"The Man Who Came to Be Dinner" was written by Al Jean and David Mirkin. David Silverman is the director of the episode. The episode was first going to be the last episode of the 24th season. The episode "Dangers on a Train" was shown as the last episode of the season instead. Al Jean said that this was because the episode's story was thought of being made into a movie. This would be a sequel to "The Simpsons Movie". Back in 1992, the episode "Kamp Krusty" was also thought of being made as a movie. Jean said that people who watched the episode would see why it was not made as a movie. Jean was also worried that fans of the show would think that the story is not canon (events that are part of the show's story). He thought that this would be controversial with fans.