Irene Ng (Shelby) was a full-time student at Harvard during the filming of the show. She auditioned as a distraction from her studies and started the show before she had adequate time to request a leave of absence from college. As a result, she had to juggle studying and assignments with acting and memorizing her lines during the first season. By the time season two started, she was able to request a leave from school so she could focus on the show.
Irene Ng (Shelby Woo) was the second Asian actress to be cast as the lead character on an American TV series. The first was Margaret Cho in All-American Girl (1994 - 1995).
The cast said Pat Morita was the biggest practical joker on set.
Alan Goodman would interview Irene Ng and incorporate aspects of her life into the writing of her character. For instance, Irene lived with her grandmother for the first 5 years of her life while her parents pursued their careers/higher education and Shelby lived with her grandfather.
The show was filmed on-location in Florida at Nickelodeon Studios. Filming for later seasons had to be moved to Montreal due to a union issue. This is why Shelby and her grandfather moved to Boston.