 " ' Round Springfield " was written by Joshua Sternin and Jeffrey Ventimilia , based on a story idea by Al Jean and Mike Reiss . It was the first episode directed by Steven Dean Moore . Due to Fox 's demand for 24 or 25 episodes per season , which the production staff found impossible to meet , two episodes of each season were written and produced by former showrunners , to relieve the stress on The Simpsons ' writing staff . Jean and Reiss , who were showrunners for the show 's third and fourth seasons returned to produce this episode , as well as " A Star Is Burns " , instead of the season 's main showrunner David Mirkin . On both episodes , they were aided by the staff of The Critic , the show the two left The Simpsons to create . Sternin and Ventimilia were writers on The Critic and were big fans of The Simpsons , so were thrilled to be able to write an episode . 
