WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.280 --> 00:00:01.679 Four finger Discount. 2 00:00:01.840 --> 00:00:19.879 Dude, Hey, everybody, welcome to four Finger Discount. And this 3 00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:21.440 week we are joined by a man who I have 4 00:00:21.519 --> 00:00:23.640 on my Mount rush More of the Simpsons. He is 5 00:00:24.079 --> 00:00:25.199 Al Jeane. How are you doing, sir? 6 00:00:25.480 --> 00:00:26.640 Good to be here now? 7 00:00:26.760 --> 00:00:29.199 What is life like post show running? Cause it's not 8 00:00:29.199 --> 00:00:31.399 post Simpsons. You're still a consultant on the show. What's 9 00:00:31.399 --> 00:00:33.679 it like not being the showrunner again? 10 00:00:34.079 --> 00:00:37.079 It's a step down in stress. Happy to turn it 11 00:00:37.200 --> 00:00:39.840 over to somebody else. Ran it for two years, make 12 00:00:39.920 --> 00:00:43.799 reas and twenty by myself. It's a job where every 13 00:00:43.880 --> 00:00:46.520 day I would constantly go, I don't want to, you know, 14 00:00:47.320 --> 00:00:48.159 let people down. 15 00:00:48.479 --> 00:00:49.159 I'm nervous. 16 00:00:49.719 --> 00:00:52.759 Edward don alf Before the Simpsons, it was a number 17 00:00:52.759 --> 00:00:56.039 ten show in year two, about a year four. It 18 00:00:56.079 --> 00:00:59.039 was after year and I was always nervous to day 19 00:00:59.039 --> 00:01:01.880 would happened with us? I guess at this point I 20 00:01:01.920 --> 00:01:03.880 can say that didn't happen with the Simpsons. 21 00:01:03.920 --> 00:01:06.879 When did you fully realize maybe the Simpsons is actually 22 00:01:06.920 --> 00:01:07.840 just never going to go away. 23 00:01:08.159 --> 00:01:11.239 There was a point that was fairly close to an 24 00:01:11.319 --> 00:01:15.359 ending season twenty three. The network considered the budget projections 25 00:01:15.400 --> 00:01:19.000 to be out of hand, and so they basically wanted 26 00:01:19.040 --> 00:01:22.159 everybody to take a reduction the cast. The writers had 27 00:01:22.200 --> 00:01:25.680 we not we were going to use the Stewart Burns 28 00:01:25.760 --> 00:01:30.040 Christmas episode as the final episode, and it wasn't conceived 29 00:01:30.040 --> 00:01:32.239 of as a final episode, and it was, but it 30 00:01:32.280 --> 00:01:34.239 was a Christmas show, and I always thought it'd be 31 00:01:34.239 --> 00:01:35.920 cool to end on a Christmas show when it started 32 00:01:35.959 --> 00:01:38.560 on a Christmas show, and it was a great episode, 33 00:01:38.560 --> 00:01:40.799 and you know, hadle sort of a future. Here's the 34 00:01:40.879 --> 00:01:43.920 ending of the story attribute to We've had other ones 35 00:01:43.959 --> 00:01:47.719 who have been great last episodes. Behind the Laughter would 36 00:01:47.719 --> 00:01:49.560 have been a good one in season four, The one 37 00:01:49.560 --> 00:01:52.359 where Maggie talk would have been a good one, you know, 38 00:01:52.840 --> 00:01:54.879 the one that was a couple of years ago. Bart's 39 00:01:54.879 --> 00:01:57.599 birthday would have been a good one. So we keep 40 00:01:57.640 --> 00:02:01.079 doing these last episodes and we'll run out of me. 41 00:02:01.280 --> 00:02:04.120 Just be a regular episode. I've had the other dea 42 00:02:04.599 --> 00:02:07.439 you know as well. But just the thought I had 43 00:02:07.480 --> 00:02:11.879 that you actually ended the last episode and the Christmas 44 00:02:11.919 --> 00:02:13.759 passion that the first episode began with it. 45 00:02:13.719 --> 00:02:14.800 It'd be an Internet loop. 46 00:02:14.879 --> 00:02:18.879 So there's no beginning or end, which animation fits perfectly 47 00:02:18.879 --> 00:02:21.879 because nobody ages, nobody changes. But that's just an idea. 48 00:02:21.919 --> 00:02:25.120 It's not in the works. There's no end in the words, 49 00:02:25.120 --> 00:02:27.000 it's that three more years at least. 50 00:02:27.439 --> 00:02:29.400 Well, I'm not about to suggest that you're moving out 51 00:02:29.400 --> 00:02:31.479 of frame just then had an ulterior minded But did 52 00:02:31.479 --> 00:02:33.039 you actually move out of frame so we could see 53 00:02:33.039 --> 00:02:36.199 the plethora of awards that is behind my? 54 00:02:36.520 --> 00:02:36.800 Not my? 55 00:02:37.319 --> 00:02:40.400 Actually, the reason they're here is because we'll say I 56 00:02:40.400 --> 00:02:42.879 can show you I have many others over there. 57 00:02:43.560 --> 00:02:46.800 Uh, I really didn't intend I moved them. 58 00:02:47.280 --> 00:02:49.680 There was a fire in Los Angeles about a year ago, 59 00:02:49.680 --> 00:02:51.560 and we moved most of our stuff out of our house, 60 00:02:52.639 --> 00:02:56.199 which fortunately was fine. But yeah, that's why they're here, 61 00:02:56.759 --> 00:03:00.159 because I intend to show them that everybody. I mean, yah, 62 00:03:00.159 --> 00:03:01.840 they show these are pictures of my daughter and my 63 00:03:01.879 --> 00:03:03.400 younger daughter, So you. 64 00:03:03.319 --> 00:03:04.960 Need to have them in that do it for her? 65 00:03:05.039 --> 00:03:06.439 You need to have that board up there with her. 66 00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:09.560 Well, it's kind of yes, that's what it's for. 67 00:03:11.159 --> 00:03:15.199 Hell, you said your new position or conversation is consultant. 68 00:03:15.400 --> 00:03:17.520 Is a step down in stress. Do you still feel 69 00:03:17.639 --> 00:03:20.840 the same sort of level of responsibility to the show though. 70 00:03:20.960 --> 00:03:23.120 Well, I always feel like I got to do my best. 71 00:03:23.199 --> 00:03:27.520 What I'm doing now just before this session is going 72 00:03:27.560 --> 00:03:30.159 over the read script that is going to be read 73 00:03:30.199 --> 00:03:32.879 at the table Thursday, and I go over it like 74 00:03:32.919 --> 00:03:35.120 eight or nine times. I get it a copy early 75 00:03:35.199 --> 00:03:36.919 to just you know, put all the pitches I can 76 00:03:36.960 --> 00:03:40.639 think I'm in and every whatever I've done on the show, 77 00:03:40.639 --> 00:03:42.560 I've always wanted to do the best I possibly could. 78 00:03:42.639 --> 00:03:44.319 I mean, when I worked as a. 79 00:03:44.240 --> 00:03:46.599 Consultant in year one, I would write all these notes 80 00:03:46.639 --> 00:03:49.800 on a script and I was amazed at this first 81 00:03:49.800 --> 00:03:52.439 script by me pond, the first draft of the Christmas 82 00:03:52.479 --> 00:03:55.520 show that began the series. I had my notes and 83 00:03:55.560 --> 00:03:57.800 I found my old copy of it, and I asked 84 00:03:57.840 --> 00:03:59.879 the Smithsonian if they wanted it, and they said yes, 85 00:04:00.759 --> 00:04:03.599 that's where it is. And I pitched the title Simpsons 86 00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:05.439 Roasting on an open fire, so you can see that 87 00:04:05.560 --> 00:04:08.840 on the draft. It's really, you know, it's like of 88 00:04:09.000 --> 00:04:11.840 the you know, zillions of things that I never dreamed 89 00:04:11.840 --> 00:04:12.280 would happen. 90 00:04:12.360 --> 00:04:14.000 That's one that was about design. That must be an 91 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:17.800 incredibly surreal kind of feeling. It's like, hey, Smithsonian Institute, 92 00:04:17.800 --> 00:04:20.560 do you want this script scribbling? 93 00:04:20.879 --> 00:04:24.800 It's all the surreal stuff comes daily, I mean at 94 00:04:24.800 --> 00:04:28.360 this point, because what you find, I was realizing somebody 95 00:04:28.399 --> 00:04:31.279 like James L. Brooks must get this all time, and 96 00:04:31.319 --> 00:04:34.120 it's great. People who are fans of work you did 97 00:04:34.160 --> 00:04:38.399 thirty years ago. Everything that happens on this show becomes 98 00:04:38.399 --> 00:04:41.279 this huge deal. I said it before, but like the 99 00:04:41.319 --> 00:04:44.040 original Chu Chu Choose Me Valentine, it was real Valentine 100 00:04:44.079 --> 00:04:47.079 I got in third grade and now it's probably the 101 00:04:47.120 --> 00:04:50.279 most famous val in the world. And I again, it 102 00:04:50.319 --> 00:04:51.680 all just is like nuts. 103 00:04:51.800 --> 00:04:53.360 Do you get a cut of the Merchilese for that? 104 00:04:53.399 --> 00:04:56.079 Because in Australian particular, we have every Valentine's Day there 105 00:04:56.120 --> 00:04:59.160 is just chew choo choose me Gia everywhere. 106 00:04:59.759 --> 00:05:00.279 It's funny. 107 00:05:00.319 --> 00:05:02.160 I wish I did, although the true cut should go 108 00:05:02.240 --> 00:05:05.319 to the writer of the original Valentine in nineteen sixty. 109 00:05:06.040 --> 00:05:10.319 But I do have a credit on twenty nine shows, 110 00:05:10.360 --> 00:05:13.800 so because of that, get rerun money for those twenty 111 00:05:13.920 --> 00:05:16.680 nine shows. And what's great is that most of the 112 00:05:16.680 --> 00:05:18.439 people who've been here this long have a credit on 113 00:05:18.480 --> 00:05:21.519 about thirty episodes, so everybody's got this little piece of 114 00:05:21.560 --> 00:05:25.360 the show when it comes when the show continues to air, 115 00:05:25.399 --> 00:05:25.959 which is great. 116 00:05:26.079 --> 00:05:28.920 How often are you being consulted now? Do you expect 117 00:05:28.920 --> 00:05:30.759 to for you know, someone to call you up and say, hey, 118 00:05:30.800 --> 00:05:33.000 how what do we do here still these days? Or 119 00:05:33.040 --> 00:05:35.079 is it just going to be like sporadically when they 120 00:05:35.120 --> 00:05:35.480 need you. 121 00:05:35.720 --> 00:05:38.360 I say sporadically is the best term. I think that 122 00:05:38.680 --> 00:05:42.639 everybody knows what they're doing, and you know, the new 123 00:05:42.680 --> 00:05:46.040 person here is somebody you know who's been here five years. 124 00:05:46.720 --> 00:05:50.680 And you know, the median age of the writer, median 125 00:05:50.720 --> 00:05:52.759 age on staff of the writers, and the staff is 126 00:05:52.800 --> 00:05:56.439 about twenty. So the directors are great, obviously, the cast 127 00:05:56.759 --> 00:05:59.680 exactly how to play the characters. And I do get consulted, 128 00:05:59.720 --> 00:06:02.560 which is great. But I'm also open minded what I 129 00:06:02.639 --> 00:06:05.639 might do. I certainly had my opportunity to do everything 130 00:06:05.680 --> 00:06:09.439 I thought I actually do in twenty years, so you know, 131 00:06:09.560 --> 00:06:12.439 I'm all for exploring how the show can you know, 132 00:06:12.519 --> 00:06:16.240 adapt and be you know, relevant to everybody today. 133 00:06:16.879 --> 00:06:18.959 I love the notion of being a consultant, though it 134 00:06:19.079 --> 00:06:20.480 must be kind of a bit of an ego, but 135 00:06:20.519 --> 00:06:23.240 it's like there's a problem that only al Jean can solve. 136 00:06:23.319 --> 00:06:24.439 Get me, Get me, Al Jean. 137 00:06:26.160 --> 00:06:28.800 I wish it were so like a bad signal that 138 00:06:28.839 --> 00:06:29.319 clows up. 139 00:06:30.959 --> 00:06:32.920 What's the what's a giant jay in the sky? 140 00:06:33.040 --> 00:06:34.399 Yeah, yeah, exactly. 141 00:06:34.560 --> 00:06:36.439 But Jim Books was pretty much that for you guys 142 00:06:36.439 --> 00:06:39.040 for a long time, wasn't he In the years, he has. 143 00:06:39.759 --> 00:06:44.040 Had in hands this amazing superpower, which is he would say, oh, 144 00:06:44.199 --> 00:06:46.519 I put this line in, or I'm pitching this thing. 145 00:06:47.000 --> 00:06:49.720 And like in Michael Jackson episode, he pitched a line 146 00:06:49.800 --> 00:06:52.839 where one of the kids is to the Lee uncompassed character, 147 00:06:52.920 --> 00:06:55.879 you're a credit to dementia. So Mike and I put 148 00:06:55.920 --> 00:06:58.800 it in, like, well, it's Jim's Lyne, you know, sounds funny. 149 00:06:59.199 --> 00:07:01.120 Every review said, oh, this is the best line in 150 00:07:01.120 --> 00:07:03.399 the show, and they didn't know it was Jim. We 151 00:07:03.439 --> 00:07:05.240 obviously didn't put a little tag on it, you know, 152 00:07:05.360 --> 00:07:10.319 saying who pitched it? And same thing Lisa's substitute, which 153 00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:13.079 I'll probably get back to later. It was we remember 154 00:07:13.079 --> 00:07:15.199 we were sitting in the office, in Jim's office and 155 00:07:15.199 --> 00:07:16.879 he you know, we're trying to figure out how to end, 156 00:07:16.920 --> 00:07:18.800 how this teacher can leave and what he can say 157 00:07:18.839 --> 00:07:21.879 to Lisa. And Jim writes this note and he hands 158 00:07:21.879 --> 00:07:23.959 it and we all look at it and says, you 159 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:27.839 were Lisa Simpson. First I thought, wait, I'm lisas like you? 160 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:31.480 I mean yeah, And then we go Oh. 161 00:07:31.360 --> 00:07:34.600 That's what teacher hands are tie again. We thought Jim 162 00:07:34.639 --> 00:07:37.160 did it so that sounds good, sounds like a good conclusion. 163 00:07:37.519 --> 00:07:40.560 People loved it, really loved it was the ending, and 164 00:07:41.639 --> 00:07:44.160 you know I do too. I think it's like a 165 00:07:44.240 --> 00:07:49.079 simple statement that boosts the little girl's confidence, which is wonderful. 166 00:07:49.279 --> 00:07:52.920 Is there a ratio of not just Jim brook notes, 167 00:07:52.959 --> 00:07:55.639 but notes from anyone sort of high in the operational 168 00:07:55.680 --> 00:07:58.000 onsome since and stuff? Eighty percent of this stuff is 169 00:07:58.040 --> 00:08:00.319 going to work. There's maybe twenty percent a dozen. I mean, 170 00:08:01.079 --> 00:08:03.399 are you sort of ever reluctant to go now? We're 171 00:08:03.399 --> 00:08:05.240 not going with that it doesn't quite work or it's 172 00:08:05.279 --> 00:08:06.040 not quite it. 173 00:08:06.319 --> 00:08:06.519 Well. 174 00:08:06.560 --> 00:08:08.639 The famous thing is when Mike and I were running 175 00:08:08.680 --> 00:08:11.879 the show in season four, Conan started, so he brought 176 00:08:11.959 --> 00:08:14.560 him in for a separate session ahead of the time, 177 00:08:14.600 --> 00:08:17.680 before the story retreat. We had several ideas and we 178 00:08:17.879 --> 00:08:20.160 liked them, and one of them was the mono rail, 179 00:08:20.199 --> 00:08:21.959 and we both said, I don't know if Jim's gonna 180 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:24.480 like it, don't pitch that first, and so he sold 181 00:08:24.519 --> 00:08:27.600 the other two. Okay, try the monorail, and then Jim 182 00:08:27.639 --> 00:08:28.000 loved it. 183 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:28.639 So what do we know? 184 00:08:29.360 --> 00:08:33.080 But in terms of my rule as a showrunners was 185 00:08:33.679 --> 00:08:37.919 that if someone really really believes in something, then think 186 00:08:37.919 --> 00:08:41.320 about doing it. Yeah, because that's often been our best stuff. 187 00:08:41.360 --> 00:08:43.440 You know, when somebody goes, this is an idea I 188 00:08:43.559 --> 00:08:47.159 just really you know, believe in. And even if one 189 00:08:47.200 --> 00:08:50.519 of them was like deep Space Homer David Murkins, and 190 00:08:50.720 --> 00:08:53.399 it was a little different for that time that Homer 191 00:08:53.399 --> 00:08:55.240 would go into space, but to me, it always had 192 00:08:55.279 --> 00:08:59.120 a grounded reason. It was like Christa mccauliffe, someone who's 193 00:08:59.159 --> 00:09:03.360 like an ordinary person and getting THEND and he, you know, 194 00:09:03.919 --> 00:09:05.919 very funny guy, really believes in it, and it's a 195 00:09:05.960 --> 00:09:07.360 great show, one of people's favorites. 196 00:09:07.759 --> 00:09:10.639 I never felt ridiculous though as a kid growing up 197 00:09:10.639 --> 00:09:12.679 watching it. You know, obviously you're watching a cartoon anyways, 198 00:09:12.679 --> 00:09:15.360 so expected to be have a level of cartoony aspect 199 00:09:15.440 --> 00:09:17.159 to it. But watching that episode, it was just like, 200 00:09:17.200 --> 00:09:18.720 you home, he's going to space, of course he is. 201 00:09:19.360 --> 00:09:21.720 Yeah, I mean, you know, I just saw hel Projects 202 00:09:21.759 --> 00:09:24.600 Hill marrying with Ryan Gasling. It's similar. It's sort of 203 00:09:25.000 --> 00:09:27.360 you know, the character in that movie has no training 204 00:09:27.440 --> 00:09:29.960 and they send him up in space and it's I 205 00:09:29.960 --> 00:09:32.960 don't see, you know why David's episode is any more 206 00:09:32.960 --> 00:09:33.799 implausible than that. 207 00:09:34.200 --> 00:09:36.120 Well, we spoke about it in depth with them, with 208 00:09:36.200 --> 00:09:38.559 Jake Cogan as well, and we particularly loved the press 209 00:09:38.559 --> 00:09:41.480 conference in that episode where Homer realizes that the the 210 00:09:41.519 --> 00:09:42.279 Panel of the Apes. 211 00:09:42.639 --> 00:09:43.840 Oh that was that was my joke? 212 00:09:43.879 --> 00:09:45.919 Well okay, yeah, well yeah, we both We spent that 213 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:49.320 five minutes just laughing about that during the podcast in 214 00:09:49.360 --> 00:09:51.000 the room Wait a minute. 215 00:09:51.840 --> 00:09:53.440 Because of course, Planet of the Apes is one of 216 00:09:53.519 --> 00:09:56.679 those things like where people my age, it's this reference. 217 00:09:56.720 --> 00:09:59.720 You can't get enough, you know, when they put it 218 00:09:59.720 --> 00:10:02.039 at the to the Barerbe movie, I'm like, wow, still 219 00:10:02.039 --> 00:10:04.759 got power. It's amazing, you know, different Planet of the 220 00:10:04.759 --> 00:10:07.559 Apes things. And I wish I had been in a 221 00:10:07.600 --> 00:10:10.799 movie theater in nineteen sixty eight to see that ending, 222 00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:13.600 because I knew and I think ahead of time it 223 00:10:13.919 --> 00:10:15.519 would have I'm sure what it killed me. 224 00:10:15.559 --> 00:10:17.960 It was just like, well, the way Homer reacted in 225 00:10:17.960 --> 00:10:21.399 the press commence would have been you, yeah, yes, how 226 00:10:21.399 --> 00:10:23.799 did you feel because you weren't working maybe you were 227 00:10:23.840 --> 00:10:26.320 still doing some solo work posts when you left the show. 228 00:10:26.320 --> 00:10:29.120 But when they did it was season seven. Fish caught 229 00:10:29.159 --> 00:10:31.039 sound with the Planet of the Apes musical. What were 230 00:10:31.080 --> 00:10:32.519 your thoughts on that when you first saw it. 231 00:10:32.919 --> 00:10:35.039 This is really funny. I was in my office with 232 00:10:35.120 --> 00:10:39.039 Mike writing for the Critic, and next door we kept 233 00:10:39.080 --> 00:10:42.200 hearing doctor sayis doctors like We heard for about four 234 00:10:42.240 --> 00:10:43.000 hours then. 235 00:10:42.919 --> 00:10:48.240 Two it's really going. It's like drive me crazy. 236 00:10:48.720 --> 00:10:51.120 And of course it's probably the funniest I didn't have 237 00:10:51.120 --> 00:10:52.440 anything to do with the writing of It's probably the 238 00:10:52.559 --> 00:10:55.240 funniest song in the history of the show. I mean, 239 00:10:55.279 --> 00:10:59.120 it's the chimpan eided Chimpanzee line alone. Yeah, put it there, 240 00:10:59.679 --> 00:11:04.559 but yeah, just what they just keep going over again 241 00:11:04.600 --> 00:11:04.919 and again. 242 00:11:05.879 --> 00:11:08.639 So you guys were writing in the next room still. 243 00:11:08.679 --> 00:11:10.639 So when he left the Simpsons, he didn't leave the studio. 244 00:11:10.679 --> 00:11:11.840 He just sort of left the team. 245 00:11:12.240 --> 00:11:15.440 Well, one thing was we didn't I never wanted to 246 00:11:15.480 --> 00:11:18.159 leave the Simpsons ever. I mean, clearly, I'm here after 247 00:11:18.240 --> 00:11:21.200 thirty six years. So when we did the Critic, we 248 00:11:21.240 --> 00:11:23.919 said we would like to still consult on the Simpsons. 249 00:11:24.879 --> 00:11:26.919 When we went to a Disney deal, we said we'd 250 00:11:26.919 --> 00:11:31.440 still like to work on Simpson episodes, and every year 251 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:34.360 of the show. I've had some involvement with it because 252 00:11:34.399 --> 00:11:37.480 it's the greatest, you know, it's it's I've been in 253 00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:40.399 other great things, but it was such a hit from 254 00:11:40.399 --> 00:11:43.120 the get go that you don't have to explain to 255 00:11:43.120 --> 00:11:45.600 people what you're doing. You'll get the money, you get 256 00:11:45.639 --> 00:11:49.360 the guest stars. It's the ideal job. But it wasn't 257 00:11:49.399 --> 00:11:52.200 his For a writer in LA I get the. 258 00:11:52.200 --> 00:11:54.320 Feeling of this stage of the game as well. You'd 259 00:11:54.360 --> 00:11:57.000 have to be some kind of Grinch or Munty Burns 260 00:11:57.039 --> 00:11:59.559 type to separate al Chine from the Simpsons if you 261 00:11:59.600 --> 00:12:02.120 wanted to go do something else, but it was sort 262 00:12:02.120 --> 00:12:04.879 of in your contract or in your negotiatings. Like, guys, 263 00:12:04.879 --> 00:12:06.360 you've got to give me a little time to sort 264 00:12:06.360 --> 00:12:08.559 of be to pick up the red phone for Simpsons. 265 00:12:08.600 --> 00:12:11.960 ICEQ, Well, I can say we're closer than ever John 266 00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:15.279 Lovetts and me and Mike Reeze to getting The Critic 267 00:12:15.360 --> 00:12:19.000 back as a reboot, So that'll be wonderful. 268 00:12:19.080 --> 00:12:21.000 Has that roadblock being fixed yet? He said there was 269 00:12:21.000 --> 00:12:22.480 a one roadblock block and everything. 270 00:12:22.879 --> 00:12:27.919 It's almost a good right almost. Yes, glad that you 271 00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:28.279 knew that. 272 00:12:29.159 --> 00:12:31.759 I think now, first time I've ever said this, I 273 00:12:31.759 --> 00:12:33.919 think it's more likely than that that it'll happen. 274 00:12:34.000 --> 00:12:35.759 Wow, that's very exciting. 275 00:12:35.879 --> 00:12:38.600 And John is very into it, and we were talking 276 00:12:38.600 --> 00:12:41.879 about who we would cast. I won't say, you know, 277 00:12:41.960 --> 00:12:44.120 nobody else has a commitment or anything. But one of 278 00:12:44.159 --> 00:12:47.039 the things that helped us was John was at the 279 00:12:47.120 --> 00:12:50.240 SNL fifty party and someone walked up to him and said, 280 00:12:50.279 --> 00:12:52.559 you know, The Critic is the best show ever. 281 00:12:52.759 --> 00:12:54.360 And he goes, what do you mean? He goes, I 282 00:12:54.519 --> 00:12:56.200 loved it. I grew up with watching it. It's the 283 00:12:56.200 --> 00:12:58.639 best it was. Jesse Eisenberg, Oh wow. 284 00:12:58.679 --> 00:13:01.840 So we realized that there's a generation now loved it 285 00:13:01.879 --> 00:13:04.639 the way I loved the Bowling Gloe cartoons as a kid. 286 00:13:04.919 --> 00:13:08.480 And Kenya the Hill did great as a reboot. Futurama 287 00:13:08.519 --> 00:13:11.960 has done great multiple times coming back, so I think 288 00:13:11.960 --> 00:13:12.960 we're going to do. 289 00:13:12.919 --> 00:13:14.519 You feel like you have to change the concept, though, 290 00:13:14.559 --> 00:13:17.519 because the idea of a coming attractions existing in twenty 291 00:13:17.559 --> 00:13:17.960 twenty six. 292 00:13:18.039 --> 00:13:18.720 Oh no, there's no. 293 00:13:18.639 --> 00:13:21.159 Such thing as a successful film critic. Now you're one 294 00:13:21.159 --> 00:13:23.600 of one hundred rotten tomatoes. I would think, actually, just 295 00:13:25.039 --> 00:13:27.720 he's on a podcast and he's got nobody watching, and 296 00:13:28.200 --> 00:13:30.879 he's you know, down at the bottom. I think that 297 00:13:30.919 --> 00:13:33.559 the again, this is all so early, but the tentative 298 00:13:33.759 --> 00:13:36.840 arc would be he starts getting popular again, because I 299 00:13:36.919 --> 00:13:39.600 think you need a movie critic to call a bad 300 00:13:39.639 --> 00:13:42.639 movies more than ever. Oh and not like bad movies, 301 00:13:42.679 --> 00:13:45.360 but bad things in real life. So but yeah, I 302 00:13:45.399 --> 00:13:47.559 think my guess would be we'd age and a little, 303 00:13:47.600 --> 00:13:50.200 we'd have the sun be grown. But this is all 304 00:13:50.279 --> 00:13:53.120 you know, so yeah, premature, it's yeah, just the way 305 00:13:53.120 --> 00:13:55.080 we we have taken a look at it. 306 00:13:55.080 --> 00:13:56.840 It must feel like a sense of deja vous because 307 00:13:56.840 --> 00:13:58.799 you left the Simpsons thirty years ago to work on 308 00:13:58.879 --> 00:14:01.399 the Critic and now you essentially done the same thing again, 309 00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:04.279 except this time hype. It doesn't get canceled off the 310 00:14:04.320 --> 00:14:06.120 two seasons, uh. 311 00:14:06.240 --> 00:14:08.759 Well, or even if it does, you know, this will 312 00:14:08.799 --> 00:14:10.559 always be still here if I come running back with 313 00:14:10.600 --> 00:14:14.279 my tail between my legs. And it's so funny how 314 00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:18.480 everything comes around in a circle on this show. And 315 00:14:18.519 --> 00:14:19.840 the other thing I was going to say about Simpsons, 316 00:14:19.840 --> 00:14:22.240 which is very odd for me. I never saw it 317 00:14:22.240 --> 00:14:25.159 as a phenomenon. I was always on the inside as 318 00:14:25.200 --> 00:14:27.200 a writer. You know, Oh this thing I did over 319 00:14:27.240 --> 00:14:29.200 the summer with Mike and oh it came back. It 320 00:14:29.200 --> 00:14:32.440 looks really funny. I thought it would be a good show. 321 00:14:32.559 --> 00:14:35.480 I thought, gee, you got Jim Brooks and I loved 322 00:14:35.519 --> 00:14:37.919 Life in Hell by Matt Greening, and I thought Sam 323 00:14:38.000 --> 00:14:41.919 was brilliant, and it hadn't been any animated Timetime show 324 00:14:41.919 --> 00:14:44.559 in years, so I thought, this is going to get attention, 325 00:14:44.679 --> 00:14:46.679 This is really going to be, you know, special, But 326 00:14:48.679 --> 00:14:50.600 I didn't know nobody. I don't think I knew it 327 00:14:50.639 --> 00:14:52.279 was going to run forty years now. 328 00:14:52.360 --> 00:14:54.679 With that in mind, I mean, when you meet new 329 00:14:54.720 --> 00:14:58.200 people and they were informed that you're that Simpsons guy, 330 00:14:58.320 --> 00:15:01.600 I mean, what some of your action reactions you've ever said. 331 00:15:01.600 --> 00:15:02.879 There's a lot of they're meeting Santa. 332 00:15:03.080 --> 00:15:05.799 I see people who get very excited, and I'm like, what, 333 00:15:06.000 --> 00:15:06.840 what's wrong? 334 00:15:07.399 --> 00:15:07.679 Okay? 335 00:15:08.879 --> 00:15:10.879 I've said this a lot, although I don't think I 336 00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:12.440 could say it too much. The other thing that makes 337 00:15:12.480 --> 00:15:14.720 me really happy is I run into people who go, 338 00:15:15.440 --> 00:15:18.360 I was a kid, my parents were getting divorced. I 339 00:15:18.440 --> 00:15:20.440 was really sad, and I watched the Simpsons. That cheered 340 00:15:20.440 --> 00:15:23.279 me up. And that's the best, you know, I mean 341 00:15:23.639 --> 00:15:25.720 even more than the you know, people you get to 342 00:15:25.759 --> 00:15:27.360 meet or the people you get to work, whether the 343 00:15:27.399 --> 00:15:30.120 money is something like that that you have spent your 344 00:15:30.159 --> 00:15:32.039 life doing that, and it has that outcome. 345 00:15:32.320 --> 00:15:34.200 Well, I've said Tom and Tom again. I was a 346 00:15:34.240 --> 00:15:35.559 bit of a loaner when I was younger, and it 347 00:15:35.639 --> 00:15:37.039 was almost a lot of The Simpsons was like that 348 00:15:37.440 --> 00:15:39.240 a friend, you know, you can always fall back into. 349 00:15:39.279 --> 00:15:41.320 The Simpsons was always going to be there. You recordeous 350 00:15:41.480 --> 00:15:44.039 episodes off TV, and I was ever feeling filling down. 351 00:15:44.039 --> 00:15:45.759 I chuck one of the types and put The Simpsons on, 352 00:15:45.840 --> 00:15:46.480 and I was fine. 353 00:15:47.000 --> 00:15:51.240 I was, for various reasons, at different schools each year 354 00:15:51.240 --> 00:15:54.080 of my childhood. So I was a little bit of 355 00:15:54.080 --> 00:15:56.840 a loner, and I felt that way about something like 356 00:15:56.960 --> 00:16:00.399 Charlie Brown. I felt like, oh this gets me, this, 357 00:16:00.399 --> 00:16:02.639 this is how I feel, and they understand it. 358 00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:04.879 So that means the world. 359 00:16:05.080 --> 00:16:08.399 As a prematurely bolding guy with a crush on unrequired 360 00:16:08.480 --> 00:16:11.240 crush on redheads. Yeah, Charlie Brown was my guy. Absolutely. 361 00:16:12.200 --> 00:16:13.519 Oh yeah. 362 00:16:13.759 --> 00:16:15.960 Now was the Simpsons the other Simpsons of my child 363 00:16:16.080 --> 00:16:18.240 I mean there's no question now was genius. 364 00:16:18.559 --> 00:16:21.159 Now we're in Taylor Switz world now, and so koreas 365 00:16:21.240 --> 00:16:23.320 or bodies of work are kind of viewed as eras, 366 00:16:23.480 --> 00:16:26.279 And I mean, I'm wondering if you view your time 367 00:16:26.279 --> 00:16:28.360 with the Simpsons, your ongoing time with the Simpsons as 368 00:16:28.399 --> 00:16:31.679 like one continuous stream or do you break it down 369 00:16:31.720 --> 00:16:34.480 into bits and pages like, oh, this is this era 370 00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:37.879 of my of my time in Springfield or is it 371 00:16:37.919 --> 00:16:39.759 all one? Is it all of a pace or is. 372 00:16:39.759 --> 00:16:41.000 It you know. 373 00:16:41.120 --> 00:16:44.000 I think era is a little bit overrated when you 374 00:16:44.080 --> 00:16:45.919 consider the diagnosaurs. 375 00:16:45.320 --> 00:16:47.039 Had an era of a hundred million years. 376 00:16:47.080 --> 00:16:52.519 Sure, so like we should talk. The biggest thing I 377 00:16:52.559 --> 00:16:58.360 can say that was definitely changed was the methods of animation. 378 00:16:58.879 --> 00:17:02.840 After season thirteen we went to digital coloring. In twenty 379 00:17:02.879 --> 00:17:06.319 we went to HD. Those necessitated a lot of changes 380 00:17:06.799 --> 00:17:09.720 in the way we would do the show. We actually 381 00:17:09.759 --> 00:17:14.319 predate Google and we predate you know, digital editing, so 382 00:17:14.640 --> 00:17:16.839 those were both huge, huge helps. We used to go 383 00:17:16.880 --> 00:17:20.200 to a research library at five and ask for a book, 384 00:17:20.599 --> 00:17:22.559 you know, do you have the digits of Pie or 385 00:17:22.599 --> 00:17:26.119 something like that. So those would be the things that 386 00:17:26.160 --> 00:17:28.880 I think have been absorbed the most by the show. 387 00:17:29.160 --> 00:17:32.160 In the movie, David Siler and the other directors had 388 00:17:32.200 --> 00:17:36.279 a thing called the Syntique, which was a tablet that 389 00:17:36.400 --> 00:17:38.880 they could draw a scene on and they can pretty 390 00:17:38.920 --> 00:17:41.960 much put it in the rough cut and we could 391 00:17:41.960 --> 00:17:45.559 see it in a day like animated half animated. That 392 00:17:45.839 --> 00:17:48.799 changed differthing for the better too. We now do storyboards 393 00:17:48.839 --> 00:17:49.160 that way. 394 00:17:49.640 --> 00:17:51.799 Speaking of the Simpsons movie, will we be a consultant 395 00:17:51.839 --> 00:17:53.599 for the new Simpsons movie? You're still working on that 396 00:17:53.720 --> 00:17:55.759 or you separate yourself from that project. 397 00:17:55.559 --> 00:17:58.960 At the moment. No, Yeah, I can't really. I'm familiar 398 00:17:59.000 --> 00:18:01.200 with what's going on, but I can't really see any girl. 399 00:18:01.279 --> 00:18:03.720 Oh, that's fine. Yeah, obviously we spoke to someone recently 400 00:18:03.720 --> 00:18:05.160 as well. He said the same thing. But yeah, it's 401 00:18:05.160 --> 00:18:07.279