'One on One' turns 25! Here's how Flex Alexander said he came up with the original core idea for the show

On September 3, 2001, viewers met athlete-turned-sportscaster Flex Washington on One on One. He was a single guy living his best bachelor life, free of full-time dad duties. That changed when his daughter, Breanna Barnes (Kyla Pratt), had to live with him and turned his world upside down for the better.

He instantly goes into protective father mode, making sure Breanna knows she should always choose education over boys. The actor who played Washington, Flex Alexander, has children, including a daughter, so he knew what it took to raise a child.

Eunetta T. Boone is credited with creating One on One, but Alexander revealed during an interview with The Art of Dialogue that he actually came up with the idea. "I had the idea years ago, and I told my agent about it. I don't know the process at that time; I'm not a writer. I just knew I had this idea, what I wanted, and that was it. A couple of people who wrote scripts were paid," he said.

At the time, the idea went nowhere. He returned to his original concept: a single young father raising his daughter, inspired by a friend in Harlem. Alexander and his agent went to a studio that, within a few days, said they wanted to do the show. However, he didn't know much about registering the script or protecting himself to get proper credit. He said he has a reboot script ready and will not make the same mistake twice.

He also said he wouldn't change anything because of the show's impact and that he loved everyone he worked with.