It was Dan Greaney's second episode on The Simpsons. The staff of the show wanted to do a summer episode because there was "so much stuff" about summer vacations that they felt had to be covered in an episode.
The area in which the Flanders family's beach house is located in is based on the Cape Cod peninsula. Many of the Simpsons writers spent time on Cape Cod so they decided to model the new locations on it. One of the show's background designers, Lance Wilder, grew up in that area.
Actress Christina Ricci guest starred in the episode as Erin, one of Lisa's new friends. Ricci was not able to come to the recording studio, so she recorded all of her lines over the phone.
Homer replicates a scene from the 1973 film American Graffiti when he nonchalantly buys some stereotypically embarrassing products at the store in order to get some illegal fireworks. (Video: Onikorp)
"Summer of 4 Ft. 2" contains the origin of the popular "You Got the Dud" Internet meme.
A bunch of "You Got The Dud" memes (aka "Dudposting") were created by Leigh Piper, of the Compu-Global-Hyper-Mega-Net group on Facebook. Someone put them to music and posted it on Youtube.
Bill Oakley loves the Dud animation! “It’s the subtle way Homer smiles,” he wrote. “Episode director Mark Kirkland said his dad smiled that way. So great and a little uncanny.” vulture.com/2019/06/former…
The beach house is based on then-show runner Josh Weinstein's parents' house in New Hampshire, which the writers had visited. They played several board games when they were there, which gave them the idea to have to the Simpsons play the Mystery Date board game in the episode.
When Matt Groening received a Peabody Award on May 6, 1996, the audience received a preview of the heartwarming ending to "Summer of 4 Ft. 2."
Here are deleted scenes from "Summer of 4 Ft. 2", available on the Season 7 DVD set.
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#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.)