The idea for Father Dangerous came from a prop in a play that Kaiser Johnson and Kevin O'Brien starred in. It was an envelope that the props department addressed simply to "Father Michael D". They pondered what the "D" stood for, and came up with the only logical solution: Father Dangerous.
Much of the development of the show took place on long car trips on rural Midwestern highways during Theater of the Word, Inc. tours.
The character of Father Dangerous is based on a combination of two real life priests, one from Minnesota, and one from Missouri.