According to Larry Charles, Ye told him "I'm the black Larry David" and that he wanted his series to be similar to Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000).
West originally submitted an hour-long pilot but HBO demanded that it be cut to 30 minutes. Scenes with Cornel West, Nelson George, and Boyce Watkins were deleted.
West received improv training from Matt Besser but realized that he could not improvise as well as the rest of the cast. West gave away some of his scenes to the other actors which disappointed HBO.