The series' creator and executive producer Rick Husky originally envisioned a multi-season chronology of Elvis's early career, including the first movie years and his time in the army. The premise was to show the "MTV generation" that Elvis was "not a guy in a white jumpsuit in Las Vegas".
Millie Perkins (Gladys Presley) previously co-starred with Elvis Presley in Wild in the Country (1961).
The brown-eyed Michael St. Gerard refused to use blue coloured contact lenses for his role as Elvis. His singing voice was contributed by renowned Elvis voice impersonator, Ronnie McDowell.
Elvis' original guitarist Scotty Moore did some consulting on the series. Later he said that while many events were reasonably accurate, some of the stories were completely made-up. For example, the band didn't chase the robbers from the gas station. Moore also disliked the way bassist Bill Black was portrayed in the series.