Creator Victor Fresco said becoming a new parent inspired the show, sparking his interest in exploring the disconnect between a person's public and private morality, such as parents teaching kids ethics while working for giant corporations.

Fresco said he had worked for a few large companies but did not base the fictional Veridian Dynamics on any specific real corporation.

The show's title reflects the idea that a person is better off being like Ted, as he represents what the average person aspires to be; Fresco admitted he wasn't actually a fan of the title but never changed it.

Fresco cast Jonathan Slavin as Phil after having previously worked with him on the sitcom Andy Richter Controls the Universe, being a fan of his work.

Andrea Anders was cast as Linda after Fresco had enjoyed her performance on the sitcom The Class.

Portia de Rossi convinced Fresco she was born to play Veronica, telling him she had played a similarly strong, work-driven, insensitive and chilly character before and had to persuade him she could nail the role.

Jay Harrington was the very first actor Fresco met while casting the role of Ted Crisp, but Fresco chose to audition others before ultimately casting Harrington five weeks later.

The show's second season scored 84 out of 100 on Metacritic, indicating 'universal acclaim,' a notable jump from the first season's 68 score of 'generally favorable reviews.'

The pilot episode drew only 5.64 million viewers, making it ABC's lowest-rated comedy debut since 2005, and ratings continued to decline throughout its run.

ABC canceled the series on May 13, 2010, and the final two unaired episodes were pulled from the U.S. schedule when a planned June 17, 2010 broadcast was bumped by a Game 7 in the NBA Finals; they were later aired internationally instead.

In 2011, co-star Malcolm Barrett released a single called 'Revenge of the Nerds' under the stage name Verbal, with a music video reuniting the main cast; Barrett, Slavin and de Rossi reprised their characters, while Harrington and Anders appeared as a jock and cheerleader instead, and Fresco also made an appearance.

Barrett's song 'Revenge of the Nerds' was featured on the soundtrack of the series finale episode, 'Swag the Dog.'

In 2020, the cast held a virtual reunion table read of an episode along with a moderated discussion to raise money for Feeding America.