Matt LeBlanc plays a satirical, fictionalized version of himself, marking his first regular return to television since starring in NBC's Joey.

Beverly Lincoln was originally cast with Claire Forlani, but she left the production in April 2010 while the series was still in pre-production, and was replaced by Tamsin Greig.

Thomas Haden Church was originally set to play network president Merc Lapidus, but he dropped out due to scheduling conflicts and was replaced by John Pankow.

Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig, who play married co-creators Sean and Beverly Lincoln, had previously co-starred together in the British sitcom Green Wing (2004–2007).

Although the show is set in Los Angeles, the first season was mainly filmed in the UK, with the 103-room mansion Updown Court standing in as the Lincolns' temporary home and Matt LeBlanc's Malibu mansion also being UK-based; only inserts were shot on location in LA. Seasons 2 through 5 were then filmed primarily in Los Angeles.

Matt LeBlanc won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy for his performance in the series and received four Primetime Emmy Award nominations.

Critical reception was notably divided among American critics: while USA Today called it 'easily the best new sitcom of the season,' HitFix's Alan Sepinwall named it one of the worst TV moments of 2011.

The show's fifth and final season was confirmed in April 2016 to consist of seven episodes, and after the BBC ceased being a co-producer, it premiered exclusively on the streaming service Stan in Australia due to Stan's output agreement with Showtime.