The series is based on a successful improvised 2005 BBC Radio 2 radio series of the same name, which starred the real-life comedy duo before the TV adaptation.

The show was created by Jemaine Clement, Bret McKenzie and James Bobin, with Bobin serving as the main writer and director.

Clement and McKenzie play fictionalized versions of themselves and their real-life musical comedy act of the same name.

The second season took longer to produce partly because the band had used most of their existing musical material in the first season, comparable to 'second album syndrome' according to McKenzie.

McKenzie and Clement returned to their hometown of Wellington to write the second season, and the writing process was further delayed by the 2007–2008 Writers Strike.

Unlike the first season, the second season was filmed and broadcast in high definition.

In December 2009, McKenzie and Clement announced the show would not return for a third season; McKenzie later explained in 2016 that they ended it because it had 'basically stopped being fun,' not for financial reasons.

The first-season premiere reached 100,000 views on Myspace, while the second season gathered 250,000 streams in its first 10 days on FunnyOrDie.com.

The show received 10 Emmy Award nominations across its run, including Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Jemaine Clement in 2009, plus nominations for songs like 'Carol Brown,' 'Most Beautiful Girl (In the Room)' and 'Inner City Pressure.'

In 2019, Flight of the Conchords was ranked 65th on The Guardian's list of the 100 best TV shows of the 21st century.

The cast features several notable cameo appearances, including Aziz Ansari as a racist fruit vendor, Taika Waititi, Kristen Wiig, Jim Gaffigan, Lucy Lawless, Patton Oswalt, and even Art Garfunkel playing himself.