Production
This episode was the final episode that was run by Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein, as it was a carry over episode from season eight. The episode was written by Ned Goldreyer, and is one of the two episodes he has written on The Simpsons. Susie Dietter, one of the directors of the show, also left the show after this episode, but returned for one episode in season 18, "Yokel Chords".
As it was the final episode they ran, Oakley and Weinstein wanted to end on a good note, with Weinstein stating the episode, "was meant to embody the humor, depth, and emotions of The Simpsons." They also wished to have an episode they ran that was based on the background of every character they could do, and believed that this episode came out well. The name of the episode was the center of an argument that Oakley and Goldreyer had, as Oakley had originally wanted to have the episode named "Lisa the Simpson", although Goldreyer wanted to name it "Suddenly Stupid", a pun on a show that had been airing at the time called Suddenly Susan.
The Simpsons family members that showed up took some time to be made, but the staff enjoyed the results. All of the male Simpsons family members that showed up were voiced by Dan Castellaneta, the voice of Homer. He had asked for the recording tape to be run for about 20 minutes, so he could do many different voice variations that would fit the different men, but still be close to Homer's voice.
Read more about this topic: Lisa The Simpson
Famous quotes containing the word production:
“The growing of food and the growing of children are both vital to the family’s survival.... Who would dare make the judgment that holding your youngest baby on your lap is less important than weeding a few more yards in the maize field? Yet this is the judgment our society makes constantly. Production of autos, canned soup, advertising copy is important. Housework—cleaning, feeding, and caring—is unimportant.”
—Debbie Taylor (20th century)
“... if the production of any commodity necessitates the sacrifice of human life, society should do without that commodity, but it can not do without that life.”
—Emma Goldman (1869–1940)
“The society based on production is only productive, not creative.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)