This TV series followed the success of the film The Outside Chance of Maximilian Glick (1988), based on the book by Morley Torgov.
This series started production more than two years after the film was produced, and the filming location was moved from Manitoba to British Columbia. As a result, not many of the film actors reprised their roles in the TV series. The few who did perform in both were Jan Rubes (Augustus Glick), Susan Douglas Rubes (Bryna Glick), Howard Jerome (Zelig Peikes), Nigel Bennett (Derek Blackthorn), and Gabriel Hall (Donnie Brzjinski).