The series was originally titled Geniuses when Fox gave it a pilot order commitment on January 23, 2019, before being renamed Outmatched when it was ordered to series on May 9, 2019.

The show was created by Lon Zimmet, who wrote the pilot and served as executive producer, with production involving Fox Entertainment and 20th Century Fox Television.

Maggie Lawson and Jason Biggs were cast in the pilot's leading roles in February 2019, followed by Tisha Campbell joining in March and Finesse Mitchell being added to the main cast in December, first appearing in the second episode.

Tony Danza was announced to guest star as the father of Jason Biggs' character on January 10, 2020.

Jason Biggs reunited with his American Pie co-stars Alyson Hannigan and Eddie Kaye Thomas, who guest starred together in an episode announced on February 6, 2020.

Although the show is set in Atlantic City, New Jersey, it was actually filmed at Radford Studio Center in Studio City, California.

Despite premiering as a mid-season replacement for winter 2019-2020, the series was canceled by Fox after just one season on May 19, 2020.

The show received poor critical reception, holding a 22% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 9 reviews and a weighted average score of 33 out of 100 on Metacritic, indicating generally unfavorable reviews.