"Sunday, Cruddy Sunday" was directed by Steven Dean Moore and co-written by former staff writers Tom Martin, George Meyer, Brian Scully, and executive producer and former showrunner Mike Scully. It was first broadcast on the Fox network in the United States on January 31, 1999, right after Super Bowl XXXIII and the premiere of "Family Guy". "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday" was the first episode that Martin received a writing credit for, and in the DVD audio commentary for the episode, he stated that he "loved" writing the episode. The writing process for the episode was "kind of unusual", since the writers "threw it episode together" without, Scully quipped, thinking of "things such as thought and structure". A scene in the episode shows Homer buying new tires for his car. The scene was written by Brian Scully, who had been scammed by a Firestone Tire and Rubber Company dealer. The episode's subplot was the result of the "Simpsons" writers trying to find activities for Marge and Lisa to participate in while Bart and Homer were at the Super Bowl. According to Martin, the writers were trying to come up with "the most boring thing" Marge and Lisa could do to pass time. After hearing cast member Dan Castellaneta's impression of Vincent Price, the writers found the impression to be so funny that they based the subplot on the fictional crafts set "Vincent Price's Egg Magic".