 The episode was written by Greg Daniels and directed by Carlos Baeza . It was the second script Daniels wrote for the show . He thought the staff had previously done many episodes where Homer " wasn 't good at anything " , so he tried to figure out something Homer was really good at , and he came up with the idea of Homer being a good husband . While Bart had been the star of the show during the early years , by Season 5 , the focus had clearly shifted to Homer . Writer / showrunner Al Jean stated that because Homer is an adult character , he has more depth to him and thus storyline possibilities . Showrunner David Mirkin commented : " Bart , to write him accurately as a child , he can only have so much depth at a certain age . With Homer , we try to explore all levels of adulthood . There are just more places to go . Writing Homer properly is the trick , he 's our main rock of the whole series . Homer 's IQ is fairly flexible , he won 't necessarily understand how to open a door at some point , but he can name the Supreme Court justices . Finding that balance is key to making the show work and making it surprising and making it believable and emotionally grounded . " Mirkin was very fond of the fact that Homer and Marge have the biggest fight they have ever had on the show in the episode , and he thought it was a " really great " exploration of their marriage . He noticed that because Homer is thrown out of the house , the audience really worry about their relationship . Mirkin had been asked many times why Marge and Homer are still together , to which he replied that all people stay together even if they argue , " there 's some sort of connection " . 
