Production
"Deep Space Homer" was written by then-executive producer David Mirkin and is his only writing credit for The Simpsons. Mirkin had worked on the idea for the episode for a long time, basing the story on NASA's Teacher in Space Project scheme to send ordinary civilians into space in order to spark interest amongst the general public. There was some controversy amongst the show's writing staff during production. Some of the writers felt that having Homer go into space was too large an idea. Matt Groening felt that the idea was so big that it gave the writers "nowhere to go." Several silly gags were therefore toned down to make the episode feel more realistic, including an idea that everyone at NASA was as stupid as Homer. The writers focused more upon the relationship between Homer and his family and Homer's attempts to be a hero.
Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the Moon, and James Taylor both guest star as themselves in this episode. Some of the writers were concerned about Aldrin's line, "second comes right after first," feeling it was insulting to Aldrin. An alternative line was written: "first to take a soil sample," but Aldrin had no problem with saying the original line. A version of James Taylor's "Fire and Rain" was recorded specifically for the episode containing some altered lyrics. Taylor's original recording session was included as an extra on the DVD.
Although the episode was directed by Carlos Baeza, the potato chip sequence was directed by David Silverman. Some computer animation created using an Amiga was used in the sequence in order to make the potato chip rotation as smooth as possible.
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