Criswell originally purchased a month's worth of five-minute live slots on KLAC-TV to promote the medical products sold by his family. After two weeks, when it became clear that the slots were not improving sales, Criswell instead started running segments where he stood before the camera in a tuxedo and made outlandish predictions about the future. These proved a surprise hit with viewers, and KLAC commissioned him to turn it into a regular series.
Though most episodes were five or occasionally ten minutes long, KLAC commissioned some episodes that were up to 30 minutes long. They mostly featured elaborate skits depicting in great detail the future as predicted by Criswell. Edward D. Wood Jr. was called upon to direct many of these longer episodes due to his interest in science- fiction. As thanks, he was allowed to use the show's set and title card for Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957).