The episode was written by John Frink and Don Payne and features guest stars Jay Mohr as Christopher Walken, Stephen King as himself, Amy Tan as herself, John Updike as himself and Joe Mantegna as recurring character Fat Tony. Drew Barrymore also guest-starred as Krusty the Clown's daughter in the episode. Fat Tony would later appear in the critically acclaimed "Trilogy of Error". The episode went into a cycle where it was written in season 11 and produced for season 12.