Miller initially developed the show's premise while in college, initially imagining the clones would be at a university rather than high school. The series was originally developed in 2000 under the title "Clone High School, USA!". The production was overseen by Touchstone Television. It was originally pitched to the Fox Broadcasting Company, who purchased the show immediately but ultimately decided not to order it to series. Miller deemed it the "easiest pitch ever," considering the show's use of famous figures. Following Fox's rejection, MTV purchased the program in May 2001. All the original character designs were much different from what they would become even though the characters kept the same physical attributes and appearance. Each episode was budgeted at approximately $750,000.