The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History

The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History is for the die-hard fan. Sometimes too much of a good thing is not too good. I don’t know when Matt Groening actually drew something and is living off the fat of popularity. The Simpsons in my opinion have become less relevant and more of a self-parody after all these years. Yet the machine keeps rolling and printing more money for all involved. The Simpsons are now like a kid who refused to move out and lives in the basement of the Fox grid. John Ortved’s book is a great piece of reporting of the cogs of the Simpson universe and how it works as a whole and dispelling a few myths along the way.

John Ortved’s oral history will be the first-ever look behind the scenes at the creation and day-to-day running of The Simpsons, as told by many of the people who made it: among them writers, animators, producers, and network executives. It’s an intriguing yet hilarious tale, full of betrayal, ambition, and love. Like the family it depicts, the show’s creative forces have been riven by dysfunction from the get-go—outsize egos clashing with studio executives and one another over credit for and control of a pop-culture institution. Contrary to popular belief, The Simpsons did not spring out of one man’s brain, fully formed, like a hilarious Athena. Its inception was a process, with many parents, and this book tells the story.

Tony M.

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