Based on the Australian live-action sitcom of the same name, creator Mitchell Hurwitz came up with the Sit Down, Shut Up idea in 2000. He wrote a script for a pilot episode, but "kept it in a drawer" until he pitched the show to different networks in 2008 when he needed money. Hurwitz said that "it was just a wacky show, and nobody wanted it", but eventually Fox picked it up as a primetime animation.