Tom Petty rarely granted permission for his music to be used on television. He allowed the use of his song "The Waiting", because he was a fan of the show.
The censors at Fox Network were initially nervous about certain moments in this episode, such as Homer pointing the gun at Marge's face, and Bart aiming the gun at Milhouse to shoot an apple in his mouth. However, they eventually allowed the show to leave the scenes in.
In the DVD commentary for this episode, Yeardley Smith admitted that Nancy Cartwright was better at doing the voice vibration technique during the scene where Bart and Lisa were having a race on their vibrating motel beds.
Reruns of this episode in the U.S edit out the two controversial moments: When Homer points a gun at Marges face and When Bart is playing with the gun with Milhouse. This episode was additionally originally banned in the UK (as well as other countries) because of the soccer riot opening and the episode depicting guns in a comical and positive light (which the UK's censor boards find to be offensive and likely to encourage others into committing gun violence, especially with the Dunblane school massacre occurring a year before episode premiered). It eventually aired on UK TV on BBC Two in 2001. The network typically broadcast episodes four years after its premiere, making it the only episode to get its UK premiere on the BBC rather than on Sky One. When the episode finally aired on Sky, the end scene of Marge trying to throw out the gun, but stopping when she realized it makes her look cool was edited, making it seem that Marge got rid of the gun offscreen, yet the edit ruins the explanation of why she was walking like a femme fatale when she exited the motel. Other scenes were edited as well.