Creators Tony Yacenda and Dan Perrault sought to create a satire of true crime documentaries such as Serial, Making a Murderer, and The Jinx. Yacenda and Perrault came up with the idea for the show in early 2016 and subsequently pitched it to Netflix, which agreed to distribute the show after being assured that the show would be "more than just a dick joke Sketch." Yacenda and Perrault, who had previously worked on short-form videos for outlets such as Funny or Die and CollegeHumor, were joined by showrunner Dan Lagana, who had most recently worked on the television series Deadbeat. Lagana took charge of hiring Writers for the show, choosing individuals with relatively little experience in writing for television.
Shortly after the release of the first season of American Vandal, Yacenda and Perrault discussed the possibility of a second season, with the same documentary crew creating a documentary on a different crime. On October 26, 2017, Netflix officially renewed the series for a second season.
On March 14, 2018, it was announced that Travis Tope and Melvin Gregg had been cast in the series' lead roles for season two. On April 4, 2018, it was announced that Adam Ray had joined the cast in a recurring capacity.
