Springfield Confidential: Jokes, Secrets, and Outright Lies from a Lifetime Writing for The Simpsons

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.

MATHEW KLICKSTEIN's writing has appeared in such publications as Wired, New York Daily News, Vulture and The New Yorker. He is the author of SLIMED! An Oral History of Nickelodeon's Golden Age, Springfield Confidential: Jokes, Secrets, and Outright Lies from a Lifetime Writing for The Simpsons (with lifetime series writer Mike Reiss) and the forthcoming comedic novel Selling Nostalgia (Summer 2019). Mathew is also the screenwriter of Sony Pictures' Against the Dark and director/producer of the Marc Summers documentary, On Your Marc. He currently hosts the podcast NERTZ (based on his book Nerding Out), is in the final stages of developing his cartoon series CIA Moms (with Mighty Fudge Studios and Emmy Award nominated voice talent Maggie Roswell) and aspires to get some sleep some day soon. Go ahead, check out: MathewKlickstein.com

In addition to writing, producing, and directing Funny People, JUDD APATOW performed the same duties on the film Knocked Up, and co-wrote (with Steve Carell) and directed The 40-Year-Old Virgin. He has also produced Pineapple Express, Superbad, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Year One, Drillbit Taylor, Stepbrothers, Talladega Nights, and Anchorman.