They billed this as a "one-hour season finale" even though it was actually two new episodes back-to-back. ("Summer of 4'2" was the second episode, which I will be giving its own thread later today.) Below is the print ad for both episodes.
A few years back, Josh Weinstein shared his photo with the Smashing Pumpkins at the recording session for this episode in 1995.
The entire story of this episode was developed by David Cohen, although it was written by Brent Forrester. To do research for this episode, Forrester went to one of the #Lollapalooza concerts, which he thought would be a fun little perk, but ended up being a horrible experience.
Several of the jokes are based on his experiences: cameras were being seized and thrown in the garbage, there were numerous ads, several "sour faced teens", a real freak show (Jim Rose Circus), and at one point a stranger approached Forrester and asked "how's it going, narc?"
During Homer's confrontation with the crowd, there is a brief shot of Homer with the members of @nodoubt behind him. @gwenstefani's brother Eric, who himself had been a member of the band, was working as an animator at #TheSimpsons at the time and added them in.
For the classic rock artist in "Homerpalooza," the staff originally sought out Bob Dylan, but he was replaced by Peter Frampton. About the episode, Frampton said it was "such an honor to be made fun of, and I love it! I got to make fun of myself, which was great."
Neil Young and Pearl Jam also declined to appear in the episode. Courtney Love and Hole were also wanted for the episode, but they never responded to the staff's request. In turn, Sonic Youth had said that if Courtney Love were in the episode, they would not be.
Courtney Love was wanted specifically for one joke which would be in an exchange between her and Homer:
Love: Hi Homer! I'm a big fan, Courtney Love.
Homer: Homer Grateful!
This joke became the classic exchange below with Homer and Billy Corgan.
#OnThisDay #OTD #30YearsAgo October 7, 1993, "Cape Feare" (S05E02) first aired on the Fox network. Dir: @_rich_moore. Wr: @jon_vitti. EP: @AlJean & @MikeReissWriter. Guest-starring @KelseyGrammer as Sideshow Bob. #TheSimpsons 🧵
Wally Wolodarsky had seen the 1991 version of Cape Fear and pitched the idea of spoofing the film. Instead of using the spoof as only a part of the episode, which could have contained a B-story, the entire episode was devoted to this parody.
There were difficulties getting this episode up to the minimum length of an episode. The repeated a long couch gag from "Lisa's First Word", an Itchy & Scratchy cartoon, and a few red herrings as to who was trying to kill Bart. Even with all these, the episode still ran short.
#OnThisDay #OTD September 24, 1995, "Radioactive Man" (S07E02) first aired on the Fox network. Dir: Susie Dietter. Wr: @JJSwartzwelder. EP: @DaveMirkin. Guest-starring Mickey Rooney as himself and Phil Hartman as Troy McClure and Lionel Hutz. #TheSimpsons
@JJSwartzwelder @DaveMirkin "Radioactive Man" was the first episode to be digitally colored. The duties of that task went to USAnimation, who would later work on "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular". The show would not permanently be digitally colored until Season 14.
@JJSwartzwelder @DaveMirkin Mickey Rooney guest starred as himself. @nancycartwright recalled in her autobiography My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy that Rooney recorded his lines with the other actors. Although he was late for the session, she noted that he was "so full of pep" and very enthusiastic.
@markk1914@ScullyThacker@scullymike This was the first Simpsons episode Julie Thacker wrote. The plot was based on a "disastrous" school program, in which students had to participate in community service to advance to the next grade. The B-story, which involved Homer selling springs, was conceived by Mike Scully.
@markk1914@ScullyThacker@scullymike In a scene in the episode, Lenny gets one of Homer's springs stuck in his eye. Lenny's eye injuries have since become a running gag, and "The Old Man and the 'C' Student" "started the trend", according to Thacker.
#OnThisDay#OTD April 23, 1989, "Family Therapy" first aired on The Tracey Ullman Show on Fox. Wr: Matt Groening. Animation: @tubatron & Wes Archer. #TheSimpsons
@Interbang1Jeff@AlJean@MikeReissWriter@MJMcKean Otto's full name is revealed for the first time in this episode and to feature the character in a prominent role. Writers @JayKogen and Wallace Wolodarsky had originally wanted to name him Otto Mechanic, but the animators gave him the last name Mann. (This shot looks like "Mang")
@Interbang1Jeff@AlJean@MikeReissWriter@MJMcKean@JayKogen Otto's statement that he would prefer to be sleeping in a Dumpster brand trash container over a "Trash Co. Waste Disposal Unit" alludes to the word's status as a registered trademark for a brand of large trash containers. (Yes, "Dumpster" is a brand name.)