Production
"Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily" was the first episode to be made after Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein became show runners of The Simpsons. They wanted to start the season with an episode centering on the Simpson family. The story was pitched by writer George Meyer at a story retreat. Story retreats were held twice a year at a hotel room close to the studio lot, where all the writers gathered to pitch their ideas. Seventeen episodes were pitched at this particular story retreat. Out of them all, Weinstein considered this episode to be the best, and he thought the pitch by Meyer was the "best" he had ever heard. Oakley and Weinstein selected former full-time staff writer Jon Vitti to write the episode, wanting a "heavy hitter", since it was going to start the seventh production season. Vitti retained in his script most of what Meyer pitched at the retreat.
The episode was directed by Susie Dietter. There is a statue portraying The Simpsons writer John Swartzwelder outside the courthouse in the episode. Oakley said that this was a mistake because he and Weinstein thought that Springfield was located in Swartzwelder County, incorrectly going off a montage in the season three episode "Dog of Death". That montage depicts Springfield as being located in Springfield County; while Swartzwelder is the adjoining county. The female Child Protective Services agent, in appearance, is based on a teacher both Oakley and Weinstein had in high school that they "hated". Cast member Hank Azaria's voice for the character Cletus was off in this episode because, over the summer between seasons, Azaria and the producers had forgotten what Cletus sounds like.
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“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)
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—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)