Series creator Nancy Miller said it took Any Day Now years to find a network

"Too expensive," "the storyline needs to change," "this topic is too controversial" is what Any Day Now series creator Nancy Miller heard from networks every time she tried to find the series a home.

In a 1998 interview with The Associated Press, Miller said she got the idea for the series in 1990 and described it as "Wonder Years meets Mississippi Burning." Any Day Now is set in Birmingham, Alabama, and follows two lifelong friends who reconnect as adults. It shows how race issues affected their friendship from the 1960s to the 1990s (present day), and stars Annie Potts as Mary "M.E." Elizabeth and Lorraine Toussaint as Rene Jackson.

"Every development season I carried this script under my arm and begged them (networks) to make it," Miller said. Networks are always looking to hit the jackpot with a new show. So what was their issue with Any Day Now? According to the article, "They balked at the cost, the racial theme, and this: 'It was about girls. I think if it was about boys, it would have gotten made.'"

Miller never gave up, working for years to tell the story she, and millions of others, believed was important to hear about.

"I remembered the 'colored' water fountains, and even as a little girl I didn't think they were right. I always wanted to write something about that part of our history. I think there are so many stories to be told from the civil rights movement."

Lifetime gave Miller's idea a chance, and Any Day Now lasted for four seasons on air.