Ashley Tisdale sparked a corner of the internet in January by publishing a personal essay in The Cut titled "breaking up with the toxic moms group." The piece drew attention by portraying new mothers as a small high school clique, and speculation increased with a social media post from Hilary Duff's husband, who labeled Tisdale as "the most self-absorbed, emotionless person in the world." Mandy Moore and Meghan Trainor also joined the discussion.

Now, the former star of High School Musical and The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, Tisdale, is producing a half-hour dark comedy series titled Toxic Moms for Netflix. According to Hollywood Reporter, the writing and executive production of the series will be handled by Sabrina Jalees, a writer from Search Party and Benefits with Friends, while stand-up comedian and Beef star Ali Wong will also serve as an executive producer on the project.

Deadline noted that the series is "based on an original idea" and that "Tisdale was inspired by her experiences as a mother of two young children." Netflix and Tisdale, along with representatives for Jalees and Wong, did not respond to inquiries about whether the series was inspired by Tisdale's essay or if it had been developed earlier.

The series follows a new mother suffering from sleep deprivation as she joins a group of wealthy and ambitious mothers with a dark underbelly. This seems to mirror Tisdale's experience of feeling excluded among women who are "building brands, running their own companies, and launching creative projects." For Tisdale, this marks an interesting step in her career while she continues to voice a character in Disney's Phineas and Ferb and previously served as an executive producer on ABC Family's Young & Hungry sitcom.