Matt Selman admittedly idolized The Simpsons and dreamed of working on a show like it someday. He just never imagined he’d actually get to do it, let along become Showrunner. “Holy cow, we can’t screw this up!”, he recalled thinking when he was put at the steering wheel of the longest-running sitcom in television history. Matt was the lone panelist at a micro panel at this year’s ATX TV Festival, giving fans and industry insiders a “Showrunner POV” of the show that will seemingly never go out of style.
Somewhere in the dark recesses of Matt’s work computer, which is still powered down in a production office he still hasn’t returned to post-pandemic, is a spreadsheet with the 99 steps that go into making any given episode of The Simpsons. Thankfully, he doesn’t need to reference i, as he’s been doing this for so long that it’s now a rote memory. He used the Season 24 finale, “The Very Hungry Caterpillars,” as an example of the way a story evolves on its journey from idea to episode. The writers room had been discussing doing a lockdown episode but didn’t want to deal with the realities of the pandemic. Matt, who grew up on the East Coast, remembered a gypsy moth infestation from his childhood that gave birth to the idea of a super caterpillar infestation that descends upon Springfield. And thus, the core idea of the episode was born.
The Simpsons work best when it's able to service the core family members, with the writers’ own lives often inspiring new ideas. One of the writers had a child who wouldn’t eat anything that wasn’t dripping with ranch dressing, a trait that was given to Maggie in the episode so that, when the family ran out of ranch, there was a crisis that needed to be resolved immediately. As any parent during this period knows, in-home learning was a tough challenge, exacerbated by a student like Bart Simpson. But the episode allowed Bart to show his softer side when Principal Skinner forgot to turn his screen off, and the students got a look at his home life, coming up with a plan to rescue him. And for Lisa, who is always neurotic, the constant accessibility of information led to her chronic doom scrolling. Once all the ideas are solidified, a script is written, which was done in this case by Brian Kelly. From there, it goes back to the room to get rewritten.
In a traditional TV show, a table read happens with the cast and allows for story changes before arriving on set. But with The Simpsons, the writers do their own table read first, allowing them to experience the story they collaborated on in a new way and through fresh eyes. Once it meets their approval, it goes to the voice actors for a traditional table read with series creator Matt Groening and executive producer James L. Brooks. Unlike most shows, The Simpsons doesn’t get network notes at this stage. The voice actors know their characters so well that they need very little direction when they’re in the studio. Matt also shared that Dan Castellaneta, the voice of Homer Simpson, is part of the writer’s room one day a week.
The actual animation process is still slow for The Simpsons, taking six months to come back completed. However, the writers do receive animatic versions of the scenes as they’re worked through, which sometimes allow for additional revisions. “We’re an old show, and we can afford to take our time,” Matt explained.
As to the secret of the show’s longevity, Matt likened The Simpsons to a super highway. People get on and off at different times, but it’s usually busy with traffic. While most fans of the show can’t claim to have seen all 750 episodes (and counting), the family is now a generational institution, and people keep coming back to it now and again. Asked about a recent proud moment, Matt discussed another Season 34 episode, “Lisa the Boy Scout,” as having fun with the show’s legacy while also breaking its format. And to criticism over the show breaking canon every now and again, Matt said, “Something’s gotta give.” Despite being about to enter its 35th season, the characters have remained the same age. That means when they reference a story about Marge and Homer’s younger years, for example, the times necessarily change. But what has stayed consistent through most of the show’s run are the characters, who will always be back to make you laugh and warm your heart.
Seasons 1 – 33 of The Simpsons are currently streaming on Disney+.