This was Alan Arkin's final television project; he died from cardiac arrest on June 29, 2023 at the age of 89, about five years after the show's premiere.

Netflix announced it was finalizing a series order in August 2017 for a first season of ten episodes, written by Chuck Lorre, Al Higgins, and David Javerbaum, with Lorre also directing the first episode.

Jacqueline Bisset was originally announced in February 2019 to play Sandy's ex-wife for season two, but the role was later recast with Kathleen Turner.

Kathleen Turner had previously co-starred with Michael Douglas in the films Romancing the Stone (1984), The Jewel of the Nile (1985), and The War of the Roses (1989) before joining him in this series.

After Alan Arkin departed ahead of the third and final season, Kathleen Turner's character Dr. Roz Volander was promoted to a lead role alongside Michael Douglas.

The first season holds an 80% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes with an average score of 6.6/10, and a Metacritic score of 68 out of 100 based on 19 critics, indicating generally favorable reviews.

The series title and premise reference the Stanislavski system, a real-life method of actor training.