In September 2018, Netflix and Entertainment One announced they had reached a deal to pick up Designated Survivor for a third season of 10 episodes, with the latter being solely responsible for the production of the series.

[5] On the night of the State of the Union, an explosion destroys the Capitol Building, killing the president and everyone in the line of succession except for Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Thomas Kirkman, who had been named the designated survivor.

[36] Created by David Guggenheim, the series is executive produced by Simon Kinberg, Sutherland, Suzan Bymel, Aditya Sood, and Nick Pepper.

Amy B. Harris was set to be the showrunner in February 2016, but after the series' official pick-up in May, it was announced she would be stepping down due to creative differences, and that Jon Harmon Feldman was in talks to replace her.

[41] Kal Penn, who served as the associate director of the White House Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs from 2009 to 2011, works as a consultant for the series in addition to his portraying Seth Wright.

[51] A month later, Ashley Zukerman joined the series in a recurring role as Peter MacLeish, an Afghan War veteran and popular third-term Congressman.

[18] In September 2016, Mykelti Williamson was cast as Admiral Chernow, a career military man and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

[19] On November 4, 2016, it was announced that Mariana Klaveno had been cast for the show as the Dark-Haired Woman, a clandestine operator in league with the people behind the Capitol attack.

After the third season renewal announcement, it was confirmed that Kiefer Sutherland, Adan Canto, Italia Ricci, Kal Penn and Maggie Q would return as series regulars.

[7] On October 18, 2018, it was reported that Anthony Edwards, Julie White and Elena Tovar were cast in the recurring roles of Mars Harper, Lorraine Zimmer and Isabel Pardo, respectively.

[58] Producers and some of the cast members promoted the series at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2016, showing a special preview screening with co-stars Maggie Q and Kal Penn in attendance.

The site's critical consensus reads, "Kiefer Sutherland skillfully delivers the drama in Designated Survivor, a fast-paced, quickly engrossing escapist political action fantasy.

[63] Terri Schwartz from IGN gave the first episode a rating of 8.0/10, saying, "Designated Survivor is a strong debut for a show that will fit well alongside Quantico and Scandal in ABC's government-set political drama lineup.

[66] Writing for TV Insider, Matt Roush compared Designated Survivor with other series as he said "fall's niftiest new drama has West Wing idealism, Homeland suspense and House of Cards political intrigue in its robust and compelling DNA.

In writer Alexander Zalben's overall review, he pointed out the keys to one of the strongest pilots he had seen so far: "Designated Survivor is the rare show that delivers on the hype, and surpasses it," and later stating "It's shocking that a show can balance all of these elements, but credit a magnetic cast that hits the ground running, a crack script that makes the first hour feel like 10 minutes and, of course, Sutherland as the anchor that keeps it all grounded."

"[69] On the other hand, after watching the first episode of the first season, The Guardian's Brian Moylan criticized the dialogue, writing in his review that "this drama needs dialogue that won't make the citizenry's eyeballs roll", adding that the show features "meaningless platitudes" of a "we're going to do this my way" attitude, and concluded by writing, "All we're left with is a really great concept without the backing of a real leader behind it."

The website's critical consensus reads, "Kiefer Sutherland remains commanding enough in Designated Survivor to get him re-elected, but this White House series' escalating earnestness may strike viewers as glaringly naive.