Kiefer Sutherland was not originally interested in starring in another television series after his eight season run on 24: Twenty Four (2001) and the limited series 24: Live Another Day (2014). Sutherland changed his mind after reading the script for the pilot, being blown away at how good it was.
Kal Penn has worked as a White House staffer in real life. In 2009, writers killed off his character on Dr. House (2004) so Penn could take a job as Associate Director of the Obama administration's White House Office of Public Engagement (working there under his birth name, Kalpen Modi). He took a leave from that job in June 2010 to film Harold & Kumar - Alle Jahre wieder (2011) and returned to the White House in November 2010 after filming ended. He also worked for Obama's reelection campaign and spoke at the 2012 Democratic National Convention.
Kiefer Sutherland described his portrayal of Tom Kirkman to be the most natural to his own personality of any performance he has given.
ABC cancelled the series on 12 May 2018. Netflix announced on 5 September 2018 a third season as well as the first two seasons on their streaming service.
Three Housing of Urban Development Secretaries, like Kirkman, have served as the designated survivor: Samuel Pierce in 1984, Andrew Cuomo in 1999, and Shaun Donovan in 2010.