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‘Simpsons’ Writer Reveals Show’s Jewish Bona Fides
Yet he noted that political
correctness is a tricky issue, cit-
ing contentions that the show’s
Indian convenience store owner
Apu is stereotypical.

“You never know when
you’re pulling a string where it
stops,” Reiss said.

But the evening was not for
weighty societal issues, as Reiss
dished out several interesting
nuggets about the show.

L O CAL
ANDY GOTLIEB | JE MANAGING EDITOR
WHEN YOU THINK of TV
shows with Jewish themes, a
few immediately come to mind.

Seinfeld. The Marvelous Mrs.

Maisel. Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Broad City. The Goldbergs.

Rhoda. The Nanny. The short-
lived Brooklyn Bridge.

If you want to stretch it a
bit, add shows like thirtysome-
thing, Rugrats, Will & Grace
and Welcome Back, Kotter, to
name a few.

How about The Simpsons?
Most definitely, according
to Mike Reiss, the longest-
serving writer and showrun-
ner for the animated mainstay,
who spoke March 10 at the
Katz JCC in Cherry Hill, New
Jersey, to tout his forthcoming
book Springfield Confidential.

Reiss noted that half the
show’s writers are Jewish as are
three of the main voice actors —
Julie Kavner (Marge Simpson),
Hank Azaria (Moe Szyslak,
Apu Nahasapeemapetilon,
Duffman) and Harry Shearer
(Mr. Burns, Ned Flanders,
Principal Skinner).

“The place is sort of like a
kibbutz, only more Jewish,” he
said, throwing out one-liners
that would have made Henny
Youngman proud.

Reiss showed clips of a few
Jewish moments in the show,
including the backstory of
Herschel Shmoikel Pinchas
Yerucham Krustofsky, better
known as Krusty the Clown, the
son of Rabbi Hyman Krustofsky.

The rabbi was voiced by Jackie
Mason; Reiss described him as
one of his favorites among the
800 or so guest stars the show
has featured.

There also are several recur-
ring characters in the show who
are portrayed as Jewish, includ-
ing Duffman, Superintendent
Chalmers, Dolph Starbeam and
a nursing home resident simply
known as Old Jewish Man.

Reiss grew up in a
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM Mike Reiss signs a copy of Springfield Confidential under the stern eye of
Homer Simpson.

Photo courtesy of Katz JCC
I write comedy because I can’t help myself.”
MIKE REISS
Connecticut town where he was
the only Jewish kid in his high
school. Still, he joked, his father
wanted him to only date Jewish
girls. Although he’s not reli-
gious, Reiss enjoys his heritage.

“I do like the Jewish culture,
and I do like being Jewish the
way the Irish like being Irish,”
he said.

His story ideas come from
everywhere, he said, indicating
that some of his childhood mem-
ories made it into early episodes.

“I write comedy because
I can’t help myself,” he said.

“What would I do if I couldn’t
write comedy? I’d write for
Jimmy Fallon. Fallon spelled
backward is ‘no laugh.’”
Both in an interview before
his speech and during his hour-
long presentation, Reiss tossed
out numerous tidbits about the
show — including an item that
recently made news.

A third-season episode
Reiss wrote called “Stark
Raving Dad” was pulled from
syndication last week because
it features a character voiced by
the late Michael Jackson. The
singer was accused of sexual
abuse by two men in a new
HBO documentary.

“It breaks my heart — just
the other day, I got a check
for $13 for that episode,” he
joked, then noted that pulling
the episode was the right thing
to do. He also said he was most
proud of that episode prior to
the recent hubbub.

us five,” he said.

• Every living ex-president has
turned down the opportu-
nity to appear on the show.

• Reiss’ favorite character is
Homer. “Homer is a com-
edy writer’s dream,” he said.

“Homer embodies all the
deadly sins.”
• “Sooner or later” another
movie will be made.

• The Simpsons Movie script
was rewritten 166 times. A
typical episode of the show
goes through five rewrites.

• Reiss explained the origins
of Marge’s big blue beehive
hairdo. Simpsons creator
Matt Groening originally
thought the show would be
short-lived and survived
by his original comic strip
Life in Hell, which featured
long-eared rabbits. When
The Simpsons went off the
air, it would be revealed
the hair was covering her
big rabbit ears. Groening
stopped drawing Life in Hell
in 2012.

• Venezuela canceled the
show, saying it promoted
bad U.S. values — and
replaced it with Baywatch. l
• Michael
Jackson had
approached the show about
appearing and even wrote
some of his own jokes. His
acting, however, was terri-
ble, and the singing heard
on the show was done by
an authorized sound-
alike named Kipp Lennon
(youngest brother of the
Lennon Sisters singing
group). • Most guest characters
appear on the show because
their children encourage
them to do so. In the case
of the Rolling Stones, the
grandchildren were the
impetus. • Of the guest characters,
Oprah Winfrey caused the
most headaches. “It only
takes 10 minutes to do The agotlieb@jewishexponent.com;
Simpsons, and she only gave 215-832-0797
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JEWISH EXPONENT
MARCH 14, 2019
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