"Rock Bottom" was written by Paul Tibbitt, Ennio Torresan, and David Fain. Tom Yasumi directed the episode's animation and Tibbitt and Torresan directed the storyboard. Merriwether Williams thought that the episode is one of the best because the story is "so simple". She said "It just stayed with one idea. 'Rock Bottom' was about how he [SpongeBob] keeps missing the bus and how that makes him feel." She said that the story was so small that "you could explore gags (jokes) and opportunities for gags."