Sam Simon

EXCLUSIVE

After finding out former Simpsons writer David M. Stern (Bart Gets an F, Kamp Krusty) developed Ugly Americans (watch it!! it’s cool), I got curious and decided to find out what some other ex-Simpsons people are up to. DISCLAIMERS/CAVEATS: 1. I basically only looked at wikipedia and imdb, so this could be rife with inaccuracies, etc. 2. With some exceptions, I don’t care about anyone who joined the show after it got bad or only wrote like one episode 3. This is essentially limited to movies/tv, since the internet assumes people fell off the face of the earth if they’re not doing something for mass audiences

Richard Appel (writer): Showrunner for The Cleveland Show

Wes Archer (director): Was working on The Goode Family until it got cancelled; unclear what he’s currently doing

Brad Bird (director): Doing a live-action movie for Pixar (zuh????)

Daniel Chun (writer): Now writing for The Office

David S/X. Cohen (writer): His beloved baby Futurama returns in June on Comedy Central

Jonathan Collier (writer): MIA

Jennifer Crittenden (writer): Producing mysterious project called What’s Your Number?

Greg Daniels (writer): Co-creations The Office and Parks and Recreation still going strong

Brent Forrester (writer): Writer for The Office

Ken Keeler (writer): Nerding it up at Futurama

Jay Kogan (writer): Executive producer for some supernatural live-action Nickelodeon show called The Troop; writing an adaptation of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Lauren MacMullan (director): MIA

Jeff Martin (writer/clown): MIA

George Meyer (writer): Occasionally contributes to The New Yorker

Bill Oakley (showrunner, seasons 7 – 8): Writing stuff from Portland

Conan O’Brien (writer): Legally prohibited from being funny on television

Jim Reardon (director): Presumably still Pixarin’ it up

Mike Reiss (showrunner, seasons 3-4): While technically still a producer for The Simpsons (I think??), he’s been doing a bunch of other projects like writing children’s books, computer-animated movies, and the critically-unacclaimed My Life in Ruins

David M. Stern (writer): Developed Ugly Americans, which recently debuted on Comedy Central

Mike Scully (showrunner, seasons 9-12): Writer on Parks & Recreation

John Swartzwelder (writer): Still cranking out funny books from his secret underground lair

Sam Simon (executive producer/showrunner, seasons 1-2): Doing some poker thing

Jon Vitti (writer): Co-wrote an upcoming movie starring Steve Carell; currently working on something called “Boo U.”

Josh Weinstein (showrunner, seasons 7-8): MIA??? Wikipedia says he’s a producer on Futurama (again), but I’m not sure if I believe that

Frank Welker (voice actor, Santa’s Little Helper): Most recent voice credit is “Additional Nuts Voice”

Lona Williams (beauty pageant winner/writing assistant): MIA

Wallace Wolodarsky (writer): Voiced an opossum in Fantastic Mr. Fox; adapting a Philip K. Dick story into a Disney cartoon

SUDDENLY SIMON

sam simonFrom a British tabloid article about WWE wrestler guy Glenn “Kane” Jacob:

One of Kanes [sic] finest hours was the 2001 Royal Rumble where he went an hour before sailing over the top. He remembers the occasion fondly, because he nearly killed celebrity guest Drew Carey.

“Two things I remember the most hitting Honkey with the guitar, I should have done the shuffle!! The Drew Carey deal was funny too.”

“He was there with Matt Groening, the creator of the Simpsons, a friend of his and we were in the locker rooms, I was showing him what we were going to do with the chokeslam deal.

I grabbed him and picked him up and Matt starts yelling stop stop stop, and I looked up. The roof was so low I nearly put Drew Careys [sic] head through the ceiling. I almost became infamous for killing Drew Carey before he got out there.”

I am 99% certain that either Kane or the tabloid confused Groening with former executive producer Sam Simon, who was the 2004 World Boxing Manager of the Year and a producer, writer and director for The Drew Carey Show. That guy just can’t get credit for anything, can he? [Daily Star]

SUDDENLY SIMON

Apparently The Simpsons was not the only show where former executive producer Sam Simon, whom Matt Groening once called “mentally unbalanced,” was difficult to work with. Hot off the heels of quitting The Simpsons and subsequent court proceedings, Simon created The George Carlin Show, a sitcom starring the late George Carlin, which ran for 27 episodes on FOX in 1994. Later, in a timeline page on his website, Carlin wrote the following reflection: “Lesson learned: always check mental health of creative partner beforehand.” [Macleans.ca]

TREEHOUSE OF ERROR

As you know, we here at rubbercat.net/simpsons, we take our reporting seriously. Nevertheless, a few mistakes manage to slip themselves through and blemish our sterling reputation. We would like to take this opportunity to correct the record.

  • In our previous post, we said that writer Bill Odenkirk posted on a Simpsons message board. It was actually someone from Australia pretending to be Mr. Odenkirk.
  • Maggie Roswell did not at any time refer to fellow voice actress Marcia Mitzman-Gaven as a “slut-ass ho bitch.”
  • rubbercat.net/simpsons specifically retracts all statements made on the website that state or suggest in any way that Matt Groening or his associates orchestrated or played any role in the assault on Sam Simon or that they lured him into an ambush at the Quad studios.

We regret the errors. OK not really

SUDDENLY SIMON

Ivy Supersonic, who according to Wikipedia is “a New York fashion designer, entertainer, publicist, promoter, event planner, and animated character designer,” sent out a press release claiming that former Simpsons producer Sam Simon helped steal her idea for the squirrel thing from the Ice Age movies and tried to blackmail her into starring as his wife in a TV show (????):

“Sam Simon is not a man of his word — he is a man of many words that do not hold true. He said Howard Stern asked him to be a writer on the show,” Supersonic said. “He was considering it but said he would not do it unless I had a starring role as his wife. I was blown away when Ice Age 2 hit the theaters. Simon’s partner and writer Matt Groening, was one of the writers on Ice Age 2, released by 20th Century Fox. Sam Simon’s Simpson cartoon short premiered in front of Ice Age 2. There is nothing more I hate than someone who is dishonest to land me in the sac. I am more than outraged, I am eternally livid!” Supersonic says angrily.

[Ivy Supersonic press release]