Jack & Bobby

The show's title is a reference to real-life political brothers John and Robert Kennedy, and was meant to evoke the hopefulness of the Camelot era.

The idea for the series was conceived by novelist Brad Meltzer and Steve Cohen, who had served as deputy communications director in Hillary Clinton's office during her husband's presidency.

In 2002, Meltzer and Cohen pitched their idea to Thomas Schlamme, then an executive producer on The West Wing, who brought The WB on board and recruited Dawson's Creek alum Greg Berlanti along with his Everwood colleague Vanessa Taylor to write the pilot.

Writer Vanessa Taylor said her work on the pilot was influenced by her feelings about the Iraq War and the failed search for weapons of mass destruction, noting a rising cynicism about government honesty at the time.

Creator Greg Berlanti deliberately avoided using the words 'Democrat' and 'Republican' in the pilot to prevent the show from being criticized for partisan bias.

The WB ordered 13 episodes prior to mid-May 2004, making Jack & Bobby the first show picked up for the 2004 fall season, as part of the network's effort to attract older audiences beyond teenagers.

Tim Robbins voiced the future President McCallister in the series finale, while Norman Lear guest starred as the future Peter Benedict.

Despite an 88% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and strong critical acclaim, the show averaged only 2.7 million weekly viewers and was canceled by The WB in May 2005, partly because it aired opposite the popular Desperate Housewives before later competing against The West Wing, The Bachelor, and American Idol after a timeslot change.