The show was created by Chuck Lorre, Eddie Gorodetsky, Al Higgins, and Gina Yashere, with Lorre writing the pilot after CBS gave the production an early pilot order in October 2018.

Billy Gardell's role marks his second lead in a CBS sitcom produced by Chuck Lorre, following Mike & Molly (2010-2016); Gardell also has a recurring role on Young Sheldon as Herschel Sparks.

Matt Jones, who plays Douglas Wheeler, is also an alum of another Chuck Lorre/CBS series, Mom.

In April 2023, it was announced that Billy Gardell and Folake Olowofoyeku would be the only series regulars for season 5, with the rest of the main cast downgraded to recurring status on five-episode contracts.

Although set in Detroit, the series was actually filmed at Warner Brothers Burbank Studios in Los Angeles, with several Detroit references woven into the setting, such as Woodward Memorial Hospital referencing the real Woodward Avenue and the 16 Dexter bus being a genuine Detroit Department of Transportation line.

Production was suspended in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving the last two intended episodes of season 1 unfilmed.

Cast and crew had planned to film season 3 episodes set in Lagos, Nigeria on location, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic these scenes were instead filmed in southern California.

During seasons 2 and 3, the series was filmed on a closed set without a studio audience because of COVID-19, and laugh tracks were added in post-production.

Co-creator Chuck Lorre chose Detroit as the setting partly because of the city's rapidly growing immigrant population, which rose by 12.7 percent between the 2010 and 2014 censuses even as the U.S.-born population declined by 5.3 percent.