Springfield Confidential

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.

Have You Ever Wondered How “The Simpsons” Predict the Future? “Did The Simpsons really, truly predict anything? I predict you’ll have to purchase this book to get the true story.” ―Bill Oakley, Simpsons writer and producer #1 New Release in Animated Movies, Comedy Movies, and Comedy Television Then, The Simpsons Secret is the book for you. Delve into some of the biggest predictions that came true on the show, and just how the Simpsons predict the future. Simpson predictions from three-eyed fish to presidential elections. "The Simpsons" has been predicting major events with scary accuracy for over three decades. From Donald Trump's presidency to Disney buying 20th Century Fox (...years before it happened!). People just can't seem to get enough and are eager to know what they are going to predict next. This book goes behind the scenes of this adored cartoon series, and the family we’ve grown to love. Between Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and the rest of the Simpsons family, the show has stolen our hearts, and also left us amazed at how often the Simpsons predict the future! So how do they do it? Is it a crystal ball? A fountain of knowledge? Have the writers gained the ability to travel through time? As shocking as it may seem, the answer is actually a little simpler than that. The cartoon crew is not in a secret society that can see the future, nor have they mastered the art of time travel. In The Simpsons Secret, learn more about: How The Simpsons are able to predict so many major events How the show writers and producers come up with these ideas And so much more about your favorite old-school cartoon family If you enjoyed books like Springfield Confidential, The Simpsons Family History, Friends Forever, or The Office, you’ll love The Simpsons Secret.

The Simpsons notoriety will be hard to keep under wraps with a collection of comic stories that will catapult them once again onto the world stage.

Most fans of The Simpsons have watched Homer don his blue pants on TV, on the big screen, and in 3D. But only real fans recall the Eastern European equivalent of The Itchy & Scratchy Show, know the name of Apu's submission to the Springfield Film Festival, and have road tripped to the World's Fair in Knoxville. 100 Things The Simpsons Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die is the ultimate resource for true fans, whether you read at a Ralph Wiggum or Lisa Simpson level. Allie Goertz and Julia Prescott have collected every essential piece of Simpsons knowledge and trivia, as well as must-do activities, and rank them all from 1 to 100, providing an entertaining and easy-to-follow checklist as you progress on your way to fan superstardom.

The special 5th Anniversary Edition of SLIMED! An Entertainment Weekly “Best Tell-All” Book One of Parade Magazine's “Best Books About Movies/TV” Included in Publishers Weekly's “Top Ten Social Science Books” Before the recent reboots, reunions, and renaissance of classic Nickelodeon nostalgia swept through the popular imagination, there was SLIMED!, the book that started it all. With hundreds of exclusive interviews and have-to-read-‘em-to-believe-‘em stories you won't find anywhere else, SLIMED! is the first-ever full chronicle of classic Nick…told by those who made it all happen! Nickelodeon nostalgia has become a cottage industry unto itself: countless podcasts, blogs, documentaries, social media communities, conventions, and beyond. But a little less than a decade ago, the best a dyed-in-the-wool Nick Kid could hope for when it came to coverage of the so-called Golden Age (1983–1995) of the Nickelodeon network was the infrequent listicle, op-ed, or even rarer interview with an actual old-school Nick denizen. Pop culture historian Mathew Klickstein changed all of that when he forged ahead to track down and interview more than 250 classic Nick VIP’s to at long last piece together the full wacky story of how Nickelodeon became “the Only Network for You!” Celebrate the fortieth anniversary of Nickelodeon with this special edition of SLIMED! that includes a new introduction by Nick Arcade’s Phil Moore in addition to a foreword by Double Dare’s Marc Summers and an afterword by none other than Artie, the Strongest Man in the World himself (aka Toby Huss). After you get SLIMED!, you’ll never look at Nickelodeon the same way again. “Mathew Klickstein might be the geek guru of the 21st century.”—Mark Mothersbaugh

Since its first appearance as a series of cartoon vignettes in 1987 and its debut as a weekly program in 1990, The Simpsons has had multiple, even contradictory, media identities. Although the show has featured biting political and social satire, which often proves fatal to mass public acceptance, The Simpsons entered fully into the mainstream, consistently earning high ratings from audiences and critics alike. Leaving Springfield addresses the success of The Simpsons as a corporate-manufactured show that openly and self-reflexively parodies the very consumer capitalism it simultaneously promotes. By exploring such topics as the impact of the show's satire on its diverse viewing public and the position of The Simpsons in sitcom and television animation history, the commentators develop insights into the ways parody intermixes with mass media to critique post modern society. In spite of the longevity and high cultural profile of the show, The Simpsons has so far attracted only scattered academic attention. Leaving Springfield will be of importance to both scholars of media and fans of the show interested in the function of satire in popular culture in general and television in particular.

Five years after Judd Apatow introduced us to Pete and Debbie in Knocked Up, Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann reprise their roles as the couple in the writer/director's This Is 40, a comedic look at the everyday life of an American family. What emerges is a portrait of the challenges and rewards of marriage and parenthood: sex and romance, career triumphs and financial hardships, aging parents and maturing children and everything in between. This Is 40 captures what it takes for a family to flourish in the middle of a lifetime together, rendered with the unique intimacy of a filmmaker collaborating with his own wife and children. The Newmarket Shooting Script Book includes: An introduction by writer/actor Lena Dunham written especially for this edition Judd Apatow's answers to "Five Obvious Questions" and an afterword on his writing/directing process The complete screenplay 35 color photographs Complete cast and crew credits

Remember when The Simpsons was the funniest show on television? The Simpsons is the longest running comedy in history. Gracing our screens since 1989, with over 600 episodes, the show is a cultural phenomenon. Whilst it is still drawing huge ratings numbers, there is no argument that during the 90s the show was at its zenith. No other comedy has had as big an impact on society. The Simpsons has influenced the way we communicate with each other. Niche quotes and references have become the secret handshake of millions around the world. In the course of this book, we remember the iconic characters – Hank Scorpio and Lionel Hutz, Rex Banner and Frank Grimes - and we dissect seminal episodes such as Cape Feare, Marge Vs the Monorail and Who Shot Mr. Burns. From celebrity cameos to musical moments, from hidden jokes to insane trivia, this is the essential companion to golden age of The Simpsons. Homer’s Odyssey is a hilarious, intelligent and in-depth analysis of the greatest show on earth. So grab yourself a Flaming Moe, settle in to your groove on the couch, and enjoy our guide to your favourite yellow family.