MarkKirkland

Itchy and Scratchy are crudely produced cartoons by a fictitious cartoon company within the Simpsons world. Glad you caught the error, you are very observant! Lisa and Bart didn't seem to notice.

Yes, he is my father.

He taught me most of what I know, and continues to.

Boy, that's a really REALLY good question! "Last Exit to Springfield" was a great script...very surreal. And it was unusual when we got it, for that reason. It slips and slides around from past to present tense. The team that worked on it was experienced, yet youthful.

I remember adding one gag...when Lenny threatened Homer that he would punch him in the back of the head the next day, I said, "Let's see it!" I staged it with Homer drinking a hot cup of coffee, because I thought the worst time to get punched is when you're drinking something hot! Later, we found out the episode was too long. I called Al Jean and confessed I had added this visual joke and he said, "Keep it." They trimmed some other spots. :) Today, when you watch the episode, you'll see Lenny punch Homer.

My brilliant Assistant Director, Susie Dietter, did the layout drawings with Mister Burns parodying The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. Amazing layout artist, Paul Wee, drew the Batman inspired dental office scene AND did the scene of Lisa playing the guitar. He is an actual guitar player and the chords she's playing are accurate- considering Lisa only has 3 fingers and a thumb! (Matt Groening appreciated that).

I storyboarded the Yellow Submarine dream sequence. There was a lot of story jammed into that episode! Simpsons writers (Jay Kogen & Wallace Wolodarsky) and the artists were all at the top of their game.

My favorite character is Homer- he makes me laugh the most!

For long-term Simpsons crew members, it's really tough to be objective. It's like asking a parent, "Who is your favorite child?" We may not be the best people to ask. Over time, opinions may evolve and favorites may emerge. But, looking at the series as a whole it's a high achievement in entertainment history.

It's amazing that we are still in the initial run of the series!