The episode was directed by Lance Kramer with a story by Al Jean and teleplay by Joel H. Cohen and John Frink.
The episode features the late Marcia Wallace, who died on October 25, 2013, appearing as Edna Krabappel via the use of archive audio recordings.
Marge, Lisa, Bart, Maggie and Grampa go outside to watch the solar eclipse, but Homer stays inside and continues to eat because it is "pork chop night".
Ned takes on several more jobs, including a harbor cruise dance instructor, a photographer for Rolling Stone Magazine, and a roadside bible salesman, but fails each time and becomes depressed.
An oil-in-water quality suffuses episodes like this, the half- (at best) realized plot lines too insubstantial to register for moments past their half-assed completion.