Springfield Confidential: Jokes, Secrets, and Outright Lies from a Lifetime Writing for The Simpsons

Mike Reiss · Mathew Klickstein

Jun 2018 · HarperCollins

About this ebook

Semi-Finalist for the 2019 James Thurber Award * One of Vulture's Top-10 Comedy Books of 2018 * A "Must" pick by Entertainment Weekly * An A.V. Club Best Books selection * A "New and Noteworthy" selection by USA Today

In celebration of The Simpsons thirtieth anniversary, the show’s longest-serving writer and producer offers a humorous look at the writing and making of the legendary Fox series that has become one of the most revered artistic achievements in television history.

Four-time Emmy winner Mike Reiss—who has worked on The Simpsons continuously since episode one in 1989—shares stories, scandals, and gossip about working with America’s most iconic cartoon family ever. Reiss explains how the episodes are created, and provides an inside look at the show’s writers, animators, actors and celebrity guests. He answers a range of questions from Simpsons fans and die-hards, and reminisces about the making of perennially favorite episodes.

In his freewheeling, irreverent comic style, Reiss reflects on his lifetime inside The Simpsons—a personal highlights reel of his achievements, observations, and favorite stories. Springfield Confidential exposes why Matt Groening decided to make all of the characters yellow; dishes on what it’s like to be crammed in a room full of funny writers sixty hours a week; and tells what Reiss learned after traveling to seventy-one countries where The Simpsons is watched (ironic note: there’s no electricity in many of these places); and even reveals where Springfield is located! He features unique interviews with Judd Apatow, who also provided the foreword, and Conan O'Brien, as well as with Simpsons legends Al Jean, Nancy Cartwright, Dan Castellaneta, and more.

Like Cary Elwes’ As You Wish, Jennifer Keishin Armstrong’s Seinfeldia, and Chris Smith’s The Daily Show: An Oral History, Springfield Confidential is a funny, informational, and exclusive look at one of the most beloved programs in all of television land.

Ratings and reviews

The parts about the Simpsons are great, as is the writing process involved. Reading in excruciating detail about Mr Reiss's career outside the Simpsons and his speaking engagements isn't what I signed up/bought the book for (there's an entire chapter about him as a children's book author. Did you want to buy a bike about Mike Reiss, the children's book author? Surprise, you did!). Also, I found his comments about the recent "The Problem With Apu" Documentary insensitive and unfortunate (he called it a "nasty little documentary"). He Is obviously a very funny writer, and his comedy comes through in the style that the book was written. The book (cover) presents itself as a piece exclusively about the Simpsons. It's 75% about the Simpsons...it's 100% about Mike Reiss. Don't be fooled by the Simpsons graphic, and remember what they say about juding a book... In the end..."More Simpsons, less Ice Age"...a good read, recommended to serious fans of the show.

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About the author

Mike Reiss has won four Emmys and a Peabody Award during his twenty-eight years writing for The Simpsons. He ran the show in Season 4, which Entertainment Weekly called “the greatest season of the greatest show in history.” In 2006, Reiss received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Animation Writers Caucus. Reiss has written jokes for such comedy legends as Johnny Carson, Joan Rivers, Garry Shandling…and Pope Francis! For his comedic contributions to the charitable group Joke with the Pope, in 2015 Pope Francis declared Reiss “A Missionary of Joy.” Judd Apatow was born on December 6, 1967 in Syosset, New York. He wrote and directed the films The 40-Year-Old Virgin (co-written with Steve Carell), Knocked Up, Funny People, and This Is 40. His producing credits include Superbad, Bridesmaids, and Anchorman. He is the executive producer of HBO's Girls. He was also the executive producer of Freaks and Geeks, created Undeclared, and co-created The Ben Stiller Show. He is the editor of the collection I Found This Funny and the author of Sick in the Head: Conversations about Life and Comedy.