"Bart of Darkness" was written by Dan McGrath and Jim Reardon is the director. The episode was suppose to be at the end of the 5th season. However, this and "Lisa's Rival" were being made during the 1994 Northridge earthquake. The earthquake hurt the building that animators and producers used to work on episodes. They could not go in the building for three months and had to work in a different building. Producers were given more time to work on the episode. Jim Reardon said the more time helped him put more details in the episode, for example, Bart getting stuck in a chair and him wearing underwear instead of a swimsuit.