All language subtitles for Icons.Unearthed.S02E05.The.Later.Years.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264-playWEB_track3_[eng]

MALE NARRATOR:
We all know that in 1989,

The Simpsons changed
the television landscape.

And the size and scope
of its success
shocked everyone.

At the time,
it was a shocking show.

NARRATOR: And for the network
who green-lit The Simpsons,

the more shocking, the better.

You're fired.

[WOMAN MOANING]

There's already kind of
controversy associated with it.

HOMER: This is the most
fun I've ever had in my life.

We got hate mail from teachers.

You haven't been paying
attention to a word I said,
have you?

They just thought,
we were the Antichrist.

DONICK CARY:
The combination of cartoons
and comedy

allowed you to get away
with topics

and stories that I don't think
you can do anywhere else.

NARRATOR: However,
behind the accolades,

both on screen and off,

there were deep issues
with the show.

STACY: Don't ask me.
I'm just a girl.

NARRATOR:
Hiding in plain sight.

They were predominantly male.
They were predominantly white.

NARRATOR:
But as the world changed,
so would The Simpsons.

And this is a story of how
an ever-changing team

managed to take The Simpsons
past its first decade,

turning this wildly,
popular television show

into the biggest and longest
running series ever.

So big, it went beyond
the television.

RICH MOORE: What if what
works on TV, didn't work
in the movie theater?

What if that affects
the franchise?

That's a lot at stake.

[INSPIRING CLASSICAL MUSIC
PLAYING]

[BIRDS TWEETING]

NARRATOR:
For an animated show that takes
over a year to create,

The Simpsons
is remarkably topical.

We've inherited
quite a budget crunch
from President Trump.

NARRATOR: Somehow managing
to hold up a mirror to society.

And it's been that way
for over 30 years.

They're controlling our minds
with flu shots.

I knew it.

Well, kids, now, aren't you glad

we don't believe
in inoculations?

NARRATOR:
But the timely brilliance
of this cultural phenomenon,

doesn't just happen.

Since Sam Simon ran the first
two seasons.

What it was season two,
when it was on Thursday night

up against Bill Cosby,

people were like,
"Oh, my God."

It was number one or
number two or whatever, right?

NARRATOR: But then Fox moved it
back to Sundays.

It settled into a nice,
comfy run on Sunday night,
where it's been for 30 years.

NARRATOR:
But the same old staff
certainly haven't been.

In fact, The Simpsons have had
a high turnover of writers
and showrunners,

whose job it is to maintain
the quality of this
behemoth operation.

And ensure that the Fox
network's flagship show

blazes a bright trail
well into the future.

When Simon was on the show,
he had really set up
this universe.

NARRATOR: But then,
after two years...

Mike Reiss and Al Jean
stepped up.

NARRATOR: ...and then,
two years later,
they stepped down.

But not before leaving
the world with
the legendary season three.

I still maintain, is the best
season of television
ever produced.

Thanks to Mike and Al
for making it.

NARRATOR: These seasons
were so good,

that rumors began surfacing
around Hollywood.

There were rumors
of a Simpsons movie,

three or four years
into the run.

NARRATOR:
But no movie was made.

And instead,
as season five approached...

You know the train
kept on a-rolling.

NARRATOR: Briefly,
without a conductor.

BILL: It was almost three
or four months

before they found someone
to run the show.

That met with
everyone's approval,
which is David Mirkin.

NARRATOR: Leading to a period
which some call...

The David Mirkin years.

NARRATOR: And within
said years, Mirkin pushed
The Simpsons forward

into untapped,
fertile territory.

Homer walking out of the bushes
in The Terminator scene.

-He's gaining on us.
-I'm scared.

Burns, crawling out
of the birthday cake,

in Smithers fantasy,
like Marilyn Monroe.

♪ Happy birthday,
Mr. Smithers ♪

That was David Mirkin's.

NARRATOR: But for some,
the Murkin years,

were in danger of taking
The Simpsons
just a little bit too far.

Go to hell, you old bastard.

Hey, I think they liked us.

NARRATOR:
From the all-important,
heartwarming, feel good aspect,

which James L. Brooks
infused into the comedy.

[GASPS]

When they balance
that sweet tenderness.

That's where I think
The Simpsons
is like really singing.

EVERYONE: Aww.

BILL: It wasn't like he didn't
appreciate sincere episodes,

but I believe he was a huge fan
of the monorail episode.

He was, "Let's do more crazy
episodes like that."

There's nothing on Earth
like a genuine,

bona fide, electrified,
six-car monorail.

And I think some of us
were, like,
that was a one-time thing.

NARRATOR:
Leaving some to wonder
if The Simpsons,

at least, thematically,
might be coming off the tracks.

There was a certain faction
trying to still keep it, like,

this is a regular
American family

that lives in the suburbs,
they're not famous,
they're not rich.

They don't have adventures
of that type.

But Mirkin didn't agree
with that.

NARRATOR:
Well, two years later.

It was almost traditional that
you would leave after two years.

NARRATOR: David Mirkin's run
was over,

and again, it was time to talk
about the movie.

RICH MOORE:
This was a popular show,
successful show.

The next step would be
to make a film.

You guys must be getting pretty
tired of that movie by now.

NARRATOR: But once again
they didn't make the movie.

[GROANS]

Instead forging ahead
with two new showrunners.

And David Mirkin recommended us
for the job.
God bless him.

NARRATOR:
And thus, Bill Oakley here,

and his partner,
Josh Weinstein,
made the leap.

Fortunately,
there were two of us.

NARRATOR: From writers
to showrunners,

these youngsters would
usher in a new era, and
the end of the two-year run.

We said we want
to do it for one,

because we were, like,

I'm not sure whether
we're gonna want to do this

or whether
it's gonna be too hard or
something might go wrong.

We were just like, you know,

let's have as much fun with
this thing as we possibly can,
before it runs out of gas.

NARRATOR:
But this was much more
than a promotion.

It was a golden opportunity.

Because, like most shows,

you've got a studio
to answer to,
you have a network to answer to,

and you've got to answer
to everybody,
and it drives people crazy.

At The Simpsons,

we didn't have to answer
to anybody,
and it was paradise.

NARRATOR: But we all know
what happens in paradise,
trouble.

What the hell?

NARRATOR:
The new showrunners
have taken possession

of the best comedy
on television.

There was only one question.

How are you going to do

a better version
of The Simpsons.

NARRATOR:
Not wanting to replicate
the wild and crazy...

David Mirkin years.

NARRATOR: The answer was not
to reinvent the wheel.

But to set it in reverse,
and go back.

What we decided was,
we were just
gonna copy season three.

Welcome to an event
that harkens back
to the carefree days,

of the Great Depression.

Because season three, as I said,
is the best season.

Again, thanks to Mike and Al,
for making it.

[BABY COOING]

Lavish attention on me,
and entertain me.

JULIA:
Season three or four,

that is what I consider
the golden age.

That's what I grew up with.

That's where my love of
The Simpsons initially sparked.

But we were like, okay, well,

season three had
three Lisa episodes,

six Homer episodes.

Thanks.

Two crazy episodes.

One Itchy and Scratchy...

One Sideshow Bob.

NARRATOR:
Oh, and just for fun...

I think we allotted like
two episodes per season,
just to go nuts.

What's the matter?

[SCREAMING]

NARRATOR: But Bill
and Josh's commitment

to the earlier series,
went further still.

We moved back
to the old writer's room

because we liked its kind
of shabby charm.

NARRATOR: But it was Bill
and Josh's job
to push the show forward.

Not relax in the shabby comfort
of the past.

Using the framework of
season three was fine, but
they'd still need new stories.

So to do that, well,
they went back and did
what they'd always done.

Twice a year, there would be,
what is called
the writer's retreat.

These were things that in
the '70s, under James L. Brooks,

all the writers
from Mary Tyler Moore,
they would go to Palm Springs,

or they would go to Las Vegas,

and it would be a retreat
for like a week.

And it'd be like a vacation.

NARRATOR: A vacation that could
cost you your job.

This is your chance to shine
or get fired.

NARRATOR: But this was
the fledgling Fox Network
of the '90s.

And Rupert Murdoch's operation
did things differently.

BILL: By the time we started,
it's an afternoon
at a conference room,

at a hotel, a 100 yards
from the office.

JAMES BROOKS: We have
these retreats that we do,
that I do,

where we try
and crack the season.

Where we all lock ourselves
in a hotel room

for around 10, 12 hours.

And we work out,
maybe,

a lot of the stories
that we'll be
doing during the year.

NARRATOR: No matter
where it was,

the writer's retreat
could be a daunting forum.

Convened by the show's
most senior founding geniuses.

It was Matt, and it was Jim
and they were really
paying attention.

You walk in the room and
everyone started to sit down

in a circle, at this thing.
And you're like,

"All right, intimidating."

Everybody would,
we'd sit in a big circle.

We go around,
you tell your story.

People would hopefully
laugh a little bit.

You could tell whether people
were excited or not.

Especially if Brooks and Matt
started to chime in,

then you knew
you were in good shape.

And Jim's advice
during the story retreat
was incredibly valuable.

He always knew exactly what
the heart of the story was.

You know, how to get
the most Simpsons out of it,

how to get the most family
out of it.

How to direct it,
and with comedy.

You know you're trying to think
of 22 episodes,

but within each episode,
there's many stories or bits
or B stories or C stories.

So, sometimes what seemed
like an A story,

would become a B story
and then be partnered with
something else, you know.

It was a way of, like,
kind of refilling
the story coffers every year.

And then at the end,
there was this gong,

that I think had been brought
over again
from Mary Tyler Moore.

-[GONG SOUNDS]
-Hey, watch the gong, jerk.

Which would pronounce
this story as done.

And someone would ring the gong,
and then we move on
to the next one.

NARRATOR: But
as the gong rang out

through the valleys
of Los Angeles,

Bill and Josh,
along with Matt and James,

started settling
on the storylines,

for their season-three-inspired
season seven.

It's worth remembering that,

the stories being written
in the writer's room

were reverberating
all around the world,

for millions of people.

One of those people
was a young Julia Prescott.

I have contributed way
too much of my life

watching and rewatching
every episode of The Simpsons,

from seasons one through ten.

NARRATOR: And for Julia,
it wasn't just about
pure entertainment.

My parents divorcing that
actually strengthened the bond

of watching The Simpsons
with my dad,

because that was something
that we could,
like, share together.

-Woohoo!
-Woohoo!

He basically made
like a mix tape VHS,
of Simpsons episodes,

and he gave it
to my sister and I.

And, you know,
he didn't say this as, like,

watch this when you miss me.

But it ended up
being that for us.

NARRATOR: The Simpsons
had inspired Julia,

to want to pursue
a life as a screenwriter,

and maybe one day
work on The Simpsons.

JULIA:
When you're writing comedy,

you're trying to make
the people that

you know, you look up to
laugh, right?

We're trying to make
our parents laugh.

We're trying to make, you know,
our teachers laugh.

We're trying to make
the authority figures
in our life laugh.

We want to reach those people
because we want to impress them.

NARRATOR: But as a young woman
wanting to make an impression
as a comedy writer,

Julia faced an uphill battle.

Ninety percent of writers rooms
for sitcoms at that level

around that time
were predominantly male.

They were predominantly white.

NARRATOR: Which begs
the question,

if going back in time to the...

Golden Age...

NARRATOR:
...was such a good idea
after all?

Don't toy with me, woman.

NARRATOR: The Simpsons
was a groundbreaking sitcom,

but it was still a boys club,
as tight as any other.

I thought you boys
might be hungry,

so, I whipped up
some club sandwiches.

Is there a gender issue
surrounding The Simpsons?

Of course,
there's a gender issue.

Definitely, the tone and feel
and vibe was,

a bunch of guys getting together
and making each other laugh.

NARRATOR: Like in this episode
from season five,

where Josh and Bill
wrote an episode about sexism.

[WHISTLES] Hey, Jiggles,

grab a pad and back that
gorgeous butt in here.

Oh, you get away.

NARRATOR: However,
the irony was lost
on the Fox promo department.

The TV guide ad
that Fox made, says,

"Springfield gets
a sexy new doll,"

and had the drawing of Bart
looking up the doll's skirt,

which really flies in the face
of what the whole episode
is about.

STACY:
Let's bake some cookies
for the boys.

But that's very typical of Fox.

NARRATOR: Well,
you shouldn't be surprised.

We became the bad boys
of television.

The Fox Network has sunk
to a new low.

NARRATOR: The America,
The Simpsons
had been created in

was moving on.

Attitudes were changing.

The show
and those involved in it
needed to change as well.

But this wasn't to say
they didn't understand women
at all.

I'm actually really blown away
to know,

that there weren't ever very
many women in the writer's room.

They always did
a pretty good job
of representing

the nuances
of being a little girl
or being a housewife.

LISA: OJ!
BART: Morphine!

HOMER: Lobo!

NARRATOR: However...

It's too bad there weren't
more examples

of women being hired
throughout the process.

Because I'm sure there have
always been incredible women

that could have been brought on
the writing team.

Come on, Stacy.

I've waited my whole life
to hear you speak.

Don't you have anything
relevant to say?

STACY: Don't ask me.
I'm just a girl. [GIGGLES]

NARRATOR: As showrunner,
Bill Oakley was hopeful

of adding some female faces
to the team.

Obviously, there should be
diversity in the writer's room.

NARRATOR: However,
the entrenched systems

of hiring staff
didn't make that easy.

This was before the Internet
where people's agents,

would send scripts over,
so you should consider
hiring these people.

They weren't sending
any people of color.

They weren't sending any women.

My agent put me up
for different shows,

and they'd come back,
and they'd say,

"Oh, we already have a woman."

NARRATOR: However,
Bill was able to
bring on board his wife,

and Jennifer Crittenden,

to add slightly more balance
to the writer's room.

My wife wrote the episode
where Skinner and Krabappel
fall in love.

NARRATOR: Bill's wife,
Rachel Pulido,

wrote season eight's
"Grade School Confidential."

She wasn't on the staff,
but she was a comedy writer.

NARRATOR: While Jennifer wrote
season seven's,

"Scenes from the Class Struggle
in Springfield"

and season eight's
"The Twisted World
of Marge Simpson."

There was a little bit of,
a tiny amount of diversity
in that era.

There's a lot of reckoning
to be had with,

like being a show that started
in the late '80s, early '90s,

and what was acceptable
at that time,

when you felt was
with good intentions,

you are now having to,
like, change.

NARRATOR: As scrutiny began
to ever so slowly build

on the industry's
lack of diversity...

There's a lot of guilt swirling
around to do the right thing.

NARRATOR: The opposite
was happening for Bill
and the team,

when it came to scrutiny
from the network.

Critics didn't review the show
because it was old.

And so we were just able
to literally write the shows
that we wanted

or how the writers wanted to do,
for our own amusement.

NARRATOR: Not that it mattered,

The Simpsons' famous
no-notes policy with Fox

meant that they could
get away with murder.

However, there was one set
of notes that they had to take.

No.

BILL: You have to take
the censor notes.

The notes would generally be
like two or three lines,

typed lines, on a piece
of Fox stationary,

that said episode so and so,

"Please delete Homer's use
of the word 'scumbag.'"

-[PEOPLE GASP]
-The mark.

BILL: "Please make sure that
Homer's naked rear end
is shown with discretion."

Things like that.
And so generally,

it was almost entirely
our policy to ignore the notes.

On the episode,
"Marge be Not Proud,"

the shoplifting episode,
there was a joke in there,

where Bart
is trying to bullshit
the security guard

who's arrested him,
the security guard says...

If I wanted smoke
blown up my ass,

I'd be at home with a pack of
cigarettes and a short length
of hose.

And we were like,
"That's not so offensive."

We say "ass" all the time.

I guess it was perhaps
just the mental image
that it conjures up.

Anyway, the censor said,

"You can't put this on the air."

And we said,
"We're putting it on the air."
And someone edited it out.

They edited it out
of the broadcast
without our permission.

And that was one of the times
where we called Brooks,

and Brooks called the network
and read them the Riot Act.

And so subsequently,
it was back in the episode,

for all future broadcasts
and syndication.

NARRATOR:
It wasn't the only time
Josh and Bill

would get into a scuffle
with the censors.

The other one was
the John Waters' episode.

If you're inviting me over?

I practically insist.
Shall we say five o'clock?

It was a colossal,
you know,
set off all the alarms.

Well, I could wrap
a bow around you
and slap on a price tag.

When we sent over
the first draft,
of "Homer's Phobia",

three solid pages of notes
came back.

That John is the greatest guy
in the world.

We've got to have
him and his wife over
for drink sometime.

Mmm, I don't think
he's married, Homer.

With literal, I don't know,
40, 50 notes.

He prefers the company of men.

Who doesn't?

Every single mention of
anything having to do,
with John Waters being gay.

My son doesn't stand a chance.

The whole world's gone gay.

Or homosexuality or anything,
was, had to be deleted.

John is a ho-mo...

-Right.
-...sexual.

And at the end there was a big,
like, in bold, that said,

"The entire topic and substance
of this episode
are not suitable for broadcast."

Period.

Oh, my God! Oh, my God!
Oh, my God!
I danced with a gay.

And we were like, "Okay,
well, let's just do
what we've always done,

which is
completely ignore them."

Marge, Lisa, promise me
you won't tell anyone.

Promise me.

And so the episode went on
and we recorded it,
and we animated it.

The president of Fox
had gotten fired.

They put in place,
a new censor,

and we sent it over,
and we were, like,
fingers crossed.

And the fax came back
and it said,
"Suitable for broadcast."

NARRATOR: Meanwhile,
loyal viewer

and aspiring Simpsons writer,
Julia Prescott,
was still as hooked as ever.

JULIA: There was one episode,
"Treehouse of Horror,"
one of my favorites.

They had one
that was based on Coraline,

and so they got to do
the CGI treatment to it.

Because it was this sort of
Roger Rabbit, like,
live action, animation hybrid.

But then it also used CGI,
during a time when Pixar
wasn't really a thing.

So, it stood out in that way
as well.

NARRATOR: Not only
was this Julia's favorite,
but it was also Bill's.

So when Emmys rolled around,
there was only one choice
as their entry.

Because we thought people
would be so dazzled by
our pioneering 3-D animation,

they would give us the award,
but they didn't.

So next year we were like,
"emotional episode."

The animation quality
is not going to enter into it.

So we entered the John Waters
episode in that one.

-So, you should be flattered.
-Great.

NARRATOR: However, the show
Bill was looking forward

to making the most
in season seven was...

[READING]

Sometimes I wonder about
all the people in this town.

Josh Weinstein and Bill Oakley
were actually wanting

to make a show that was
just about the characters...

Howdy, Reverend Lovejoy.

...that lived in Springfield.

Aah! Superintendent Chalmers,
welcome.

Showing just
how big Springfield is.

NARRATOR:
The show was ambitious
and complicated,

the idea being, to showcase
all of Springfield's

weird and wacky
fringe characters.

His inspiration, you could say,
was somewhat divine.

In season four, there was this
episode called "The Front,"
came in short,

so they put in this thing at
the end called "The Adventures
of Ned Flanders."

♪ Everyone else
Loves Ned Flanders ♪

Not me.

It was one joke.

Knock that off, you two.
It's time for church.

We're not going to church today.

You give me one good reason.

It's Saturday.

[CHUCKLES] Oakley, doakley do.

And we were, like,
"That's so fun."

What if we just made
an entire episode

filled with nothing
but these shorts,

and put them all together with
a little bit of a wraparound,

that holds them together?"

We had, like a fantasy
football draft.

Where everybody got to pick
their favorite characters.

There's such an immense library.

That's one of the great things
about The Simpsons

that you don't have
on other shows...

Hi, everybody.

...is a library of infinitely
interesting side characters.

Sorry I'm late.

NARRATOR: It was
a revolutionary idea
for the show.

It was looking like,
for Bill and Josh,

that it wasn't just
the same old business as usual
after all.

What is worse is a writers room
regurgitating the same ideas
over and over,

and not wanting to expand
outside of the box,

and not wanting to take risks
like that.

I guess interesting stuff does
happen to people in Springfield.

NARRATOR:
Well, we'll see about that.

Showrunners Bill Oakley
and Josh Weinstein

wanted their big contribution
on The Simpsons

to be an ambitious
anthology episode,

focusing on the wider
Springfield community.

But with so many
beloved characters,
who would make it in?

I knew that I wanted
to write Chalmers,

and Chalmers and Skinner
came as a package because
I love that dynamic they have.

NARRATOR: As a Matt Groening
favorite,

Krusty the Klown
had to show up somewhere.

One of the greatest characters
ever,

has some really fun lore
associated with him.

He was based on,
like an actual clown

that Matt Groening would watch
as a kid.

NARRATOR: That clown,
a popular local TV star

in Groening's native Portland,
was named Rusty Nails.

What the hell was that?

There was a time where
there was a consideration
that maybe Bart's hero...

Cruddy, crummy,
Krusty the Klown.

...Krusty the Klown,
is actually Homer.

NARRATOR: Perhaps
"Twenty-Two Short Films"

would allow that storyline
to be flushed out.

Another fan favorite
was Troy McClure.

I'm Troy McClure.

You might remember me
from such films as

Today We Kill,
Tomorrow we Die.

and Gladys the Groovy Mule.

One of my very favorite episodes
of The Simpsons,
is "A Fish called Selma."

That's right, boys.

Troy's back from the gutter
and he's brought someone
with him.

That's a character that
you typically only see for
a couple of seconds at a time.

And now he gets
his own episode,
and he's about to marry,

like, a core family member's
relative. It's kind of crazy.

NARRATOR:
Oh, but the craziness
didn't stop there.

We talked repeatedly
about a Troy McClure movie,

and that was
one of the things
that we discussed.

NARRATOR:
But then, as usual...

I'll always remember you,
but not from your films.

NARRATOR: ...that movie
didn't happen.

Other likely favorites
to make a splash were...

One of my other favorite
characters, Lionel Hutz.

Lionel Hutz, attorney at law.
Here's my card.

It turns into a sponge
when you put it in the water.

NARRATOR:
Marge's sisters,
Patty and Selma,

they hate Homer.

They chain-smoked
whenever they could.

And they loved the TV show,
MacGyver.

MacGyver was wearing a tank top.

Dang.

NARRATOR: Mayor Quimby.

Watch it, you talking tub
of donut batter.

NARRATOR: Lenny and Carl.

If they hire a woman, we won't
be able to spin on the floor.

And we can't take off our pants
when it gets real hot.

And we won't be able to pee
in the drinking fountain.

NARRATOR:
And living nightmare,
Sideshow Bob.

[BOTH SCREAMING]
Sideshow Bob!

CHRIS: Kelsey Grammer
as Sideshow Bob.

Basically, he's taken,
you know,
what initially was just

kind of a slightly
pretentious sidekick
to Krusty the Klown

and turned it into
this parody of

the pretentious Frasier
character from
Cheers and Frasier.

I'm Dr. Frasier Crane.
I'm sorry I startled you.

NARRATOR: But, surprisingly,
none of these
well known characters made it

as a main part of the episode.

The episode opened
with Apu going to a party.

For the next five minutes,
I'm going to party like
it's on sale for 1999.

I love Apu. I think
he's such a a good person.

Quick, no time to cook them,
they will plump in my stomach.

I think he was always played
as a really smart

and funny and successful
and dimensional character.

Oh, beautiful.
No ring, I see.

NARRATOR:
And a little controversial.
But we'll get to that.

Don't worry I'll tell everybody
you were untouchable.

[PEOPLE SCREAMING]

NARRATOR: Of course,
no episode would be complete
without Burns and Smithers.

I'm allergic to bee stings.

They cause me to die.

NARRATOR: Smithers'
allergic reaction,

put him in touch
with the infamous Dr. Nick.

Help me...

No time, man.

NARRATOR: Who happened
to be required

to perform emergency surgery
on Grampa Simpson.

[ABE SCREAMS]

I love Grampa Simpson because
he is just on a different plane.

I'm itchy.
I got ants in my pants.

I'm discombobulated.

I also love that they give him
a partner in Jasper.

Free nose jobs for everybody.

Yikes, you first.

Give me a Van Heflin.

Who isn't really much help
in negotiating, like,

where they are,
what they're doing.

NARRATOR: Moe and Barney
were to be expected.

Remember when I said
I'd have to send away to NASA
to calculate your bar tab?

Moe really works
as a punch line.

Moe has a couple
of roles to play.

They have a lot of fun
with the stuff
they do with them.

Ha, freeze, dude.

NARRATOR: But not
Dwight Diddlehopper,

who robbed Moe
of his hard-earned cash.

No, stay out of there.
Stay out of there!

NARRATOR: And the short film
that Bill Oakley himself wrote
was one of the longer ones.

Ah, Superintendent Chalmers.
Welcome.

I hope you're prepared
for an unforgettable luncheon.

I was like, I wanted to write
one that was just this.

Chalmers questioning Skinner
on his mild lies.

Superintendent, I was just,
er, just stretching my calves.

Except this time,
he doesn't stop.

Is there smoke coming out
of your oven, Seymour?

That isn't smoke, its steam.

Steam from the steamed clams
we're having.

Superintendent, I hope
you're ready for
mouthwatering hamburgers.

I thought we were having
steamed clams.

No, I said steamed hams.

The lies get a little
more preposterous.

[SHOUTING] Good Lord,
what is happening in there?

Aurora borealis.

Aurora borealis?

I guess he's so baffled
at the end by the baldness
of the lie,

the aurora borealis lie,
that he's just like, "Okay."

Well, Seymour,
you are an odd fellow,

but I must say,
you steam a good ham.

BILL: I don't think
anybody thought
it was that funny.

And I was like, "Well, fuck it.
I'm the showrunner,
it's going in any way."

NARRATOR: A delightfully
silly take on Pulp Fiction
began here,

with Chief Wiggum, Sergeant Lou
and Officer Eddie.

Wiggum,
is a Edward G. Robinson voice.

It's this reference to,
you know,
1930's gangster movies.

Local deputy
captured Johnny Rocco.

What is a really, really
quick funny comedic voice.

NARRATOR: Other characters
to appear were Bumblebee Man.

[SPEAKING SPANISH]

NARRATOR: Herman Hermann.

Looks like the spider
caught himself
a couple of flies.

NARRATOR: Reverend Lovejoy,
behaving very unchristian like.

Good boy.

Do your dirty sinful business.

NARRATOR: Cletus,
the slack-jawed yokel.

You might wear these
to your job interview.

NARRATOR: The Van Houtens
with Comic Book Guy.

Milhouse, what's going on?

You said you just needed
to use the bathroom.

Now I find you buying comics.

Josh wrote the one
with Comic Book Guy,
and Milhouse and stuff.

I think his got cut
a little bit for time.

NARRATOR: But perhaps
the best assemblage
of characters

came when Lisa got gum
caught in her hair.

Leave it in as evidence.

Bazooka Joe's got deep pockets.

Perhaps I can help.

My papa is foreman
of the Dusseldorf Gum Works.

[HONKING]

NARRATOR: The episode
shined a spotlight

on just how complex
and developed The Simpsons
universe had become.

And that, unlike many sitcoms
that had come before it,

was possibly at the heart
of its success.

Bill and Josh
had taken The Simpsons
where no one else had.

But like everybody else,
after two years...

By the end of season eight,
I felt that we were...

I think Josh and I both agreed
we were kind of
running on fumes.

NARRATOR: And besides,
TV shows have a shelf life.

How much longer can
any sitcom ever last?

A family that doesn't know
the meaning of the word
"cancelled,"

The Simpsons!

NARRATOR: Bill and Josh
wanted to be on the right side
of the best-before date.

No sitcom has ever lasted
more than ten seasons.

Cheers,
I think went ten seasons.

Seinfeld, I think,
went eight or nine.

And The Simpsons was already
on season eight.

And we're like,
"This thing cannot possibly
go on for very much longer."

NARRATOR: After Bill
and Josh's two-year tenure,

veteran writer, Mike Scully,
was promoted the showrunner.

Mike came from a different
background, and he had...

I think,
he worked as a standup.

NARRATOR: And the change
was immediate.

Mike was a little bit more like,
somebody who had

you know,
worked on a number of shows,

and was like, "Oh, I can
put a schedule together.

If we stick to that schedule,
we don't have to
stay that late."

All the writers could kind of
plan their social lives

by looking at the King's
schedule, because they knew

I wouldn't be working
any of those nights.

They would have
that night off.

NARRATOR:
Mike had been a writer
on the show for four years,

and he was about to change
more than the schedule.

But I will say that after,

Josh and Bill
left the show as showrunners,

it changed the tone.

There was a little bit
of a shift in the writer's room.

NARRATOR: For some,
it was a breath of fresh air.

Working in a room that
Mike Scully's running,

is the closest to what
people think comedy writing is,

where it's like really fun
and people are happy all day.

It's not like that at all,

except when Mike Scully's
running the room.

NARRATOR: One thing that
kept the writers happier,
was better pay.

He very famously was the reason
why the show became unionized.

He led the walk out
to get the show
in the Writer's Guild.

♪ They have the plant

♪ But we have the power ♪

NARRATOR: One of the biggest
shows on network television
was also an outlier.

Working outside
the union system,
and reaping the benefits.

Just not for its writers.

Half the episodes I wrote,
I get no residuals

and then, we did a walk out,
we got on the Writer's Guild.

Half of them. I get residuals.
I'm like,

"What?
That's way better for writers."

Before they flipped
to being a WGA show,

they were
an animation guild show.

And that means that they were
making around a third

of what a scale paid
WGA show would make.

NARRATOR: Unionization ended
what had been a period
of undivided profits for Fox.

So that's a chunk of time
of Bart mania happening,

of the show, generating
just millions of dollars,

if not billions of dollars
for the people that were
the fat cats at the top.

And the writers that were
putting their blood, sweat
and tears into this product

weren't able to, you know,
get what they were owed.

NARRATOR: But the biggest
change of the Scully era
was a change of direction.

ALLIE: From season nine on,
it just gets a little bit
more experimental.

They have to, like,
start exploring

the family a little bit
differently,

to find new ways
to tell jokes.

You can't just make
the same jokes
over and over again.

NARRATOR: It was proof
of what Bill Oakley knew
better than anyone.

The stories use
a lot of material,

and they use it fast,
and they devour it.

And if you don't want
to repeat yourself,

you're in severe danger
of running out of stories.

NARRATOR: But in evolving,
many fans thought

the show had ventured
too far off model.

What is this place?

This is the Island.

The calling card
of the Scully episodes,

The Simpsons were never
sillier than it was

then, like, you know,
the "Island" episode.

Once you get used
to the druggings,
this isn't a bad place.

Oh, it's wonderful.

The real Simpson's never
come back to Springfield.

NARRATOR: The concern grew,

but the audience
wouldn't return
to Springfield, either,

as a backlash to
the change in tone grew.

LISA: The Island.

I love the jockeys episode
gets so much abuse.

The worst episode ever.

An amazing thing to me,
I still marvel
at the jockeys episode,

everything Homer does is right.

I don't think there's any other
Simpsons story like that.

NARRATOR:
Suddenly, this was a Simpsons

where Homer could no longer
be relied upon

to be the dumbest guy
in the room.

He's right, start to finish.

I admire that story so much.
It is so unique in that way.

NARRATOR: But did
The Simpsons audience
really want

to see their favorite
characters grow?

Fandom is a fickle thing
because you come into

liking a thing
for very specific reasons.

And you're in
this contradiction
of you,

of course don't want it
to change because

you want it to be preserved
in amber of, "why you like it."

But you also want it
to advance in a way

that doesn't seem like
it's dog paddling,
or it's stuck in some way.

NARRATOR: As a showrunner,
Mike pushed the show
in new directions.

But as a writer,

he adhered to the philosophy
James L. Brooks had
instilled from episode one.

It's hard to find people
who are capable of writing
Simpsons scripts with heart.

Writing Simpsons scripts
is not so hard,

if you're just gonna write
crazy shit.

But if you want to infuse it
with heart and believability,
that's hard.

And not everybody who worked
for The Simpsons could do that,
and Mike was able to do that.

NARRATOR: But this was now
the Internet Era.

And The Simpsons,
like everything else,

became fodder
for the pop culture wars.

[CHUCKLES] There will always be
a comic book guy

who's waiting
at the end of the road
telling you you blew it.

Rest assured that I was
on the Internet within minutes,

registering my disgust
throughout the world.

So you might as well
just keep making something good.

NARRATOR: Which is exactly
what Mike Scully planned to do.

Worst episode ever.

NARRATOR: Ah, no,
the opposite of that.

And incidentally, Mike Scully
was the first showrunner
to break that two-year cycle.

He stayed for three, and then
throwing the two-year curse
out the window...

[GROANS]

Sorry, Ned.

NARRATOR: ...Al Jean returned,
where he remains to this day.

But as The Simpsons
continued and the '90s
became the 2000s,

even after all these years,

with active involvement
from James L. Brooks
and Matt Groening,

it seemed, that perhaps
The Simpsons was
starting to lose its spark.

CHRIS:
It's not making headlines.
It's not this beloved thing

that people are gathering
in bars anymore to watch.

It's just this thing that's been
around for a long time.

I think a lot of people
had begun to think,

probably fairly soon
it'll think about wrapping up.

NARRATOR: With The Simpsons
on the verge
of a likely cancellation...

And then all of a sudden...

NARRATOR: The Simpsons universe
expanded exponentially.

It just got to the point
where Fox was like,
"We need to make a movie."

You know, it's like,
"This needs the branch out
of just the show."

NARRATOR:
And so The Simpsons movie
was finally green-lit,

titled Imaginatively,
The Simpsons Movie.

To make this film a success,
they would need
some big guns involved.

Big guns like director,
Rich Moore, who thought...

"It's about fucking time."

NARRATOR: And having left
The Simpsons years before
to work on The Critic,

the announcement of the movie
got Rich back in the door.

I had not worked
on the show for years.

NARRATOR: But it only took him
minutes to wonder...

Why would someone go see

a movie of something
you can see for free on TV?
Like what...

What is the attraction,
you know, to the audience
to go see this thing?

NARRATOR: It's not like
they could wow the world

with big screen stars
and celebrity cameos.

Who are we kidding?
Of course they could.

-Who are you?
-I'm Andre Agassi.

NARRATOR: The Simpsons
had used well-known actors

and musicians
to great effect for years.

People like Jay Leno.

Somebody want to get this kid
a TV?

Whoa, gee, thanks, mister.

Yeah, just joking.
I'm Jay Leno.

Oh.

NARRATOR: Few shows
can rival The Simpsons

for its illustrious history
of guest stars.

Hey, kids, Batman.

NARRATOR: But it wasn't
always that way.

At the beginning
of The Simpsons
when it came out,

animation was not revered
as it is today.

So much so that when certain
actors like Dustin Hoffman

would come on and
do a voice role,

he would change his name
in the credits

because he didn't want to be
associated with a cartoon.

Mrs. Krabappel,
you're trying to seduce me.

[LAUGHS MISCHIEVOUSLY]
Well.

NARRATOR:
However, once the show
got some momentum,

it became a badge of honor
to appear on the show.

Much of the program's
popularity
stemmed from the chance

to see a favorite celebrity
appear.

How you doing?

NARRATOR:
Some were controversial.

MAN: Michael Jackson,
the thriller himself,

is moonwalking his way
right here to our very own,
Springfield.

Hi, I'm Michael Jackson
from The Jacksons.

I'm Homer Simpson
from The Simpsons.

Michael Jackson
played a character

who was in a mental institution.

And said he was Michael Jackson
and no one believed him,

so they put him
in a mental institution.

[LAUGHS]

And that was...
That was a great episode.

I can't believe
you never heard of me.

I'm a very popular entertainer.

Well, of course
I've heard of you.

I mean, you'd have to be
living under a rock

not to know,
what'd you say your name was?

Whatever tier of celebrity
you were, The Simpsons
was on your level.

You didn't look at it,
as you know,

"I'm gonna go and be on some,
you know, little TV show

on the Fox Network
or some kids thing."

But you know, lots of people
wanted to make you laugh.

Michael Jackson among them.

♪ Billy Jean is not my lover ♪

As the seasons progressed,

people wanted to be on
The Simpsons and do voices.

You're the reason
I went into comedy.

If it weren't for you,
I'd be a doctor.

Yeah, right.
Thanks.

So, there were
a lot of movie stars,
and TV stars

and people wanting
to be a voice.

Billy Baldwin.

I'm Alec Baldwin.
Could you get off me?

I think it's like a true honor

for any actor
to be on The Simpsons.

You know you've officially
made it,

when you're being asked
to play a guest star.

NARRATOR: The show
would go on to amass its own
Hall of Fame of cameos.

George Carlin did a voice.

My man, you've gone granola.

Mark Hamill came in
and recorded.

HAMILL:
You know, I'm here today
as Luke Skywalker,

but I'm also here
to talk about Sprint.

NARRATOR: The tradition
would eventually see it
set a Guinness world record

for the most guest stars
in a television series.

MALE ANNOUNCER:
Neil Patrick Harris
as Bart Simpson.

Bart, I'm scared.
Let's get out of here.

NEIL: Shut up!
Where do you want it, Skinner?

Magic Johnson!
Y'ello.

Is this really Homer Simpson?

Mr. Leonard Nimoy.

Ha-ha, I'd say this vessel
could do at least warp five.

If everyone's going
to pick guitar,

I'm not gonna have enough
to go round.

NARRATOR: The staff of
The Simpsons were superstars
in their own right.

Like bass.

NARRATOR: But that didn't
stop them from being
star-struck themselves

with the caliber of celebrity
they're dealing with.

So, I was down with Dan Marino,
recording his thing,

and found out that that was
happened to be the same time

that they were recording U2
in the studio,

back on the lot,
with the rest of the cast.

I was like,
"Wait, everybody's
hanging out with U2."

So every other writers,
was like,

"You know,
the Edge is really funny.
He was dadada," I'm like,

"I'm with Dan Marino,
like that's..."

Love you, Dan.
It was a great session.
We had a great time.

But still.

NARRATOR: The lineup
of musicians on The Simpsons
could rival the Grammys.

Aerosmith!

[GIRLS SCREAMING]

Love, Ringo.

Sting, you look tired.
Maybe you should take a rest.

Not while one of my fans
needs me.

Wow, Linda Ronstadt!

Hey, Red Hot Chili Peppers!

I'm Dolly Parton!

LISA: Wow, Paul McCartney!

HOMER: It's Elton John!

We had to make
an emergency landing.

It's that damn chandelier again.

NARRATOR: But with a movie
on the way,

The Simpsons were looking
for Oscars, not Grammys.

Woohoo!

NARRATOR: Stakes were high
for Fox's most profitable
property.

And by waiting so long
to make it,

they created a dilemma
for themselves.

The fans know these characters
and this world really well.

They have an idea in their mind,
like what a Simpsons movie
should be.

What if what works on TV
didn't work
in the movie theater?

NARRATOR: And what would
a box office flop mean
for the TV show?

Fox was asking itself
some big questions.

Would people go,
"Oh, you know,
I used to like it,

but then I saw the movie
and it sucked."

That's a lot at stake, you know,
for a studio and a network.

NARRATOR: So,
the movie was happening.

And upscaling
this 30-minute sitcom,

which in turn
had been upgraded
from 30-second interstitials,

would stretch the entire team,
out of their comfort zone.

Right on, dudes.

The Simpsons was at its best,

making big drama
off of small stories,

and for the movie we thought
we needed to do a big story.

But it did take us
a little bit away
from our wheelhouse,

and I think that was
part of the reason

why it was such a struggle
to make
everybody happy with it,

because it wasn't exactly
what we did.

What kind of story
can we tell in a movie

that doesn't totally blow up
who the characters are?

NARRATOR: The demands
of a big screen story
on a TV format...

How do we do a protagonist arc,

with characters that no one
wants to see change?

NARRATOR:
Well, who needs an ark
when you've got a, dome.

Yeah, just, you know,
a city covered by a dome,

and like, a bomb
is going to blow up.

NARRATOR: But for
the most part everyone agrees
they pulled it off.

[CROWD CHEERING]

NARRATOR:
And The Simpsons Movie,

was a hit,
taking in half a billion
at the box office.

By the time
it finally comes together,

it almost feels like...

Shouldn't this have happened
ten years ago?

...it's late.

NARRATOR:
Well, better late than never,

a sentiment
that could also apply

to the staff now involved
with The Simpsons.

Because as the world around
The Simpsons changed,

The Simpsons continued
to resemble the world
that had created them.

Hollywood in general,
has been, has been,

white men have run it,

so the characters
represented by white men.

Those are the stories
they want to hear,
you know or understand.

[LAUGHS SLYLY] Well, for once,

the rich white man
is in control.

NARRATOR: The Simpsons
of the 21st Century
has faced a reckoning,

just like the Hollywood system
that created it.

CHRIS:
There aren't any important
Black characters.

Aah. Diagnosis?

Delicious.

I've got the prescription
for you, Doctor.

You know, if the show
is being created today,

you would have
important Black characters.

You would have important
Latino characters,

and a lot more care
would have been

put into construction
of the universe.

NARRATOR: For the TV show
to continue to prosper,

it was clear
the show needed to evolve.

The show that came out
so long ago and it has evolved.

And I think it's amazing
that the cast

and the creatives
have been willing to listen

and understand that they,

they haven't always had
the most, like, diverse,

reflective of society,
writer's room,
as most shows have not.

But I'm so angry.

You're a woman.
You can hold on to it forever.

NARRATOR: From the writer
of the very first
Simpsons episode...

I'm just here for
every woman who's, like,
pounding on the glass.

NARRATOR: ...to the now
prolific female writers,

who have broken
that glass ceiling.

The women who have worked
on the show are incredible.

NARRATOR:
And The Simpsons
stories of today

come from voices that,
not so long ago,

weren't heard
in the writer's room,
let alone on TV.

JULIA: Carolyn Omine wrote
one of my favorite episodes.

And it's a story about Lisa
going to a Halloween
horror nights-esque event,

and getting really scared
for the first time.

Excuse me. I'm lost.
Could you please help me?

[SCREAMING]

NARRATOR: And as for Julia,
and her dreams of one day

writing a Simpsons episode,
never fear...

[SCREAMING]

...because this story
has a happy ending.

I've been lucky to be working
as a professional writer
for over a decade.

NARRATOR: And in season 32,
Julia scored
the gig of a lifetime.

Got that writing gig
like anyone else
gets any other writing gigs.

I submitted.

NARRATOR: And she was hired
to write an episode
of "Treehouse of Horror..."

Oh.

...during a time when it was
the side characters and
situations in the real world,

giving her plenty
of inspiration.

As it happened
during a pandemic.

NARRATOR:
But that wouldn't stop
this lifelong Simpsons fan.

Given that I wasn't staffed,
that I was a freelancer,

that this was, you know,
very important to get it right,
get my name out there.

NARRATOR: And Julia did both.

JULIA: The most special,
insane part of it

was seeing my name
with a scary title card come up.

Julia "Ghoulia" Prescott.

NARRATOR:
Much like Josh and Bill's,

Twenty-Two Short Films
About Springfield.

[BOTH LAUGHING]

Julia's story is one of the
many that have contributed to
the bigger Simpson's world.

I feel like there's so many
great voices in that room now,

it's unfortunate
that it started so male,

but I'm just grateful
that they're looking at it
differently now.

NARRATOR: And as we'll see
in the next episode,

the small town of Springfield
truly is a big, big world,

filled with infinite stories.

And a seemingly
bottomless source of jokes...

I bet you want
a piece of me.

NARRATOR:
...that remain as timely,

touching,

edgy, and hilarious,

as ever.

The Simpsons has defied,
like, any precedent,

in it setting
its own precedent of,

"This is a show
that has lasted this long,
and it could last forever."

[CAPTIVATING INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC
PLAYING]