The series was based largely on the real experiences of Chuck Adamson, a former Chicago police detective of 17 years, who co-created the show with Gustave Reininger and was executive produced by Michael Mann after the success of Miami Vice.

Co-creator Gustave Reininger, a former Wall Street investment banker, researched the show by gaining the trust of Detective William Hanhardt, meeting real organized crime figures, and even risked wearing a hidden body microphone and recorder during his research.

Mann and Reininger's inspiration for the show's original epic multi-year story arc (planned to span 1963 to 1980) came from their shared admiration for Rainer Werner Fassbinder's 15-plus-hour film Berlin Alexanderplatz, though budget constraints eventually limited the show to depicting only 1963-64.

Universal Pictures initially planned to finance Crime Story but backed out due to projected costs, since Miami Vice (also a Universal show) was already running above the average per-episode budget; New World Pictures agreed to finance it instead while Universal kept domestic syndication rights.

The series featured many actors early in their careers, including Julia Roberts in her first TV appearance as a rape victim, Kevin Spacey in his first major television role as a senator, and a young Christian Slater, Lili Taylor, Stanley Tucci, Michael Rooker, Ving Rhames, and Fred Savage in guest spots.

Musicians Deborah Harry and Paul Anka both appeared as characters in the episode 'Top of the World' but did not sing in character, though Anka's own 1959 recording 'Put Your Head On My Shoulder' was used as incidental music in the episode.

William Russ was featured in the opening credits for much of the first half of season 1 even though his MCU detective character was killed off in the pilot.

Production was intense, with two episodes made every three weeks and shooting days lasting over 12 hours, seven days a week; by season two each episode cost between $1.3 and $1.4 million due to location shooting and period-accurate props and costumes.

The show's theme song is 'Runaway' by Del Shannon, a 1961 hit that Shannon re-recorded with altered lyrics at Michael Mann's request for use in the series.

The two-hour pilot was first given a limited theatrical release to invited guests before airing on NBC, and the TV premiere drew over 30 million viewers with a 20.1 national Nielsen rating and 32 percent audience share.

Home video releases have faced music licensing issues over the years; the 1991 VHS release from Starmaker is the only official version featuring the original music, while later DVD releases replaced several songs due to licensing costs.