Bart of Darkness

The episode was produced during the 1994 Northridge earthquake, which delayed production by a month, and it was originally going to be the season five finale and is largely a parody of Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window (1954).

The next day, Bart overhears Ned telling his sons Rod and Todd that their mother is "with God" and they will soon join her.

After the police arrive to question Ned, they discover that Maude is alive and well, having just returned from her time "with God" at a Bible camp in the countryside.

Martin's turn as the new popular kid goes well until he overestimates the capacity of the new pool, which quickly breaks apart from the physical stress.

[8] The only staff members that came in expecting to work were future show runners Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein.

[8] He credited this to the extra time, and used it to insert little details, such as having Bart get stuck on the fabric of the chair he was in,[8] and wearing his underwear instead of a swimsuit.

[10] The Springfield Pool-Mobile was based on a similar vehicle from David Mirkin's childhood, where a truck with a "spinning cars" fairground ride on the back would often come around his neighborhood.

[6] Flanders' feminine scream was performed by Tress MacNeille and not his regular voice actor Harry Shearer.

[2] Springfield's wax museum features models of The Beatles and the original cast of M*A*S*H.[2] The barn building scene with the onlooking Amish man is a reference to Peter Weir's film Witness.

[1] At the end of the episode, Martin begins to sing Frank Sinatra's "Summer Wind"; the song then continues instrumentally over the closing credits, instead of the show's usual theme music.

Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, found that the "eventual explanation for [Flanders'] murderous behavior is hilarious".

Club, writes that "'Bart Of Darkness' starts The Simpsons’ sixth season off on the right foot with a full-bodied embrace of its source material and a comedic core that challenges traditional TV logic.