Production
The episode was produced as part of the twelfth season of The Simpsons (2000–01) and was written by writing partners John Frink and Don Payne. "Bye Bye Nerdie" was the first episode of the show directed by Lauren MacMullan, who joined the staff of The Simpsons following the cancellation of the short-lived television series Mission Hill on which she worked as a supervising director and designer. American actress and stand-up comedian Kathy Griffin guest starred in the episode as the bully Francine. MacMullan designed this new character herself and tried to make her seem like a professional bully by having her carry her lunch box with her all the time like a briefcase.
"Bye Bye Nerdie" was initially titled "Lisa the Bully" because the original idea for the episode, which the writers first pitched, saw Lisa becoming so fed up with Francine's behavior that she attempted to punch Francine. However, she would miss and accidentally punch Principal Skinner instead, resulting in her being sent to juvenile hall where she would make illegal jeans. According to The Simpsons show runner Mike Scully, when the staff members worked on the episode they decided to include a lot of observations they had made about how it is like to be the new student in school. Scully has said that the episode shows how in real life the "poor new kid always has kind of two strikes against them just for being the new kid, and the other students are usually looking for anything that they perceive as different or weird about that kid."
The subplot of Homer entering the childproofing business was inspired by an instance when a salesman visited Payne and his pregnant wife to see if their home was safe for children. In an interview with Star-News, Payne commented: "You hire this person to come into your home to look for changes you can make. They make you feel like the most horrible person in the world and that your house is the temple of doom." "Bye Bye Nerdie" features a scene based specifically on this instance in which a saleswoman (voiced by cast member Tress MacNeille) selling childproofing items visits Homer and Marge and exaggerates the dangers in their home. NRBQ's song "Always Safety First" is played during a montage in the episode in which Homer is seen improving the safety of the infants of Springfield.
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