Al Jean: Latest News, Analysis & Opinion

Al Jean

Latest News and Opinion

Posted Tuesday 10/16/18 at 1:39PM EDT The Simpsons will mark Episode 666 with next year's "Treehouse of Horror"

Source: Entertainment Weekly

“Next year, ‘Treehouse of Horror XXX‘ will coincidentally be Simpsons episode 666,” showrunner Al Jean tells EW. “As we planned it in 1989!”

# TOPICS: The Simpsons, FOX, Al Jean, Halloween
Posted Thursday 10/11/18 at 1:37PM EDT The Simpsons boss: South Park was siding with us when it said "#CancelTheSimpsons"

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

The Problem with Apu's Hari Kondabolu wondered, "Did @SouthPark just side with me? WHAT IS HAPPENING?" after last night's South Park seemed to take a shot at The Simpsons' portrayal of Apu. But The Simpsons showrunner Al Jean saw things differently. "it's actually in favor of us saying people are too critical," says Jean. "Hari Kondabolu tweeted he thought they agreed with him but pulled the comments showing he was wrong. All season the show has had a #cancelsouthpark hashtag so my response (which I tweeted) is: #pleasedontcancelsouthpark." ALSO: South Park was indeed trolling people who would call on The Simpsons to be canceled.

# TOPICS: The Simpsons, Comedy Central, FOX, The Problem With Apu, South Park, Al Jean, Hari Kondabolu

Posted Thursday 9/06/18 at 2:04PM EDT A Simpsons executive producer recently spotted a massive blunder from a 1995 episode

Source: ET Canada

Executive producer Matt Selman noticed that Season 5's “And Maggie Makes Three” episode features a picture of Maggie on the wall in the background while depicting Marge pregnant with Maggie in the foreground. "Oooops," tweeted The Simpsons star Yeardley Smith, while showrunner Al Jean joked that 17 people were fired for the error.

# TOPICS: The Simpsons, FOX, Al Jean, Matt Selman, Yeardley Smith
Posted Thursday 7/26/18 at 10:37PM EDT The Simpsons showrunner still thinks the show should end by returning to its very first episode

Source: The A.V. Club

Al Jean says an eternal time loop will allow the series to continue on “without a beginning or an end."

# TOPICS: The Simpsons, FOX, Al Jean

Posted Friday 4/27/18 at 1:37PM EDT The Simpsons will break Gunsmoke's TV record this weekend with Episode 636

Source: New York Post

Gunsmoke ended in 1975 with 635 episodes. On Sunday, The Simpsons will surpass that record with the 636th episode “Forgive and Regret," in which a deathly ill Grandpa Simpson reveals a shocking secret to Homer about their past. “We never dreamed we’d get this far,” says showrunner Al Jean. “After we aired 635 this past Sunday, I was pretty confident. I thought if we made it it would be a marvelous tribute to the writers, animators and cast who work so hard; and particularly to the wonderful fans who’ve stuck with us all these years.” Jean estimates the writers have churned through 50,000 pages of scripts. “It’s the home-run record of TV,” he says. To celebrate the milestone, The Simpsons released a video of Maggie taking out Gunsmoke.

# TOPICS: The Simpsons, FOX, Gunsmoke, Al Jean
Posted Thursday 4/26/18 at 1:08PM EDT The Problem with Apu's Hari Kondabolu on The Simpsons: "Honestly, I wasn’t trying to troll, but if I was, I won"

Source: Slate

The Indian-American comedian -- speaking the day before Hank Azaria said he was willing to "step down" from voicing Apu -- said of The Simpsons episode responding to his TruTV documentary: "You’re not supposed to respond to me, you’re The Simpsons! You’re supposed to just keep going, pretend nothing happened. The fact that they buckled like that, to me, is also an indication of, like, white fragility. Oh my god, so somebody on a cable network said something about your show that’s been on for 30 years, and everyone obviously loves you and they don’t really know what my critique completely is, but still, because it damaged you in some small way, all the white writers freaked out and destroyed (the character of) Lisa. What is that? That’s white fragility."

# TOPICS: The Simpsons, FOX, truTV, The Problem With Apu, Al Jean, Hank Azaria, Hari Kondabolu, Indian-Americans and TV

Posted Monday 4/16/18 at 11:31PM EDT The Simpsons' Apu controversy is what happens when a show is stuck in an eternal 1990
Source: Vox

"The show seems to take pride in the way it hasn’t changed since 1989, even as change is a fact of life," Todd VanDerWerff says of "the horrible way" showrunner Al Jean has reacted to the controversy over Apu. "And for a show that likes to satirize everything, its inability to talk about aging, about shifting political opinions, about how different America has become, ends up miring it in a past it could so easily escape." With the Roseanne revival in mind, VanDerWerff wonders what would've happened if Bart, Lisa, Homer, Marge and Maggie had grown up? What if they were 29 years older? "I keep thinking about a Simpsons where everything had changed, and just by its very nature, such a show would have had to deal with Apu slightly better (though (Hank) Azaria would probably still be playing him)," he says. "When things can change within your fictional universe, it’s only natural for the characters to grow and change with them. "
ALSO:
# TOPICS: The Simpsons, FOX, Amos 'n' Andy, Al Jean, Hank Azaria, Indian-Americans and TV
Posted Saturday 4/14/18 at 12:07AM EDT A journalist of South Asian descent says "most of us happily embraced Apu" in the 1990s, but The Simpsons can fix its most controversial character
Source: The Washington Post

"For those of us with low expectations, starving for any representation, Apu was a breath of fresh air," says Wajahat Ali, the son of Pakistani Muslim immigrants who grew up near Silicon Valley. While other portrayals showed brown people as cab drivers or terrorists, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon "was an integral character in the Simpsons universe who was able to be a co-protagonist of several episodes," he says. "Only in a cartoon, we thought, could people who look like us achieve such a feat." But that doesn't mean Apu or The Simpsons "get a lifetime pass to perpetuate lazy stereotypes," he says. "Any piece of art, no matter how well intentioned, harmless or silly, is not above reproach or critical examination... Instead of engaging with the issue of representation, which would have made for a more satirical and topical show — you know, the type The Simpsons used to do years ago — the writers responded with the worst creative sin: laziness." What The Simpsons shouldn't have done, he says, is "hijack your show’s most intellectual and empathetic voice, Lisa, as a foil for the writers’ unwillingness to be self-critical and engage their blind spots when it comes to listening to people of color who feel silenced and misunderstood. Thus, the show engages in another major sin: omission. After Lisa’s finger-wagging, the camera pans to a photo of Apu with the inscription 'Don’t have a cow!' Apu, who is a supporting character, is robbed of lines, rendered mute and frozen in a suffocating frame, smiling as a token prop. That’s exactly how so many people of color feel in real life — all the time." Ali adds: "What The Simpsons should have done was a stand-alone episode centered on Apu, who, after becoming a citizen many years ago, is confronted with an immigrant travel ban...Nobody would have a cow. But we would have an intelligent, critical, satirical show that at least confronts problematic issues instead of running away from them."
ALSO:
- Showrunner Al Jean explained why Lisa Simpson defended Apu, but why did she look at the camera?
- Jean criticized for tweeting conservative media in The Simpsons' defense
- Jean tweeted a link to the National Review piece: "Why the Apu Simpsons Controversy Bothers Me as an Indian American"
- Harry Shearer stuck up for the show, tweeting to Hari Kondabolu: "Bart, a pre-pubescent boy, is played by an adult woman. What's up with that?"
- BoJack Horseman creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg slammed The Simpsons response: "Imagine choosing to describe yourself and your work as 'applauded and inoffensive'"
- Bill Maher defends The Simpsons' response to Apu: "If you spend your time combing through old TV shows to identify stuff that by today’s standards looks bad, you’re not ‘woke,’ you’re just a douchebag"
# TOPICS: The Simpsons, BoJack Horseman, Real Time with Bill Maher, Al Jean, Bill Maher, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer, Raphael Bob-Waksberg, Indian-Americans and TV

Posted Friday 4/13/18 at 1:17PM EDT The Simpsons boss: "I truly appreciate all responses pro and con" to our response to the Apu controversy

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Showrunner Al Jean tweeted this morning that the show "will continue to try to find an answer that is popular & more important right."

# TOPICS: The Simpsons, FOX, Al Jean, Indian-Americans and TV
Posted Monday 4/09/18 at 6:11PM EDT The Simpsons' response to Apu is what happens when a show loses its identity after being on for "a long damn time"
Source: Vulture

The Simpsons was once the rebellious outsider, says Jen Chaney. Now, it's the Establishment, incapable of grappling with Apu. "When it first dominated the pop-culture landscape in the early 1990s," says Cheney, "a lot of the show’s appeal stemmed from its skillful and fearless tendency to jam its thumb in the eye of the American Establishment, by highlighting white male laziness via Homer, the crass privileged class via Mr. Burns, and a whole host of other marks of ignorance — from sexism to intolerance of vegetarians — via the crusading Lisa Simpson, the show’s perpetual 8-year-old voice of reason. For all of the stereotypes he has embodied, even some of the jokes generated by Apu actually pointed a finger at the abhorrent attitudes that Indian-Americans have to tolerate from their Caucasian counterparts." Chaney adds: "One could argue that The Simpsons is now the Establishment, and has been for a while. Once you become the Establishment, there is a tendency become lazy and complacent, while also feeling fiercely defensive of one’s legacy. In my view, that combination of factors plays a key role in the show’s inability to fully own up to the Apu problem."
ALSO:
- The Simpsons was "utterly dishonest" with its response since Apu isn't a central character: "His existence at the periphery — his very flatness, and his definition as a bag of signifiers meant to scream 'INDIAN!' is integral to what it means to write a racist stereotype," says Linda Holmes. "It's galling that writers will force a character to exist as funny scenery and then complain that they cannot change him without upsetting the emotional arc of the series."
- The Simpsons didn't have to address the controversy -- Apu has become "a genuine, multidimensional character" -- but last night's episode amounted to a "glib 'f*ck off"
- The Simpsons made Lisa Simpson sound like a "wealthy middle-aged white male writer"
- Molly Ringwald demonstrated how to address problematic past depictions with her recent New Yorker essay on her John Hughes films
# TOPICS: The Simpsons, FOX, Al Jean, Hank Azaria, Hari Kondabolu, Molly Ringwald, Indian-Americans and TV
Posted Monday 4/09/18 at 1:45PM EDT The Simpsons dismisses Apu criticism, sparking backlash
Source: The New York Times

The Simpsons' acknowledgement of the Apu controversy on Sunday's episode came nearly five months after Hari Kondabolu's The Problem with Apu documentary made headlines by delving into the hit cartoon's Indian-American stereotype. "On Sunday night, The Simpsons, a cultural staple and television’s longest-running sitcom, now in its 29th season, finally responded: with a dismissive nod that earned the show more criticism, especially from Mr. Kondabolu himself," writes Sopan Deb, adding: "The writers of the episode — one of whom was Matt Groening, the show’s creator — received immediate backlash. Some viewers found the response tone deaf, and criticized the choice of Lisa, often the show’s moral center, to voice it." For his part, Kondabolu sent out a series of tweets last night saying "The Simpsons response tonight is not a jab at me, but at what many of us consider progress." This morning, he added: "TO THE JOURNALISTS WHO HAVE ASKED ME FOR A PUBLIC STATEMENT ABOUT LAST NIGHT’S SIMPSONS EPISODE, I JUST WANT SAY: 'Congratulations to the Simpsons for being talked about & being seen as relevant again.'"
ALSO:
# TOPICS: The Simpsons, FOX, The Problem With Apu, Al Jean, Hank Azaria, Hari Kondabolu, W. Kamau Bell
Posted Wednesday 3/14/18 at 6:35PM EDT The Simpsons boss on Stephen Hawking: "One thing about him that is maybe not as well known, he had a tremendous sense of humor"

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

"He would tell jokes when he came to our table reads, which he did several times," says showrunner Al Jean. "What we would do is send him the script and then he would record it through his machine," Jean adds. "So it was his voice, his special audio program. He did come to studio when he was in America, but he didn't ever go to the record." ALSO: Discovery and Science channels to re-air their Stephen Hawking specials.

# TOPICS: Stephen Hawking, Discovery Channel, Science Channel, The Simpsons, Al Jean
Posted Monday 3/12/18 at 6:57AM EDT O.J. Simpson was almost on one of the greatest Simpsons episodes

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Showrunner Al Jean revealed this tidbit on Twitter hours before Fox's O.J. Simpson: The Last Confession? aired: "Ironically OJ Simpson airs on Fox 25 years to the day after the episode we asked him to be in (pre-murders) and he turned down." Jean says "fortunately" Simpson passed on the 1993 "Last Exit to Springfield" episode, which is regarded to be one of the show's Top 10 episodes on many Simpsons lists.

# TOPICS: The Simpsons, FOX, O.J. Simpson: The Lost Confession?, Al Jean
Posted Monday 2/26/18 at 6:26AM EST The Simpsons predicted USA's Winter Olympics gold medal in curling in 2010

Source: Deadline

Showrunner Al Jean celebrated the accurate prediction from a February 2010 episode -- titled "Boy Meets Curl" -- tweeting: "Congratulations to us men's gold medal curling team! Good predictions can come true too!"

# TOPICS: The Simpsons, FOX, Al Jean, Winter Olympics
Posted Thursday 2/22/18 at 4:58PM EST The Simpsons boss slams Ted Cruz for calling Democrats "the party of Lisa Simpson"

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

"The Democrats are the party of Lisa Simpson and Republicans are happily the party of Homer, Bart, Maggie and Marge," the U.S. senator from Texas -- who once "auditioned" for The Simpsons -- said today of the Fox animated comedy at the Conservative Political Action Conference. The Simpsons showrunner Al Jean responded on Twitter: "Ted Cruz says Maggie Simpson would vote for him. I think Ted's the one who could use a pacifier in his mouth." Jean added: "The way things are going even Mr. Burns is thinking of becoming a Democrat." In an interview with The Wrap, Jean said, "If I was Ted Cruz, I wouldn’t be so quick to write off Lisa’s vote. I think she’s an important person with a lot of intelligence and you’d really want to win her over and not just abandon her.”As an MSNBC producer pointed out, The Simpsons once portrayed Lisa Simpson as becoming president and inheriting a President Trump budget crisis long before the president entered politics.

# TOPICS: The Simpsons, FOX, Al Jean, Ted Cruz