The series earned positive reviews. Robert Lloyd of The Los Angeles Times described it as a "professional sitcom from sitcom professionals" with efficient jokes and typical sitcom characters, and situations which are "willfully arranged". However, Lloyd praised the series for offering a "contextually novel picture of a teenage girl taking care of her baby sister with a persuasive nonchalance and practical ease that transcends the strenuous comedy that surrounds it". Neal Justin of the Star Tribune said the "slapstick heavy, laugh-track fueled sitcom" had no redeeming qualities other than "keeping your 11-year-old sedated for a half hour". Rob Owen of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said Good Luck Charlie would appeal to kids, but not adults. "Parents have seen the same sort of show done before and better in ABC's 1980s-era TGIF lineup", wrote Owen. Contrarily, Brian Lowry of Variety magazine said Good Luck Charlie was "a surprisingly refreshing throwback to ABC's "TGIF"-style sitcoms". He commented that while the series did not "push sitcom boundaries", it was "sprightly" and "pleasantly handled".
Good Luck Charlie was created by Phil Baker and Drew Vaupen, who have been writing together since 1993 on shows ranging from Suddenly Susan to Sonny with a Chance. The pair aspired to create a program that would appeal to entire families rather than simply kids. Inspired by the success of reruns of shows such as Full House and George Lopez with young audiences, Vaupen and Baker turned to family sitcoms. "We wanted to do a show about a family, to bring back a family sitcom and make it about a real family, not wizards, nobody's a pop star, nobody has a TV show", said Vaupen, referring to Wizards of Waverly Place, Hannah Montana, and Sonny with a Chance.
The series premiered to 4.7 million viewers, making it the highest-rated series premiere for a Disney Channel Original Series since The Suite Life on Deck in 2008, and the week's highest-rated cable program. Maclean's reported that overall, the first season "has been doing about as well as Disney’s more successful shows – The Suite Life and so on".
The Good Luck Charlie pilot, entitled "Study Date", was shot in February 2009, at Sunset Bronson Studios (where Hannah Montana was taped) and the series was picked up later that year. The show's production occurs at Sunset Bronson Studios in Los Angeles even though the show is set in Denver, Colorado. Starting with the 2nd season, the series is taped at Los Angeles Center Studios, where Shake It Up is also taped. The show operates on a weekly schedule. Scripts for a new episode are issued on Monday before a read-through, Wednesdays are rehearsal and network run-through day, final scripts are issued on Thursday, and the episode is shot in front of a live studio audience on Friday night. According to Mendler, occasionally "episodes are too big to handle with a live audience [and are] taped without an audience, but mostly they're live".
Worldwide the series airs on Disney Channel. In Canada it previewed on April 5, 2010 and premiered on May 14, 2010. In Australia and New Zealand it previewed on May 14, 2010 and premiered on July 23, 2010. In the United Kingdom and Ireland it previewed on the same date and premiered on June 12, 2010. It premiered in Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines on August 14, 2010.
An Indian adaptation of the show titled Best of Luck Nikki, premiered on Disney Channel India on April 3, 2011. Sheena Bajaj plays Dolly Singh, a character similar to that of Teddy Duncan, Ananya Kolvankar portrays Nikita "Nikki" Singh a character similar to that of Charlie and Gurdeep Kohli portrays Himani Singh, a character similar to that of Amy. The series ran successfully for 4 seasons, 104 episodes and 3 special episodes and ended on April 16, 2016.
The most viewed episode in the United Kingdom and Ireland was "Special Delivery" with 602,000 viewers when it aired on October 12, 2012.
Mia Talerico – Like most series featuring baby actors, producers of Good Luck Charlie had originally intended to have identical twins play Charlie Duncan, the title character and the Duncans' new baby. Hiring two babies would allow for longer work days without violating child labor laws as well as the ability to substitute one child for the other if one was unavailable. However, the show makers were unsuccessful in finding the proper set of twins and decided to cast Mia Talerico instead. Marsh says casting Talerico, who was ten months old at the time of her casting for the role, was their highest risk while creating the show: "It's like flying without a net. She may have a bad day and we can't shoot and it'll cost us tens of thousands of dollars. But so far, so good. She's the most obedient actor I've ever worked with".
On January 28, 2014, Disney Channel announced that a television episode of Good Luck Charlie, "Down a Tree", would feature a same-sex couple. This decision caused a protest from the conservative group "One Million Moms" asking Disney Channel not to air the episode. One of Disney's Spokespersons told TV Guide the episode was "developed to be relevant to kids and families around the world and to reflect themes of diversity and inclusiveness." Disney aired the episode as planned.
Veteran writer-producer Dan Staley (Cheers) later joined the show as executive Producer. Disney’s Gary Marsh said "because most network television abandoned the traditional sitcom, Disney has been able to snatch up a lot of experienced talent for behind the camera, including executive Producer Dan Staley..."
