Series creator Rand Ravich developed Life out of his own long-standing desire to work on a police procedural show, first creating the character of Charlie Crews before writing the pilot script.

Life was conceived as an episodic show in the vein of 24, providing emotional closure with new clues to the central mystery every few episodes, because Ravich and the writers disliked serialized shows that felt like 'wandering in the desert'.

Rand Ravich immediately considered Damian Lewis for the lead role of Charlie Crews as soon as the pilot script was finished, and Lewis chose to take the role after appreciating the character-driven nature of the story.

Melissa Sagemiller was originally cast as ADA Constance Griffiths but was replaced by Brooke Langton in July 2007.

Donal Logue was added to the cast in Season 2 as Captain Kevin Tidwell specifically to help lighten Damian Lewis's workload.

Because Sarah Shahi was visibly pregnant during the Season 2 finale, the show reduced her hours and wrote in a storyline where her character Dani Reese was on temporary FBI assignment, with Gabrielle Union brought in as a temporary partner for Crews.

Helen McCrory, who played security specialist Amanda Puryer, is Damian Lewis's real-life wife.

Production of the first season was cut short by the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, so only 11 of the planned 22 episodes were completed despite NBC ordering a full season.

After the writers' strike ended, half of the show's six-person writing staff, including Glen Mazzara (who later became a writer, executive producer and showrunner on The Walking Dead), left and did not return for Season 2, though creator Rand Ravich said this was not due to the strike or creative disagreements.

The show won a 2008 AFI Award for best television series and was nominated at the 7th Visual Effects Society Awards for Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program, though it lost to Fringe.