"Homer Alone" was written by David M. Stern. He had noticed that most of the writers were pitching stories about Bart and Homer, and he thought a "deeper vein of comedy" could be reached by having Marge suffer from a nervous breakdown. Executive producer James L. Brooks immediately approved the idea. Originally, Marge's trip was to a distressed mother's institute so they could show "what made Marge tick". However, the plot was not well received at the table read for the episode.