The program was taped at The Burbank Studios, California - home of KNBC, Los Angeles - where local weatherman and the show's host, Fritz Coleman, worked from 1984.
Initially intended to be a weekly late-night comedy program, the show featured an opening monologue by Coleman, and included a musical act, in addition to topical comedy sketches that were improvised by the cast and then scripted into skits by the writing team. Some of the cast members - Kathy Griffin, Lupe Ontiveros, Robert Firth - came from improv backgrounds or had prior experience creating and performing live sketch comedy.
Production began in the summer of 1988, in the midst of the longest Writers Guild of America strike - lasting 153 days. As a result, the production relied heavily on the cast member's improvisational skills during the rehearsal period prior to the airing of the show.