Creator Gary Scott Thompson conceived the idea during a late-1980s Las Vegas vacation, envisioning a dead body in the desert with the Strip visible in the background, an image that eventually became the pilot's opening shot after staying in his head for 15 years.

The series was originally developed under the working title 'Casino Eye,' and Don Johnson was initially attached as an executive producer before dropping out of the project entirely.

Don Johnson was considered for the lead role of Ed Deline but turned it down, and James Caan was cast at the last minute, marking his first-ever starring role in a television series.

James Caan disliked the original concept of Ed Deline as a character confined mostly to a surveillance room, and had the role rewritten to be more 'elastic' and humorous so he could spend more time outside that set.

About 350 women auditioned for the role of Delinda Deline before it went to Molly Sims, and actress Marsha Thomason's role of Nessa was originally written as a 60-year-old man before being rewritten for her after her strong audition.

Nikki Cox's character Mary was originally written as an escort in the pilot episode, but her occupation was changed to events planner for the rest of the series, reportedly because the network felt it unseemly for the protagonist's love interest to be an escort.

The pilot episode cost $5 million to produce, making it the most expensive pilot in NBC history at the time, with filming taking place in the Las Vegas Valley including Mandalay Bay and the Fremont Street Experience.

Most of the series was actually filmed at Culver Studios in California on elaborate constructed sets, with the season-three Montecito set spanning 40,000 sq ft across three stories and six sound stages, built in eight weeks and going $2 million over budget.

A budget overrun in season one led to writing an episode where a blackout and murder trap all characters inside the Montecito to save money on guest stars; the episode drew criticism for being unrealistic until a real blackout occurred at the Bellagio a few months after it aired.

When Ed Deline travels to Morocco using a false passport in two episodes, the name on it, Alan Bourdillion Traherne, is a reference to the character James Caan played in the 1966 film El Dorado.

Tom Selleck's addition to the cast as A.J. Cooper reunited him with Magnum, P.I. co-stars Larry Manetti and Roger E. Mosley, who guest-starred as characters named Larry and Roger in season 5, marking their first reunion since Magnum, P.I. ended in 1988.

The show used different theme songs depending on the country: 'Let It Ride' by Charlie Clouser and Jon Ingoldsby aired in France, Italy, Spain, the UK and other countries, while 'A Little Less Conversation' by Elvis Presley was used in the US and Canada.

After the cancellation, upset fans mailed baby booties and dolls to NBC to protest the unresolved cliffhanger over Delinda Deline's unborn baby, and a planned two-hour finale film or a crossover cameo on Knight Rider never materialized due to that show's own cancellation.

A recurring cast member, Mitch Sassen, and the actor who played him, Mitch Longley, were both paraplegic and used a wheelchair in real life and on screen.