The first television pilot of the show was filmed in May 1990, featuring a group of local actors in the main roles, among them was future Backstreet Boys member Howie Dorough. After the success of the pilot, the show was picked up, but the roles were recast, according to series creator Bob Mittenthal "Those kids did a good job, the proof is that the show was picked up as a series , but research told Nickelodeon it needed better-defined characters".
In the third season, the sketch format was abandoned and the show became a regular sitcom, according to series creator Bob Mittenthal, he felt that audiences had trouble grasping the sketches, another reason was that him and Tim Hill had gotten bored of the sketch format, and had run out of freshman jokes for Mr. Lippman's Morning Announcements.
The show's original format in the first two seasons was a sketch comedy show with a certain theme integrated in each episode.
According to Jocelyn Steiner, several actresses, including Brittany Daniel had auditioned for the role of Alex before she got the role.
Adam Weissman had made his directorial debut on the show, Weissman would go on to direct other shows for Nickelodeon.