The show's producers sought to distinguish it from previous American working-class shows by highlighting how Frank's alcoholism affects his family.[3] Paul Abbott, the show's creator, has said, "It's not My Name Is Earl or Roseanne. It's got a much graver level of poverty attached to it. It's not blue collar; it's no collar."[3] When John Wells, the showrunner, began pitching the show, he had to fight efforts to place the show in the South or in a trailer park.