Synopsis

Clarissa Darling is a teen girl dealing with typical pre-adolescent concerns such as school, boys, pimples, wearing her first training bra and an annoying little brother Ferguson.

He sought to create an offbeat, trendsetting character living a typical teenager's life, but who did not fit the stereotypical representations of teenage girls on television at the time.

Kriegman said, "I thought that if other people ... knew what was going on in a 13-year-old girl's mind, it would be cool.

They are really experimenting at that age." Clarissa Explains It All was the second sitcom to premiere on Nickelodeon in 1991, after Hey Dude ended its run.

It was one of seven new programs (three animated and four live-action) to premiere on Nickelodeon that year, as the network began producing more original programming.

It outlived the other live-action series introduced that year, Welcome Freshmen, Salute Your Shorts, and Fifteen, although Fifteen (an imported Canadian series) also lasted 65 episodes.

Production on the pilot episode took place in September 1990, with Season 1 production beginning in February 1991 and series production wrapping in December 1993.