Springfield Confidential: Jokes, Secrets, and Outright Lies from a Lifetime Writing for The Simpsons
Written by Mike Reiss and Mathew Klickstein
Narrated by Mike Reiss
4.5/5
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About this audiobook
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.
Mike Reiss
Mike Reiss has won four Emmys and a Peabody Award during his twenty-eight years writing for The Simpsons. He ran the show in Season 4, which Entertainment Weekly called “the greatest season of the greatest show in history.” In 2006, Reiss received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Animation Writers Caucus. Reiss has written jokes for such comedy legends as Johnny Carson, Joan Rivers, Garry Shandling…and Pope Francis! For his comedic contributions to the charitable group Joke with the Pope, in 2015 Pope Francis declared Reiss “A Missionary of Joy.”
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Reviews for Springfield Confidential
173 ratings17 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I picked this up after being in a reading slump for several days. I read it in one morning! It was really interesting and light, and the humor was just right - serious enough to provide good information, but funny enough to be quick and easy to read. I haven’t seen the Simpsons in 9 years, but still consider it one of my favorite shows, and really loved getting some insider information about how it all works.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I would liked to have given this a higher rating. As someone who’s enjoyed The Simpsons since the age of six, this audiobook is full of interesting information from the horse‘s mouth. But there’s a deeper understanding of the show that’s hinted at but never quite materializes. The humor, while often funny (but not always,) has a distancing affect, sometimes leaving me wondering whether something was true or building to a „psych!“ moment.
Much of the content; lists, a crossword puzzle, fake anecdotes, etc; feels padded. There are also a few petty moments where all Simpsons critism is presented as Comic Book Guy level dismissiveness, touting viewership as a yardstick of quality.
One lesson learned inadvertently from this audiobook, is that having a built-in fanbase who will tune in no matter what can be its own curse, with writers not feeling the financial pressure to put out quality content (though Mike Reiss certainly doesn’t think so.)1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This was such a great audiobook! I love all the stories and the jokes!!!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Insightful and honest guide to the Hollywood production process from staff writer and consultant at The Simpsons.
Witty throughout with moments of 'laugh out loud' humour other authors will no doubt relate to.
Highly recommended for aspiring comedy writers and fans of The Simpsons. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5If you like The Simpsons, definitely listen/read this book. That is all
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This book had a lot of really interesting insight into the show. Most of it has been repackaged on various Simpsons YouTube video essays by now but there are some gems even they haven't gotten to yet which is a treat. (Love the videos and the book, to be clear.) My only gripe is that I feel like the author talks down to the fans a lot in a really weird way that makes him seem a lot like the big headed writers he claims to be all but non existent on the Simpsons crew. I guess it makes sense though, he's been on one of the best shows of all time since the very beginning, that's got to do something to a guy.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5one of the bast audio books ever and ever and.....ever
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wonderful book! A lot of fun facts and a delight to hear. Not only you laugh with this one, you actually learn a couple of good tricks about comedy.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The writer is an unabashed conservative hating liberal which he makes very clear throughout the book. If you can get over this fact there are some interesting tidbits , however I thought it became kind of monotonous.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5funny, and risquee at time. An interesting look at the behind the paper of the Simpsons' history, and The Critic too.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mike Riess delivers a painfully delightful book loaded with everything Simpson a Simp like me could ever want to know. It's just as edgy and funny as the show. Doe!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Love it
Recommend to all the Simpson fans
Hilarious and witty
What a lengendary writer - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's just fun and interesting to hear all the insights and Mike is great to listen to. I didn't want it to end and it has made me appreciate the Simpsons in a new way. Can't wait to sit down and watch some episodes.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Most of the jokes felt placed but I suppose if you are a Simpsons fan there is some inside info here.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5SPRINGFIELD 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.* - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You like The Simpsons. Everyone likes The Simpsons. Nobody doesn’t like The Simpsons. If you say you don’t like The Simpsons, you’re wrong.It’s a fast read. It’s got the Simpsons-style humor (some of it’s more Dad jokes than I expected). It tells stories of behind the scenes stuff, how writing the TV show works (spoiler: it’s as unexciting as you think it is). Mike Reiss isn’t a terribly interesting individual by himself, but the things he’s seen make him interesting.You won’t find any secret to The Simpsons success here (spoiler: there is none, except maybe the lack of studio interference) but there is an amusing recounting of his years. There’s even talk about The Critic, but it doesn’t feel like there’s enough detail, which would be my biggest gripe.It’s a trip down memory lane for us old folks who were there when it premiered. Good for trivia night. I can’t say anything bad about this book, but I can’t say much exceptional about it. It’s a memoir, and in the top three of memoirs I’ve read.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Amusing memoir by a comedy writer best known for his work the the Fox comedy THE SIMPSONS. Interesting insights into what goes into each episode of television's longest-running show, but the author's insistence on constantly making jokes grows old quickly.