in the spring of 2012, oops doughnuts productions had shopped the script of a project called "bits and pieces". it was about a blended family similar to shows like "the brady bunch" and "step by step". the show followed jodie sullenger (kali rocha), mother of alanna (dove cameron) and sticky (joey bragg). sullenger married pete fickman (benjamin king), father of crystal (cozi zuehlsdorff) and brody (tenzing norgay trainor). all six have to get used to life under the same roof. eventually, disney chose to change the concept of "bits and pieces" into one about a pair of twins. now titled "liv and maddie", the show began production in april 2013.