Homer Vs. Dignity - Production

Production

The episode was written by Rob LaZebnik and directed by Neil Affleck, the last episode that he directed. It is Rob's first full written script with the first script being "G-G-Ghost D-D-Dad" from "Treehouse of Horror XI" and is based on The Magic Christian. There was originally a sub-plot with Smithers' musical. Rob brought some friends and his wife to the table read and during the third act was repeatedly ended and went badly making Larry Doyle laugh hysterically. There was another prank where Mr. Burns put a lottery ticket into a grave and everybody went digging for the lottery ticket. The episode includes a character named Rusty the Clown, a reference to Rusty Nails, the inspiration for Krusty the Clown.

There was originally going to be a running gag where Lenny keeps getting hit with random objects. There were many endings to the original script. One ending was Homer throwing pig's blood into the crowd and 50 years later showing Homer telling a group of children that this was the reason why Thanksgiving was renamed Bloodsfest. There was also another ending with gravy, but then changed to fish guts. They were also going to be hit by blood and laugh. The full version of the song "Sold Separately" was later released on The Simpsons' soundtrack album, The Simpsons: Testify. "Homer vs. Dignity" was included on The Simpsons Christmas 2 DVD along with "Dude, Where's My Ranch?", "Skinner's Sense of Snow", and "'Tis the 15th Season".