Excerpt from Alan Rosenberg (Alvin) interview on The Guardian - 2001

As for the pilot I was thrilled. This year, we were told we were doing a pilot presentation. That's a new thing in the past several years, and for some reason it comes with a pejorative context. You don't
think you stand as good of a chance as a regular pilot. But when I saw this thing, I was astounded. It seemed to have a real style. It looked like they spent the money to make a real good show, and it seemed to work. The kid playing the lead in this, Simon Baker, is phenomenal.

I wasn't sure when we shot the pilot if it had the edge CBS is looking for now. But when I saw what the director did with it, I thought it had a real shot at success.

We deal with children in peril. Margie and I talk about it a lot -- whenever TV shows are having trouble with ratings, they put a "child-in-peril" episode on to boost the ratings. And although our
show deals with children, I don't think we do that. It's moving to see how this closed-off man relates to these kids, and how, little by little, his heart thaws. It's kind of painful to watch. But this kid was fantastic. The reason people got hooked and cried was because of Simon Baker, and the
way he fought giving into this kid emotionally.