The show stars Richard Lewis as Marty Gold and Jamie Lee Curtis as Hannah Miller, coworkers at a Chicago magazine with a mutual romantic attraction who struggle to keep their relationship strictly professional.

The series, from creator Wendy Kout and developers Dennis Koenig and Peter Noah, was produced by Adam Productions (a company run by John Ritter, who recurred for five episodes) in association with 20th Century Fox Television.

Chicago native Hannah Miller (Jamie Lee Curtis) returns to her hometown after quitting her teaching post out of state and breaking up with her long-term boyfriend.

On the flight back, she meets Marty Gold (Richard Lewis), an eccentric magazine columnist for Chicago Monthly, a trendy publication with hard-hitting exposés and pop-culture pieces.

Marty's fear of flying and frazzled nerves are calmed by Hannah, who then shares her story of change with him and her plans to launch a writing career upon returning home.

Once the two arrive home, Marty introduces Hannah to his boss, blustery magazine editor Norman Keil (Louis Giambalvo), who sees a lot in her and gives her a trial assignment—a 2,000-word article on "the tortilla wars: does Chicago prefer corn or flour?"

Jules Kramer (Richard Frank), affectionately known as "Julie", is Norman's fawning assistant, and Pamela Peyton-Finch (Sandy Faison) a glamorous, cutthroat writer.

Each episode now began with a prologue scene in which Marty and Hannah had lunch at a diner while having a conversation which poked fun at life's trivial conventions (i.e., clothing styles, dating habits, etc.).

Norman was replaced by a new editor, the ultra-hip Catherine Hughes (played by performance artist and former Bongwater member Ann Magnuson), who instantly promoted Hannah to writer.

Pamela was also gone, and arriving in her place was English TV critic Brian Allquist (Joseph Maher), whose reviews became one of the more popular features of the Weekly, but not without its fair share of controversy.

Harold and Kelly (as played by actor/playwrights Billy Van Zandt and Jane Milmore, who also served as story consultants on the show at this time) were other new staff members.

Hannah and Marty were now fighting off a stronger sexual attraction, and their close calls with intimacy and courtship intensified, which resulted in hilarious and comedically challenging situations.

Hannah and Robin had an in-joke running back from their teenage years, in which they pictured themselves married by their thirties to dashing brothers named Schmenkman.

At one point in the season, Catherine hires Robin briefly to write a column featuring her "every woman" views on current events and social issues.

In the episode "The Days of Whine and.." (March 21, 1990), a woman shows up to threaten Brian after an unfavorable review of her husband's work caused him to die.

It escalates to the point where, out of rage and his attempt to avoid her watching his every move, Brian smashes all the TV sets on display at Marshall Field's department store, and is sent to jail.

The breakthrough development was compounded by the arrival of guest star John Ritter, who signed on for a three-episode story arc (which ABC aptly planned for February sweeps, and was heavily promoting in order to kickstart the series).

Rather than resort to drastic behavior, he nonchalantly challenges Patrick's views on many urban issues discussed in the magazine project, which bring out an arrogant, negative side of his personality.

The one person who was a little less keen on the idea was a new columnist at the office, Mike Urbanek (Bruce Weitz), who thought Marty and Hannah's tendency to avoid full-out romance was nothing but silly game playing.

However, in the eleventh hour, just a short while before the couple marched off to the hastily prepared ceremony, the doctor's office calls back to tell Hannah that the results of their in-house test are negative.

Not long after, Mike begins to show emotional distance in his marriage, when he puts the moves on Robin while his wife leaves town for a week.

ABC kept the show in the same Wednesday time slot, and ramped up promotions with the advertising tagline "The All-New Anything but Love" (corresponding with the current cast changes and the opening three-episode arc with John Ritter).

In the first season, a main vocal track was used for the opening credits, dominated by woodwinds with a synth underscore, and was performed by JD Souther.