This "updated" remake involved little rewriting of the original 1977 film (The Goodbye Girl (1977)). The screenplay is word-for-word and scene-for-scene from the original script with the exception of a few curse words removed to make it appropriate for television and a line that referred to Richard Dreyfuss's height in the original that wouldn't make sense when said by Jeff Daniels.
One of three Neil Simon written films which actor-producer-director Richard Benjamin has worked on. Benjamin co-starred in The Sunshine Boys (1975) and directed The Goodbye Girl (2004) TV remake (also a producer) and the tele-movie Laughter on the 23rd Floor (2001).