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When modern-daySimpsonsis brought up by fans, the common response is, Is that show still on?
But if you tell this incredulous person, Also its really good this season, ears perk up.
Its an exciting prospect for anyone who knows how good goodSimpsonsis and a confounding proposition.
And its true:The Simpsonshas had a strong run since premiering its 34th season in late September.
This creative resurgence is best typified by the third episode of the season, Lisa the Boy Scout.
Read some excerpts from the interview below or listen to the full episode ofGood Onewherever you get your podcasts.
And this was just a format we havent done in a very, very long time.
Nangles pitch for the Martin story helped give the episode clarity.
It was a silly thing that I knew that I could submit to make people laugh.
So when we got the assignment to write all these ideas down, it was so exciting to me.
Jessica Conrad, whos another writer, actually texted me to say, Hey, remember that Martin idea?
You should submit that for this.
It felt very sketch oriented to me.
Even when you do parody, thats story focused.
So much of the push to make the stories emotional and good is from Matt andJim Brooksspecifically.
Thats really important to Jim.
I can just work on sketch stuff.
I mean, maybe the Guy Fawkes masks are a little out of date.
BK:It wouldnt beThe Simpsonsif it wasnt just a little bit out-of-date.
MS:Jim and Matt Groening liked it.
Let me get this straight: Martin Prince isn’t a kid?
He’s an undercover adult cop pretending to be a nerd so you can expose elementary school criminals?
Can you believe this?
This ruins the show.
He tweeted out the still of Martin.
That was actually a kind of affirmation.
Like, therell be a line in the script and no one speaks at all for 30 minutes.
Then someone says something, and everyone goes, Yeah, thats funny, before moving on.
Is that actually what happens?MS:Its a little different, in my experience.
When Im running things, I have a very scattershot attention span.
and have someone else take that and make it good.
It was really a gift to be in a room like that.
Luckily, Ive been mostly in rooms like that.
Its just a bad culture.
Then you feel more comfortable just throwing out something stupid.
BK:But a little bit of anxiety is really useful, right?
Its a little bit of a push to work a little bit harder.
This is crazy.That just feels good.
1, but it was really early.
MS:I was on a Chicago AM local-news show promoting a breast-cancer walk.
My kids had said to me, If they ask you about predictions, dont get mad.
CN:I was asked somewhere, and my answer was, How do we predict the future?
By studying the past.
But were always trying to put a smarter spin on it.
This season has been really strong.
Do you feel like something is happening?
Is there something different about the show right now?MS:We really dont do anything different.
Every episode is its ownGroundhog Daymini-universe, micro-reality.
CN:Matts being very modest.
I think that it does really make the show better with Matts commitment to every episode too.
It feels good being here.
MS:Brian was the showrunner of this episode.
Weve just got a really good group of people, and theyre really supportive and sweet.
Beyond the ratings aspect, creatively, why still makeThe Simpsons?CN:I mean,Simpsonsforever.
These characters are so funny.
These actors are so funny.
And Dan Castellaneta is in the writers room on Wednesdays.
Theres just still a lot to say, and these are really fun people to say it with.
Maybe the world is turning into Springfield.
Its more like a hunch youre willing to die for.
That is as good of a calendar-worthy Homerism you will ever get.
It feels very modern and true and funny and dark and sad.
It would be sad not to make that anymore.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
