In 1999, Fred Barron was considering producing a British sitcom the same way sitcoms were produced in the U.S. "My Family" was to feature a group of writers rather than the standard one or two, something that had been attempted in the UK with shows including "Goodnight Sweetheart" and "On the Buses", but was nevertheless atypical. "My Family" was consciously designed to have wide appeal, with characters viewers could build a relationship with in the same way as previous BBC sitcom "2point4 Children" which focuses around a similar family unit.