Production
"Blood Feud" was written by George Meyer and directed by David Silverman. Executive producer Sam Simon and writers Al Jean and Mike Reiss came up with the idea for the episode while they were trying to fill up the rest of the production run. A co-worker had recently needed a blood transfusion, and the writers thought it would be funny if Mr. Burns had one. Although Meyer was credited with writing the episode, Jean and Reiss re-wrote and polished the script. Harry Shearer, the voice of Mr. Burns and Smithers, could not attend the table read for the episode, so his parts were read by Dan Castellaneta (the voice of Homer). "Blood Feud" includes a first act that is much longer than a normal episode of the show. The producers were going to end the act with Mr. Burns feeling better, but decided to extend it to show how the Simpson family was affected. "Blood Feud" ends with the family discussing what the message of the episode was, but decide that there was no message. The writers were having trouble conceiving an ending, but decided that since there was no point, they would discuss it. In his book Planet Simpson, Chris Turner writes that the ending is meant to openly mock the "notion of the tidy sitcom-style moral" and the "formulaic plots of sitcoms."
David Silverman describes the episode as "one of my very favorite episodes that I had the pleasure to direct." He notes that several "standard Homerisms" appear for the first time in the episode, such as Homer's conversations with his brain and his high-pitched "fairy voice". Silverman inserted a red herring into the episode in a scene where Mr. Burns says that he was rejuvenated. Silverman used a close-up of Burns when he says "blood of a young boy" in hopes of misleading viewers into thinking that the rest of episode would be about Burns seeking more of Bart's blood.
The episode includes the debut of the Olmec head Xtapolapocetl. After the episode, it was moved into the Simpsons' basement, where it has since reappeared as a prop in the background of several episodes, although never in a major role. The design was partially based on real Olmec heads, but changed to look more interesting and grotesque.
Read more about this topic: Blood Feud (The Simpsons)
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