malcolm.