The show was created by author Jonathan Ames, who also plays a fictionalized version of himself as the main character, a struggling novelist who moonlights as an unlicensed private detective.

Zach Galifianakis's character Ray Hueston is loosely based on real-life comic book artist Dean Haspiel, a friend of Jonathan Ames, who also created the actual comic book artwork used for Ray in the show.

Creator Jonathan Ames himself appears on screen in a recurring role in season 2 as Irwin, a Jewish man whom Ray finds sleeping with his girlfriend Leah.

Although the story is loosely set in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, the series was actually filmed primarily on location in nearby Fort Greene, Brooklyn.

The show won the 2010 Primetime Emmy Award for Main Title Design, beating out nominees from The Pacific and Nurse Jackie.

When HBO cancelled the series on December 20, 2011, fans launched petitions on Facebook and other websites to save it, prompting Jonathan Ames to say, "It's very sweet. I don't want to discourage it, but I'm embarrassed."

After the cancellation, HBO announced in early 2013 that it would revive the show as a feature-length TV movie; Ames worked on the script for years, going through at least two drafts, but by 2018 said a movie was unlikely and considered instead rebooting the story as a book.