| Title | : | Springfield Confidential: Jokes, Secrets, and Outright Lies from a Lifetime Writing for The Simpsons |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0062748033 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780062748034 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 320 |
| Publication | : | First published June 12, 2018 |
| Awards | : | Goodreads Choice Award Humor (2018) |
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.
Springfield Confidential: Jokes, Secrets, and Outright Lies from a Lifetime Writing for The Simpsons Reviews
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It's certainly okay. Breezy, geeky, slight and silly fun. Perfectly fine as a mechanism for adorable Simpsons errata, but Mike Reiss's occasional hackery gets in the way. Its transformation from Springfield Confidential to Mike Reiss memoir happens a bit oddly, even if I did appreciate hearing about my dearly beloved The Critic. He boasts about a "That's what my wife said at my wedding night" moment (barf), throws in some Muslim jokes for good measure, and has a bizarre assessment of Richard Pryor "personality comics" as if he's lamenting the bygone era of delivering strictly jokes. Ultimately it's a cobbled-together hodgepodge that results in varying degrees of success, and as such it speaks for itself. Otherwise it's a cute little romp that you can read in a day.
He does address, for a short while, a "nasty little documentary" called The Problem with Apu, a controversial non-controversy because there is no one to root for. Kal Penn's caricature of a horny Indian-American in Van Wilder is a catastrophe; Hari Kondabolu's middling Netflix special spends a painstaking and defamatory long time on how much Indians love mangoes (right out of the Russell Peters playbook, except somehow worse); and the Simpsons' rebuttal episode to that silly documentary gave Lisa a criminally uncharacteristic moment of capitulation. Just roll your eyes and move on. -
SPRINGFIELD CONFIDENTIAL is chock full of exactly what every Simpson fan would want-behind the scenes information, (so to speak, it's a cartoon), a little background on the main writer and all the others, a bit of name dropping, (and maybe a little dirt?), on the hundreds of guest stars, and finally, the stories about how certain jokes came about. It's a quick, breezy, informative and fun book.
Mike Reiss has been writing for The Simpsons from almost day one. He and everyone else on the show never thought it would last, but here we are right now, with The Simpsons being the longest running primetime scripted series to ever run in the history of television. With that many years under his belt, you can bet Mike has a lot of information for the die-hard fans and the causal fans alike. Things like the fact that one episode of the show takes 9 months from the idea to the airing. The show is written here in the U.S., but it's animated in South Korea. (Who knew?) There's some celebrity mentions as well, but I'll leave those nuggets for those of you who are interested enough to check out the book.
Being from Springfield, (MA, which is NOT the home of The Simpsons show, darn it!), I've been a fan of the show since it had a short spot on The Tracey Ullman Show, back in the day. Boy has it improved since then! I believe that I've always been smart enough to realize that I don't get all of the jokes in every episode, (Mike Reiss reads Voltaire, for heaven's sakes, I do NOT). But I do think I'm smart enough to get most of them, and that's why I've stuck with the show for all these years. If you want to know how Homer got his name or how Krusty's dad became Rabbi Krufstofski, you'll have to read this book!
Highly recommended for serious fans of the show, and for the casual fan that wants to know more!
*Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. This is it.* -
Muy entretenido ! 😄
Lo recomiendo para fans de “los Simpson” y de la comedia en general.
Si bien hay muchos secretos e info de los Simpson, es más una biografía de Mike Reiss. No soy de leer este tipo de libros pero me ha parecido muy interesante, tanto que dejé de lado otras lecturas. -
Self content, low information, deeply unfunny.
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Despite wandering away from their contemporary adventures, The Simpsons is important to me. Not just me, but most people from my generation. Rarely a day goes by without at least one quote deliberately or unconsciously slipping its way into an unrelated conversation. A show so fiendishly clever in its in-tric-acies. See, there I go.
At any rate, we owe much of it to this feisty feline Mike Reiss. Taking us through his time before The Simpsons, during the The Simpsons, after The Simpsons, and back again at The Simpsons, Reiss never misses an opportunity to drop a pun into proceedings. He's like a kid in some kind of store.
Yet the book remains entertaining, informative, and most of all, funny. Reiss is generous with his compliments to other creators ("If you want dirt, dig a hole"), his insights into the world of writing comedy, and the 9-month process of creating 22 minutes of television is perfect for process junkies. Regular junkies too!
[Sidebar: at one point, Reiss refers to himself as "the office girl" because he's not into sports. I know what he means, but it's a rare sour note in an otherwise terrific bit of self-deprecation and self-awareness].
Alongside never-before-heard anecdotes - and Reiss' thoughts on critics, Hollywood, and the cutthroat world of children's books - two things come across most clearly: being funny full-time takes dedication, and Reiss is someone who loves what he does. All grumbles are (mostly) tongue-in-cheek, and all Gumbles are Barney. -
More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog
Springfield Confidential reads very much like a Simpsons version of a biography - irreverent, sarcastic, self effacing, and never taking itself too seriously. But at the same time, I actually want the serious version here - all the endless jokes and "no not really" after reading four paragraphs of 'truths' was frustrating. I don't read biographies for comedy nor fluff and at some point it was getting really hard to tell what was real and what was made up for comedic effect. So what was the point of this being a biography of being a part of the Simpsons cast - it should really have been an episode of the Simpsons where a comedy writer comes to visit Homer.
http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/
Mike Reiss has a joke for every occasion including much of his own personal life. The endless Jewish jokes are about as interesting as endless Catholic ones and I didn't feel I got much insight into the tv show or the people running it. Every time Reiss would start to go in depth, he'd back off quickly and crack a joke or make something up. By the end, it felt like I was reading the equivalent of a Twinkie - cute and sweet but not very (ful)filling. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.
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This starts out great but then just peters out as it becomes "Mike Reiss Confidential" which is probably a book that would only be interesting to his wife and children unless you are super interested in the inner workings of "The Critic".
Also, if you are interested in the out-of-touch opinions of a rich privileged white guy on all-things-comedy, this is a fountain of it. A rare outlook that is only available in every single other media outlet 24 hours a day.
Overall my feeling was that I was sort of swindled with a bait-and-switch. -
Review of the audiobook narrated by the author.
The Simpsons is my favorite show that I haven't watched in a decade. At one point I had the DVD box sets for the first 13 seasons of the show (maybe I still have them... I don't know anymore now that everything is streaming). I used to watch each episode and then watch them again with commentary. So, I had listened to Mike Reiss many times before in those commentaries (season 1-4 and occasionally afterwards) and listening to him narrate this book brought back some fun memories.
This book is both an autobiography and a collection of nerdy Simpsons insights for super-fans. It reminded me of an episode of the Simpsons, in that Mr. Reiss constantly crams in as many jokes as possible. I enjoyed the parts about the author the most and his constant jokes make the story of his already interesting career even more entertaining. For the most part the Simpsons "trivia" parts of the book are successful, except for the many lists (and even a series of riddles), which are neat but don't translate well to the audiobook medium.
Mike Reiss always sounds like he's on the verge of laughing, which is a whole lot less annoying than you may think. It's just the way he talks - and is actually quite endearing. Overall a very entertaining listen.
Final verdict: 4 star story, 5 star narration, 4 stars overall -
Shopkeeper: Take this object, but beware it carries a terrible curse!
Homer: Ooh, that's bad.
Shopkeeper: But it comes with a free frogurt!
Homer: That's good.
Shopkeeper: The frogurt is also cursed.
Homer: That's bad.
Shopkeeper: But you get your choice of toppings.
Homer: That's good!
Shopkeeper: The toppings contain potassium benzoate.
[Homer looks puzzled]
Shopkeeper: ...That's bad.
Homer: Can I go now?
Boo-Urns! Everything's coming up Milhouse! It was the best of times it was the BLURST of times?!? The kids can call you Hoju!
Sorry. Had to get that out of my system.
The book?
Oh yeah. It's fun. Mike is funny. He names names. I wish he was a bit more honest with himself (and the readers) about the show being mediocre for over 20 years. He's basically like "the show has been on forever, look how many stories we've done! It's super popular, you guys!!" But where did the heart go? Why all the celebrity focused episodes? Why jerk-ass Homer?! Not a terrible show by any means, just not all that good.
Oh, a bit too much humble bragging as well. Otherwise, this sure beats a football to the groin. -
A peek into the world of comedy writing, animation, television production, world travel and more by Mike Reiss. This guy has been around since the beginning of the Simpsons show and has a lot of fun and funny stories to share.
Whether you're a die hard fan, a casual watcher, or not really into the Simpsons (who?!), everybody can get some laughs from the book while learning how this animated show is made. Despite the jokes about the writer's room (people sleeping or doing crosswords all day) it's awesome to see how much work really goes into the writing for this specific show because the author and his writing partner are so dedicated to getting the joke just right every time.
I've hardly known TV without the Simpsons being part of it so reading this book has me digging through boxes in the basement for early season Simpsons DVDs...time to revisit some classics!
Thanks so much to goodreads and Dey Street Books for the advanced copy of this book. -
It’s exactly the kind of book you’d expect a writer for The Simpsons to write but it has some truly funny and insightful moments and it makes me want to watch the show again.
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As someone who's been watching The Simpson's since I was born, and having recently discovered a love for non-fic, I felt like this was a must-read for me. I'm a big fan of hearing all about the BTS information on...well on pretty much anything. I love learning about how things come to exist, all the moving pieces that came together in just the right way. This book just missed the mark for me.
Overall I did quite enjoy reading this, but at the end of the day there wasn't much that I think I'll take away from it. An easy read filled with silly and fun anecdotes, some nose-breath worthy jokes (and a bunch of cringe-worth ones too). The way it's assembled leaves a lot to be desired, especially the janky transitions between Reiss' biographical sections and the Simpson's focused parts.
In the end, it turns out this book wasn't a must-read after all. I didn't lose out on anything by reading it, but I also didn't gain anything either.
A 2.5 rating which after some deliberation I rounded down to a 2. -
You know what you get from me when your book slams Nichols and May?
A two-star rating. -
Let me begin by saying that the writing is not bad. The book is very easy to read. The author has a funny voice and he has a very easy to read writing style. It makes sense considering the man writes comedy for a living. The good parts are largely limited to the mechanical side of the book rather than the content itself.
Throughout the book, Mike Reiss' humour often comes off as outdated. He is definitely not a young person. It is clear from the comments made throughout the book and the off colour humour that is used.
I was completely fine and enjoying myself to a decent degree until we got to the mess that is the section on whether or not Mike Reiss thinks Apu is problematic or not (spoiler: he thinks that Apu is a beloved character and isn't actually problematic). My entire enjoyment of the book was destroyed from then on after that. I did go on to finish it simply because I was interested to see what else there was to say, but I definitely skimmed the remaining pages rather than read them in depth.
In my edition, the Apu section, is on pages 107-108. It may be different for you. When addressing the racist actions of kids teasing South Asian kids and mocking them in an Apu voice, Reiss says "That's not racism. That's just saying kids are dicks". He also described the documentary "The Problem With Apu" as a "nasty little documentary". It was a well done film. I watched it in my university course that was focused around The Simpson's. If someone cannot accept criticism about their TV character, which follows negative stereotypes, then maybe, just maybe they should either leave the TV industry or at least keep quiet about this view. Reiss concludes the Apu section with this great line (please note the sarcasm in my words):
"...as a white Jewish guy, I can't tell Indians not to be offended by another white Jewish guy playing an Indian." -
RATING: 3 Stars
2018; Dey Street Books/HarperCollins Canada
(Review Not on Blog)
The Simpsons is a show that most everyone in my family could agree on, if not always for the same reasons. I was the same age as Bart when the show started, and felt this kinship with Lisa for books and not fitting in. It is hard to characterize this book -it's a mix of trivia, behind the scenes and biography of the show. I read the first few chapters and then found myself skimming to the "good" parts. It's a good book for anyone that is a fan as you will learn some new things and have a moment down memory lane. I would suggest getting it from the library as I cannot recommend this at the hardcover price.
***I received an eARC from EDELWEISS*** -
Springfield Confidential By Mike Riess 🌟🌟🌟🌟
The endlessly funny Mike Reiss gives you a tremendous insight on what is it like working on the Simpsons, all the ups and downs and his life as a joke writer, this is not and entirely Simpson's book but more about his life as a comedian and writer and what It takes to reach the success of the Simpsons, they are lots of secrets and facts on the Simpsons and is quite a funny book with jokes and puns riding across the book.
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An excellent book on comedy pop culture and a light read, so if you like The Simpsons, pop culture and comedy pick it up an excellent read to pass the time and if you have enough of horror (or whatever other genera you engulfed on a daily basis) for a bit then this will lighten your brain. -
So, SO Ghostwritten. It's basically a transcript of a long interview with Mike Reiss. The guy's a professional writer, I don't understand why he needs a ghostwriter. Reiss is an interesting and engaging subject, but I was looking for a little more in-depth detail about how The Simpsons is written, especially in the 90s, when it was good. He spends about two chapters on this part of his life, the rest, while interesting, isn't really what I wanted out of this book. Good but a little disappointing, then.
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I confess, I am not a big fan of the Simpsons, Homer tends to annoy me too much to be able to watch the show religiously.
I am though a fan of trivia and behind the scenes information and this book certainly delivers. Brilliantly fascinating read, with a author who is not afraid of voicing his opinion, without any shame or disclaimers. Quite refreshing really. -
an enjoyable audiobook to listen to, however, i thought it would focus more on the history of the simpsons. it did do this sometimes, but mostly it went on large tangents that weren't too important about the writer's life. would recommend for any simpsons fan or anyone interested in the screenwriting field. time to bingewatch the simpsons!
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Sin dudas es un libro que todo fan de Los Simpson debería leer. Mike Reiss, con su característico sentido del humor (la primera vez que un libro me hace reír tanto), nos va narrando su propia vida, y a su vez, un montón de historias y curiosidades acerca de uno de los mejores programas de televisión del mundo.
Es la primera vez que leo un libro acerca de un comediante y me llamó la atención su pasión y dedicación que lleva trabajar para un programa de este estilo. Desde escribir los chistes, revisar guiones, ideas, lidiar con las productoras, etc.
Contar chistes es genial pero...hay que saber inventarlos y escribirlos -
I am a HUGE Simpsons fan...of the early seasons, not so much now. This book has a lot of inside tidbits of info on how the show came to be. Sometimes it is all over the place with its narrative but the love that the original creators had for this show is all too real. Personally, the humor in this show shaped my understanding of what I find funny and how I go about telling jokes. For that, it will forever remain as my favorite show of all time.
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D’oh, it got me laughing from beginning to end. I love the Simpsons and always will.
And you better read it fast before Mr. Burns releases the hounds on you. Afterwards, a well deserve Duff beer is in order and if you don’t agree, you can eat my shorts. -
An episode about Grandpa going fishing is entitled "the Old Man and the She". Or, one of the writers suggested a gag where Homer see a form which says, 'Do Nott write in the box', and Homer writes,
"OK." Then, there's the joke about Brook Sheilds being so bad playing the role of Ann Franks that when the actors playing Nazis came onstage, the audience yelled, 'she's in the attic'.
Much of this book is funny, enlightening about how the show gets written, acted, and animated, and much of is funny. But a large part of it is devoted to Mike Reiss reciting his admiration of Conan O'Brien, or some other former gag writer, and some of it is devoted to tributes that seem to stress how important Mike Reiss is to the show. I read the book because I wanted to find out how a show like the Simpsons get written and produced, and I got that from the book. And, I loved the funny parts. But, the book, as many books are, could have been 50 pages shorter and not lost anything. Once again, the editors seemed to go AWOL. -
I somehow missed rating this one. Probably because I was moving at the time.
An audiobook is a great friend when you're moving. Because you basically have a lot of time to perform a lot of boring tasks.
My life fantasy will always be gaining enough wealth to have a move go like this:
1. I tell my Alfred that we're moving.
2. I pick out a house on Zillow, hire someone to check it out for me.
3. I tell Alfred my moving dates.
4. I leave on vacation for a week.
5. I return to my new home where everything is placed as though it's been there for a decade.
I'd give my right nut for that. Or left. I don't really think either is better than the other. I don't know why it's necessary to specify when it comes to that. It's not like most people know whether they're "right-nutted." -
My last two audiobooks have been dreadful, and this was a quick, breezy, and oftentimes funny antidote. I do think you need to be a Simpsons fan, and if you aren't why exactly would you pick up this book anyway? I enjoyed the bits about the show, but then Reiss smashes in some more "memoir" bits about his own life and sometimes that was fine and sometimes I was less than engaged. But I was mostly entertained and like I said, it really helped me break out of a dreadful audio slump.
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My father’s mother may have been the funniest one in the family. I once asked her, after reading a Dixie cup riddle, “What’s worse than finding a worm in an apple?”
The cup’s answer was “Finding half a worm in an apple.”
My grandma Rosie’s answer? “Having someone shove an umbrella up your tuchis… and then open it.”
…
My other grandmother summed up our family best… After a family dinner one night she said, “Y’all make so many jokes!” Then, after a beat, she added: “Of course, none of them are worth a damn.”
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When reporters asked why the movie was so successful, the filmmakers all had the same answer: “We have no friggin’ idea.” The best explanation I ever heard came during another one of my fun vacations: Ukraine. I’d gone to visit Chernobyl, for Simpsons research – yes, it’s their hottest tourist attraction, in every sense of the word. Afterward, I went to a park in Kiev that was filled with statues of Scrat, the Ice Age squirrel who’s always pursuing an acorn but never quite getting it. I asked a Ukrainian woman why they loved Scrat so much. She said, “He teaches children that life is hopeless.” -
A fun little memoir filled with lots of great little behind-the-scenes anecdotes and also inside opinions on stories I had already heard. It was well placed and never dwelled on any one subject for too long, so I found it really easy to read through quickly.
Reiss packs a bunch of little joke asides in constantly and for the most part they are pretty funny, but one problem I had (which I'm sure Reiss would find hilarious) is that sometimes I couldn't tell if something actually happened or was just a joke. There are so many strange things that have happened on The Simpsons (such as Michael Jackson appearing as a guest star, yet bringing a voice impersonator to do his singing parts) and Reiss also throws in statements that are clearly not true for laughs (stating that a Feng Shui expert ensures the animation is in harmony before the show is aired), that when he makes an aside about something strange that I hadn't heard of before I have no idea if its true.
Anyways, I'm going to go watch some classic Simpsons episodes now. -
I expected to like this book more.
I'm a fan of the Simpsons, and a fan of Hari Kondabolu and his documentary about Apu, and look forward to watching the Couch Gag every week.
But I didn't find this book particularly funny. While I normally enjoy Reiss' work on some level the format of this book didn't feel like a memoir or a let-me-share-this-behind-the-scenes-view - to me it read like let me tell you about this one time *insert name dropping story where something may or may not happen and then include a "twist" like 'And that was my wedding!*. I think part of it is I'm familiar with Reiss' shows, but not familiar with him as a person and I thought this book would enlighten me more but it doesn't really dive into his personal life but also doesn't stay focused on the show.
There are some interesting facts for Simpsons fans, but personally nothing I was blown away by.
