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Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘The Fans Are More Intense Than Ever': Matt Groening, David Silverman and Matt Selman on ‘The Simpsons' Enduring Appeal
Nearly four decades after a spiky-haired boy first declared, 'Don't have a cow, man,' 'The Simpsons' remains one of television's best-loved and influential institutions. At this year's Annecy Animation Festival, the series' incredible run, which will extend beyond 40 seasons after a recent re-order, was celebrated with some of its key figures in attendance. 'The fans are as intense as ever. In fact, more intense,' series creator Matt Groening told Variety during a sit-down interview at the French festival. 'When we were here last, we got a pretty great response. But this time, it's completely nuts.' More from Variety 'No Soy Sauce!': Anthony Bourdain's 'Get Jiro' Introduces Future Where Chefs Have the Most Power - and a Brand New Catchphrase Sébastien Laudenbach's 'Viva Carmen' Reimagines Bizet's Opera for Contemporary Young Audiences 'Anime is Niche No More': Crunchyroll EVP Mitch Berger Teases 2025 Slate at Annecy 'We were here in 2008 and 2010, and it's even bigger now,' agreed executive producer David Silverman. 'It was really big back then, so it's pretty amazing. But it's great. The fans are really great.' Showrunner Matt Selman, clearly amused by the attention, added, 'When you walk around with David Silverman, he gets recognized. David is a celebrity here.' That enthusiasm reflects a legacy few, if any, shows have achieved. Since its debut in 1989, 'The Simpsons' has never taken a hiatus. It's a production rhythm that Groening, Silverman and Selman have grown used to, but never take for granted. 'We've been on the air since 1989,' Groening explained. 'The show goes year-round. The fact that we're here in France to celebrate the show means we're going to be a week behind.' For decades, 'The Simpsons' has enjoyed a level of cultural saturation around the world that initially surprised, and still does to a degree, the show's bosses. 'From my own experience, [the show's early international popularity] was great, but we were working so hard we could barely pay attention to it,' said Silverman. 'We were like, 'Oh, that's great, but we have a deadline.' It took a few years before I could get my head above the drawing table to notice, 'Oh my gosh, we're having an effect.'' With more than 750 episodes, a feature film, comics, parade balloons and innumerable catchphrases and memes embedded in the pop-culture lexicon, 'The Simpsons'' staying power defies modern TV logic. Streaming has only amplified its impact. 'Being on Disney+ has been somewhat rejuvenating for us,' Selman said. 'Not that we realized we needed rejuvenation, but we appreciate it.' Instead of catching a random rerun on broadcast TV or waiting for DVDs, fans can now dive into decades' worth of content in one click. 'Now instead of the kids watching it on local TV in the afternoon, they can just watch it all, all the time, all day, all forever,' Selman added. 'We really have that super connection to young people.' That connection with young people has always been there for the show, but it wasn't always easy for young fans to watch. When 'The Simpsons' first hit the air, it was prohibited in many homes by parents who were shocked at the show's more mature elements and frequent cartoon violence. 'One of the best things that ever happened in the course of the show was that some people forbade the show,' Groening recalled. 'It became this exotic, forbidden thing. Bart Simpson Underachiever T-shirts were once controversial and banned in schools. So when we did a Lisa Simpson Overachiever T-shirt, but we got in trouble for that because it said 'Damn I'm Good.'' Selman also pointed out that another advantage of being on Disney+ is that the platform occasionally allows for longer edits of episodes to stream after shorter versions have aired. It's never anything that significantly changes an episode, but it does offer a small degree of greater freedom when formatting a story. The latest three-series order of 'The Simpsons' includes just 17 episodes per season, but that doesn't mean the team will slow down. 'We used to do 22 a year. For the next four [seasons], we're doing 17 a year,' Selman explained. 'Fifteen that will premiere in America on Fox, and then two exclusives on Disney+. It's still a full-time job.' 'Work has a way of expanding to fill the time available,' Groening said. 'But if you know that you have four seasons to think about, it changes how you approach storytelling.' Groening, who is still heavily involved in Hulu's 'Futurama' reboot – another of his creations – joked about using his workload as a scheduling loophole. 'The great thing about having more than one show to work on is I can tell the people at 'Futurama' I'm working on 'The Simpsons,' and the people at 'The Simpsons' that I'm working on 'Futurama'.' 'The Simpsons' has lived through seismic shifts in distribution, merchandising and marketing, but one thing that has remained constant and helped the series survive such major changes is that its storytelling has never been explicitly limited to TV. The series has long transcended the screen through music, games and even lunchboxes. 'It is storytelling,' said Groening. 'Even merchandise—even a lunch box—we try to tell a little story, include a little joke.' 'We try to avoid what's called in the biz a 'label slap,'' he added. 'We actually try to have jokes on everything.' Silverman chimed in, 'Even comment on what we're doing, you know, like our characters being on a lunch box – it's sort of making some observation about being on a lunch box.' Selman acknowledged a delicate balance between commercialization and satire. ''The Simpsons' was always sort of able to have its cake and eat it too, in terms of selling a lot of merchandise but also satirizing the phenomenon of over-merchandising. It was like, 'Look, can you believe we're doing this?'' This self-awareness is nothing new. 'Maybe the first or second episode of 'The Simpsons,' we showed Krusty Flakes on the kitchen table,' said Groening. 'The slogan on the box was 'Because only sugar has more sugar.'' The team later tried to develop a healthier real-world cereal, but, according to Groening, 'There was not a single cereal company in America that would put it out.' Selman believes it could be possible for 'The Simpsons' to expand beyond the screen again, perhaps musically. 'We should make our actors sing another album. Not from the show. Separate songs,' he said. 'Like 'The Simpsons Sing the Blues.'' Even now, the creative team is focused on the future and on cultivating the next generation of artists. 'Over the years we've had various outside animators do the so-called couch gag,' Groening said. 'That's been amazing.' He recently suggested to Selman that they explore even more animator collaborations, though the compressed runtimes of modern episodes often make those gags harder to fit. 'I wish we could do an original couch gag for every episode,' Selman said. 'But money is a little tighter than it used to be… and you can't cut a story short to add a couch gag,' he lamented, stressing that cutting even seconds off an episode can often cause a jarring tonal shift. The editing process remains one of the show's most painstaking challenges. 'If a show is cut really tight and the jokes don't breathe, the scenes seem too fast-paced,' Selman said. 'None of it really seems as funny or as engaging.' Groening added, 'This is the kind of thing we agonize over.' Even after decades on the air, the modern-day legends behind 'The Simpsons' aren't resting on legacy alone. They're tweaking, adapting, evolving and always laughing. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week 'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts? 25 Hollywood Legends Who Deserve an Honorary Oscar
Malay Mail
18 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Malay Mail
From AI parodies to environmental disasters, ‘The Simpsons' keeps evolving — just don't expect political jokes
ANNECY, June 14 — Like many American families struggling for unity in the polarised United States, The Simpsons have decided to avoid political jokes, the creator of the series Matt Groening told AFP. Despite the potential for storylines and humour, Groening ruled out venturing into America's toxic politics for laughs. 'We don't do political humour because political humour is very limited. It dates very quickly,' he said during an interview at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in the French Alps. A Simpsons season takes at least six to nine months to produce, raising the risk of gags turning stale, Groening explained. The show — broadcast on US network Fox TV and on Disney Plus, which now owns the series — has sometimes appeared to predict real events, such as Donald Trump's election, which was first referenced in an episode in 2000. It has also featured parodies in the past of a host of politicians from Bill Clinton to Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Arnold Schwarzenegger. 'We just have to stay true to our characters, their spirit and their relationships. And when they face the sadness of the world, people feel briefly connected to them,' writer-producer Matt Selman told AFP. Despite Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie remaining frozen in time since their debut in 1989, the writers have ensured the story lines move with the times. A recent episode parodied artificial intelligence when a chatbot was asked to write the finale. 'In the plot of that episode, AI was given the job of writing the perfect finale. And of course, it just regurgitated and spat out all the other finales from all the other shows in very unoriginal and silly ways that of course would be terrible,' said Selman. 'It was our attempt to push back at AI, push back at ever ending the show.' The natural environment remains a rich source of inspiration, including in The Simpsons Movie in 2007 which featured a disaster caused by Homer that leads to Springfield being sealed under a giant dome. 'The environment's not going to get cleaned up anytime soon,' Groening added. The Simpsons Movie grossed US$536.4 million worldwide, but the creators ruled out making a sequel — for the moment. (Left to right): Cartoonist and creator of the TV series 'The Simpsons' Matt Groening, screenwriter Matt Selman and producer and director David Silverman pose during a photo session on the sidelines of the 49th Annecy International Film Festival in Annecy on June 11, 2025. — AFP pic 'We are still recovering from the first movie,' joked Groening. 'And the sad truth is we don't have enough time to do both the show and the movie unless we decide we want to work really, really hard.' The Simpsons has been translated into 26 languages and broadcast in around 100 countries. The 800th episode is set to air in early 2026. — AFP
The Independent
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Independent
How The Simpsons has survived on TV after 35 years
Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, believes early controversy surrounding the show, including bans and backlash over risque content, ultimately benefited its popularity by making it seem "exotic" and "forbidden." Groening highlighted an incident where Bart Simpson Underachiever T-shirts were banned in schools, contributing to the show's notoriety. Groening believes The Simpsons' longevity is due to its ability to tell stories and incorporate jokes across various mediums, including comics, video games, and merchandise. Showrunner Matt Selman hopes the eventual final episode will be "a really good story about the family," avoiding a typical, sentimental series finale. Selman mentioned a spoof 'finale' in 2024 that used AI to imagine an ending, inspired by the difficulty of creating a satisfactory conclusion to the long-running series.
