screenwriter dana olsen based the script, under the working title "life in the 'burbs", on experiences from his own childhood: "i had an ultranormal middle-class upbringing, but our town had its share of psychos. there was a legendary hatchet murder in the thirties, and every once in a while, you'd pick up the local paper and read something like 'librarian kills family, self'. as a kid, it was fascinating to think that mr. flanagan down the street could turn out to be jack the ripper. and where there's fear, there's comedy. so i approached "the 'burbs" as "ozzie and harriet meet charles manson"."