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

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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.

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.

Hardcover 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. Arts Photography, Film 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. 0062748033 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 9780062748034 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. Arts Photography, Film

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.* Arts Photography, Film Self content, low information, deeply unfunny. Judd Apatow 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. English 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. 320 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. 320

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 Reissâ€"who has worked on The Simpsons continuously since episode one in 1989â€"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 Simpsonsâ€"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