The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History
Encyclopedia
The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History is a book about the American animated television series The Simpsons
. It was written by John Ortved, and first published in October 2009 by Faber and Faber
. In the United Kingdom, the book is called Simpsons Confidential: The uncensored, totally unauthorised history of the world's greatest TV show by the people that made it. The book is an oral history
of the show, and concentrates particularly on the writers and producers of the show. The book includes entire chapters devoted to key figures such as creator Matt Groening
and James L. Brooks
and Sam Simon
, who helped develop the series. According to National Public Radio reviewer Linda Holmes, "Ortved's thesis, essentially, is that lots of people are responsible for the success of The Simpsons, and their creator, Matt Groening, has too often been viewed as the sole source to the detriment of others who also deserve to be praised."
In 2007, John Ortved wrote an article for Vanity Fair
titled "Simpson Family Values". Producers of the show, including Groening, Brooks and Simon, chose not to cooperate in the project. Ortved believes that the reason was because "were upset [that] the myth of The Simpsons would be challenged." Shortly after the article was published, an agent suggested that Ortved write a full book. The producers again decided not to participate, and, according to Ortved, Brooks asked current and former Simpsons employees not to talk to Ortved. However, the book does include portions of interviews that several figures did with other sources. Ortved did interview a number of sources for the book, including Hank Azaria
, a cast member of the show since the second season, Fox Broadcasting Company
owner Rupert Murdoch
and former writer Conan O'Brien
.
Reviews of the book were mostly positive, with most reviewers commenting that the book was well researched and provided a solid history of the show. Critics felt that the final chapters, in which Ortved gives his opinion of the current state of the show, were out of place and did not fit in with the rest of the book.
titled "Simpson Family Values". It was an oral history
of The Simpsons, featuring interviews with several of the crew and cast members. According to Ortved, the producers of The Simpsons decided not to cooperate and be interviewed for the project because they had heard that he was asking questions about Sam Simon
. Simon, one of the first executive producers of the show, had left after the fourth season
after clashing with creator Matt Groening
and executive producer James L. Brooks
. Ortved believes that the producers "were upset [that] the myth of The Simpsons would be challenged." He still wrote the story, without the approval of the Simpsons producers.
Shortly after the article was published, an agent suggested that Ortved write a full book. They put together a proposal and shopped it to several publishers, before being signed by Faber and Faber
. According to Ortved, "When word of this got out, Brooks sent a letter to every current Simpsons employee, and all the former ones he thought mattered, asking them not to speak to me. The writers’ agents sent denial after denial for interview requests and eventually stopped responding altogether." He added, "There was one 'D'oh!
' in James L. Brooks and the Gracie Films
master plan: Many people don’t like James L. Brooks. [...] The book I ended up writing quotes more than 75 sources—some of them Simpsons staffers, former and current, who opened up because they considered his and Matt Groening’s attempt to stomp on my project very 'un-Simpsons.'"
Ortved decided to write the book as an oral history because he found that every person interviewed had a different perspective on the events. His decision was "reinforced" when he found out that the producers of the show would not cooperate.
, James L. Brooks
, Sam Simon
and Conan O'Brien
. The book's foreword was written by Canadian author Douglas Coupland
. The final chapters of the book consist mostly of commentary from Ortved, in which he states that he believes that quality of the show has declined since its early years.
, former director Brad Bird
, former supervising director Gábor Csupó
and former writer O'Brien. Groening, Brooks and Simon refused to participate in the book, or be interviewed by Ortved. However, the book does include portions of interviews that they did with other sources. According to Ortved, most of the participants "had stories to tell, or axes to grind," or are "too successful to care." Research and interviews for both the book and Vanity Fair article were conducted between January 2007 and May 2008. Ortved commented that the person he most would have liked to interview was Dan Castellaneta
, the voice of Homer Simpson
. Rupert Murdoch
, the owner of the Fox Broadcasting Company
, agreed to be interviewed, and reportedly told Ortved "Those creative types, they're always looking to pick a fight." He also interviewed figures such as Fox CEO Barry Diller
and guest stars Ricky Gervais
, Art Spiegelman
and Tom Wolfe
.
gave the book a "B+", writing, "you have to admire all the work that went into this unauthorized history." He noted that he "felt a little bad afterward for the central players who got sucker punched. [...] The subsequent testimony about the empire Groening created is contentious and mesmerizing. It's also conflicting and compromised, since some of the biggest fishies of all did not talk to Ortved. [...] The reader should be wary when sources assert that Groening is little more than an affable frontman for the show or that Brooks sometimes wielded his power imperiously: The guys aren't there to defend themselves. In most cases, though, Ortved amasses quotes from many sources to establish such points, so the negative stuff doesn't seem gratuitous." Michael C. Lorah of Newsarama described the book as a "very effective, very worthwhile read" but felt that Ortved's "editorializing" was "probably the most distracting element of the book." Michael Hingston of See Magazine
called the book "a well-told patchwork that shines formidable light on the show" and gave it three and a half stars. However, he felt the book was released prematurely and should have been published after the end of the show, also criticizing Ortved's narration and the lack of quotes from Matt Groening or James L. Brooks. Kyle Ryan of The A.V. Club
pointed out that the book has "numerous factual errors" that "may only trip the alarms of hardcore fans, but even casual readers may be put off by the book's redundancy." He concluded that despite flaws, the "insight into its routines and eccentric personalities can't help but fascinate."
Ryan Bigge of The Toronto Star felt that Ortved's "diligence and research is faultless, and [he] has worked hard to avoid writing another insider-y true-fans-only look at the show. Still, certain chunks of the book are unlikely to appeal to casual Simpsons viewers. [..] By mixing journalism about yellow people with a bit of yellow journalism, Ortved provides a tough, necessary look at Homer Simpson's odyssey that would make Kent Brockman
proud."
Bryan Appleyard of The Sunday Times
criticized the format of the book, writing that it was "alternately engrossing and infuriating book [...] It is infuriating because of a fatal structural decision taken by the author and/or his publisher to include long quotations from interviewees as breaks in the text. This destroys narrative coherence and, for much of the time, makes reading a chore." Appleyard concluded that it is "an important and controversial contribution to the ever-expanding scope of Simpsons studies."
Several critics felt that the final chapters, in which Ortved gives his opinion of the current state of the show, were out of place when compared with the rest of the book. Ken Tucker felt Ortved's "complaints aren't original or illuminating." Linda Holmes wrote that "After spending most of the book using actual reporting to flesh out the facts, Ortved largely turns the floor over to himself for the part of the book in which he describes the creative decline of the show and tries to figure out whose fault it is by not infrequently simply declaring, among other things, which episodes are good and which are bad, sometimes without explaining himself at all." Michael C. Lorah felt that Ortved's criticism of the later seasons was "disconcerting", noting that "It's not that he's wrong, but it seems unnecessary and at times even petty when cast against his own fawning over the undeniably massive influence of the show on current pop culture and comedy."
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
. It was written by John Ortved, and first published in October 2009 by Faber and Faber
Faber and Faber
Faber and Faber Limited, often abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in the UK, notable in particular for publishing a great deal of poetry and for its former editor T. S. Eliot. Faber has a rich tradition of publishing a wide range of fiction, non fiction, drama, film and music...
. In the United Kingdom, the book is called Simpsons Confidential: The uncensored, totally unauthorised history of the world's greatest TV show by the people that made it. The book is an oral history
Oral history
Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews...
of the show, and concentrates particularly on the writers and producers of the show. The book includes entire chapters devoted to key figures such as creator Matt Groening
Matt Groening
Matthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell as well as two successful television series, The Simpsons and Futurama....
and James L. Brooks
James L. Brooks
James Lawrence Brooks is an American director, producer and screenwriter. Growing up in North Bergen, New Jersey, Brooks endured a fractured family life and passed the time by reading and writing. After dropping out of New York University, he got a job as an usher at CBS, going on to write for the...
and Sam Simon
Sam Simon
Samuel "Sam" Simon is an American director, producer, writer, boxing manager and philanthropist. While at Stanford University, Simon worked as a newspaper cartoonist and after graduating became a storyboard artist at Filmation Studios. He submitted a spec script for the sitcom Taxi, which was...
, who helped develop the series. According to National Public Radio reviewer Linda Holmes, "Ortved's thesis, essentially, is that lots of people are responsible for the success of The Simpsons, and their creator, Matt Groening, has too often been viewed as the sole source to the detriment of others who also deserve to be praised."
In 2007, John Ortved wrote an article for Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair (magazine)
Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...
titled "Simpson Family Values". Producers of the show, including Groening, Brooks and Simon, chose not to cooperate in the project. Ortved believes that the reason was because "were upset [that] the myth of The Simpsons would be challenged." Shortly after the article was published, an agent suggested that Ortved write a full book. The producers again decided not to participate, and, according to Ortved, Brooks asked current and former Simpsons employees not to talk to Ortved. However, the book does include portions of interviews that several figures did with other sources. Ortved did interview a number of sources for the book, including Hank Azaria
Hank Azaria
Henry Albert "Hank" Azaria is an American film, television and stage actor, director, voice actor, and comedian. He is noted for being one of the principal voice actors on the animated television series The Simpsons , on which he performs the voices of Moe Szyslak, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Chief...
, a cast member of the show since the second season, Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
owner Rupert Murdoch
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
and former writer Conan O'Brien
Conan O'Brien
Conan Christopher O'Brien is an American television host, comedian, writer, producer and performer. Since November 2010 he has hosted Conan, a late-night talk show that airs on the American cable television station TBS....
.
Reviews of the book were mostly positive, with most reviewers commenting that the book was well researched and provided a solid history of the show. Critics felt that the final chapters, in which Ortved gives his opinion of the current state of the show, were out of place and did not fit in with the rest of the book.
Background
In 2007, John Ortved wrote an article for Vanity FairVanity Fair (magazine)
Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...
titled "Simpson Family Values". It was an oral history
Oral history
Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews...
of The Simpsons, featuring interviews with several of the crew and cast members. According to Ortved, the producers of The Simpsons decided not to cooperate and be interviewed for the project because they had heard that he was asking questions about Sam Simon
Sam Simon
Samuel "Sam" Simon is an American director, producer, writer, boxing manager and philanthropist. While at Stanford University, Simon worked as a newspaper cartoonist and after graduating became a storyboard artist at Filmation Studios. He submitted a spec script for the sitcom Taxi, which was...
. Simon, one of the first executive producers of the show, had left after the fourth season
The Simpsons (season 4)
The Simpsons fourth season originally aired on the Fox network between September 24, 1992 and May 13, 1993, beginning with "Kamp Krusty." The show runners for the fourth production season were Al Jean and Mike Reiss. The aired season contained two episodes which were hold-over episodes from season...
after clashing with creator Matt Groening
Matt Groening
Matthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell as well as two successful television series, The Simpsons and Futurama....
and executive producer James L. Brooks
James L. Brooks
James Lawrence Brooks is an American director, producer and screenwriter. Growing up in North Bergen, New Jersey, Brooks endured a fractured family life and passed the time by reading and writing. After dropping out of New York University, he got a job as an usher at CBS, going on to write for the...
. Ortved believes that the producers "were upset [that] the myth of The Simpsons would be challenged." He still wrote the story, without the approval of the Simpsons producers.
Shortly after the article was published, an agent suggested that Ortved write a full book. They put together a proposal and shopped it to several publishers, before being signed by Faber and Faber
Faber and Faber
Faber and Faber Limited, often abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in the UK, notable in particular for publishing a great deal of poetry and for its former editor T. S. Eliot. Faber has a rich tradition of publishing a wide range of fiction, non fiction, drama, film and music...
. According to Ortved, "When word of this got out, Brooks sent a letter to every current Simpsons employee, and all the former ones he thought mattered, asking them not to speak to me. The writers’ agents sent denial after denial for interview requests and eventually stopped responding altogether." He added, "There was one 'D'oh!
D'oh!
"D'oh!" is a catchphrase used by the fictional character Homer Simpson, from the long-running American animated sitcom The Simpsons . It is typically used when Homer injures himself, realizes that he has done something stupid, or when something bad has happened or is about to happen to him...
' in James L. Brooks and the Gracie Films
Gracie Films
Gracie Films is an American film and television production company, created by James L. Brooks in 1986. The company has produced many award-winning films and television series, including Broadcast News, Jerry Maguire, and most notably The Simpsons...
master plan: Many people don’t like James L. Brooks. [...] The book I ended up writing quotes more than 75 sources—some of them Simpsons staffers, former and current, who opened up because they considered his and Matt Groening’s attempt to stomp on my project very 'un-Simpsons.'"
Ortved decided to write the book as an oral history because he found that every person interviewed had a different perspective on the events. His decision was "reinforced" when he found out that the producers of the show would not cooperate.
Content
According to National Public Radio reviewer Linda Holmes, "Ortved's thesis, essentially, is that lots of people are responsible for the success of The Simpsons, and their creator, Matt Groening, has too often been viewed as the sole source to the detriment of others who also deserve to be praised." The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History is an oral history of the show, examining its beginnings, rise to success, impact on pop cultural, as well as the people behind the show, including the animators, writers and producers. The content consists mostly of quotations from various figures, which are tied together by comments from Ortved. The book includes entire chapters devoted to key figures such as Matt GroeningMatt Groening
Matthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell as well as two successful television series, The Simpsons and Futurama....
, James L. Brooks
James L. Brooks
James Lawrence Brooks is an American director, producer and screenwriter. Growing up in North Bergen, New Jersey, Brooks endured a fractured family life and passed the time by reading and writing. After dropping out of New York University, he got a job as an usher at CBS, going on to write for the...
, Sam Simon
Sam Simon
Samuel "Sam" Simon is an American director, producer, writer, boxing manager and philanthropist. While at Stanford University, Simon worked as a newspaper cartoonist and after graduating became a storyboard artist at Filmation Studios. He submitted a spec script for the sitcom Taxi, which was...
and Conan O'Brien
Conan O'Brien
Conan Christopher O'Brien is an American television host, comedian, writer, producer and performer. Since November 2010 he has hosted Conan, a late-night talk show that airs on the American cable television station TBS....
. The book's foreword was written by Canadian author Douglas Coupland
Douglas Coupland
Douglas Coupland is a Canadian novelist. His fiction is complemented by recognized works in design and visual art arising from his early formal training. His first novel, the 1991 international bestseller Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, popularized terms such as McJob and...
. The final chapters of the book consist mostly of commentary from Ortved, in which he states that he believes that quality of the show has declined since its early years.
Interviews
Ortved interviewed a number of sources for the book, including main cast member Hank AzariaHank Azaria
Henry Albert "Hank" Azaria is an American film, television and stage actor, director, voice actor, and comedian. He is noted for being one of the principal voice actors on the animated television series The Simpsons , on which he performs the voices of Moe Szyslak, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Chief...
, former director Brad Bird
Brad Bird
Phillip Bradley "Brad" Bird is an Academy Award-winning American director, voice actor, animator and screenwriter. He is best known for writing and directing Disney/Pixar's The Incredibles and Ratatouille . He also adapted and directed the critically acclaimed 2D animated 1999 Warner Brothers...
, former supervising director Gábor Csupó
Gábor Csupó
Gábor Csupó is a Hungarian-born animator, writer, film director and music producer. He is co-founder of the animation studio Klasky Csupo, which has produced shows like Rugrats, Duckman, and Aaahh!!! Real Monsters.-Career:...
and former writer O'Brien. Groening, Brooks and Simon refused to participate in the book, or be interviewed by Ortved. However, the book does include portions of interviews that they did with other sources. According to Ortved, most of the participants "had stories to tell, or axes to grind," or are "too successful to care." Research and interviews for both the book and Vanity Fair article were conducted between January 2007 and May 2008. Ortved commented that the person he most would have liked to interview was Dan Castellaneta
Dan Castellaneta
Daniel Louis "Dan" Castellaneta is an American actor, voice actor, comedian, singer and screenwriter. Noted for his long-running role as Homer Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons, he voices many other characters on The Simpsons, including Abraham "Grampa" Simpson, Barney Gumble,...
, the voice of Homer Simpson
Homer Simpson
Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
. Rupert Murdoch
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
, the owner of the Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
, agreed to be interviewed, and reportedly told Ortved "Those creative types, they're always looking to pick a fight." He also interviewed figures such as Fox CEO Barry Diller
Barry Diller
Barry Charles Diller is the Chairman and Senior Executive of IAC/InterActiveCorp and the media executive responsible for the creation of Fox Broadcasting Company and USA Broadcasting.-Early life:...
and guest stars Ricky Gervais
Ricky Gervais
Ricky Dene Gervais is an English comedian, actor, director, radio presenter, producer, musician, and writer.Gervais achieved mainstream fame with his television series The Office and the subsequent series Extras, both of which he co-wrote and co-directed with friend and frequent collaborator...
, Art Spiegelman
Art Spiegelman
Art Spiegelman is an American comics artist, editor, and advocate for the medium of comics, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning comic book memoir, Maus. His works are published with his name in lowercase: art spiegelman.-Biography:Spiegelman was born in Stockholm, Sweden, to Polish Jews...
and Tom Wolfe
Tom Wolfe
Thomas Kennerly "Tom" Wolfe, Jr. is a best-selling American author and journalist. He is one of the founders of the New Journalism movement of the 1960s and 1970s.-Early life and education:...
.
Reception
Reviews of the book were mostly positive. Linda Holmes of National Public Radio felt that "most of Ortved's work provides a solid basic history." Ken Tucker of Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
gave the book a "B+", writing, "you have to admire all the work that went into this unauthorized history." He noted that he "felt a little bad afterward for the central players who got sucker punched. [...] The subsequent testimony about the empire Groening created is contentious and mesmerizing. It's also conflicting and compromised, since some of the biggest fishies of all did not talk to Ortved. [...] The reader should be wary when sources assert that Groening is little more than an affable frontman for the show or that Brooks sometimes wielded his power imperiously: The guys aren't there to defend themselves. In most cases, though, Ortved amasses quotes from many sources to establish such points, so the negative stuff doesn't seem gratuitous." Michael C. Lorah of Newsarama described the book as a "very effective, very worthwhile read" but felt that Ortved's "editorializing" was "probably the most distracting element of the book." Michael Hingston of See Magazine
SEE Magazine
See Magazine was a free alternative weekly published in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was published every Thursday, distributing an average of 20,849 copies each week at more than 1,250 locations including street boxes, libraries, and local retail stores....
called the book "a well-told patchwork that shines formidable light on the show" and gave it three and a half stars. However, he felt the book was released prematurely and should have been published after the end of the show, also criticizing Ortved's narration and the lack of quotes from Matt Groening or James L. Brooks. Kyle Ryan of The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
pointed out that the book has "numerous factual errors" that "may only trip the alarms of hardcore fans, but even casual readers may be put off by the book's redundancy." He concluded that despite flaws, the "insight into its routines and eccentric personalities can't help but fascinate."
Ryan Bigge of The Toronto Star felt that Ortved's "diligence and research is faultless, and [he] has worked hard to avoid writing another insider-y true-fans-only look at the show. Still, certain chunks of the book are unlikely to appeal to casual Simpsons viewers. [..] By mixing journalism about yellow people with a bit of yellow journalism, Ortved provides a tough, necessary look at Homer Simpson's odyssey that would make Kent Brockman
Kent Brockman
Kent Brockman is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer and first appeared in the episode "Krusty Gets Busted"...
proud."
Bryan Appleyard of The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
criticized the format of the book, writing that it was "alternately engrossing and infuriating book [...] It is infuriating because of a fatal structural decision taken by the author and/or his publisher to include long quotations from interviewees as breaks in the text. This destroys narrative coherence and, for much of the time, makes reading a chore." Appleyard concluded that it is "an important and controversial contribution to the ever-expanding scope of Simpsons studies."
Several critics felt that the final chapters, in which Ortved gives his opinion of the current state of the show, were out of place when compared with the rest of the book. Ken Tucker felt Ortved's "complaints aren't original or illuminating." Linda Holmes wrote that "After spending most of the book using actual reporting to flesh out the facts, Ortved largely turns the floor over to himself for the part of the book in which he describes the creative decline of the show and tries to figure out whose fault it is by not infrequently simply declaring, among other things, which episodes are good and which are bad, sometimes without explaining himself at all." Michael C. Lorah felt that Ortved's criticism of the later seasons was "disconcerting", noting that "It's not that he's wrong, but it seems unnecessary and at times even petty when cast against his own fawning over the undeniably massive influence of the show on current pop culture and comedy."
Other editions
| Nation | Title | Publisher | First published | Pages | ISBN | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History | Greystone Books | October 2009 | 332 | 978-1-55365-503-9 | |
| United Kingdom | Simpsons Confidential | Ebury Press | October 15, 2009 | 320 | 0091927293 |
External links
- An Uncensored, Unauthorized History at Macmillan.com