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The Simpsons
Television:
MORGAN SPURLOCK GIVES THE LOW DOWN ON HIS 'SIMPSONS' DOCUMENTARY
The documentarian lets us know what type of person he's looking for in his upcoming special
By PETER BROWN, Managing Editor
Published 7/22/2009
With the 20th anniversary of THE SIMPSONS approaching, a planned documentary celebrating the show is being put together to celebrate not just the show but the crazy and kooky fans that have kept the show alive for such a long period of time.
The documentary will be hosted by SUPER SIZE ME and 30 DAYS documentarian Morgan Spurlock and it will be animated. Spurlock gave a little insight into the special and his own obsession with the show everyone loves to say “D’oh” over.
What will the special entail?
MORGAN SPURLOCK: THE SIMPSONS has touched everyone around the world. It has become fast food television. People spout lines from the show, they bring up the stories and funny moments. Everyone knows about it. So the special will focus on the history of the show and the reason they called me was because they didn’t want just a pat-on-the-back special, it will be finding the interesting stories of the fans and actually root it in the fans rather than just about the show. It is the fans that have kept it going for so long.
What got you started as a SIMPSONS fan?
SPURLOCK: It was an obsession in college. It was something my college buddies would watch every Sunday at 8pm. It is a show that really affected me and it addressed issues in satire that were happening on a global stage. It was a unique to television.
What character do you think is the closest to your own personality?
SPURLOCK: Troy McClure or Declan Desmond.
Will the special focus on any episodes?
SPURLOCK: We will definitely talk about specific issues and episodes for sure. You have to do that because there are so many classics. We will touch on certain episodes and how the show touched on specific issues with its unique perspective.
Did you work with Matt Groening on the special?
SPURLOCK: We had a whole bunch of download sessions with the crew. And they told me what they wanted from the special and they gave us their big picture and let us run with it.
Are you working on any other projects currently?
SPURLOCK: FREAKONOMICS will be out in the spring of next year.
Do you have any favorite episodes?
SPURLOCK: The Tomacco episode. It is funny because now a scientist has actually created tomacco. They are growing fields of it.
Is it interesting that the show was considered to be controversial at the beginning and now has grown to be this pop culture phenomenon.
SPURLOCK: It was. It was a show that shocked people. It has become a staple. It is the old guard. It is a consistently solid. Now, when you have SOUTH PARK and FAMILY GUY, which are far racier. But back then, people were blown away by a father that choked his son and had this violent temper. Now when you look on TV you say, “Really this is what we were so shocked by?”
How did they go about choosing you to be the host of the special?
SPURLOCK: When they saw the opening animation sequence of WHERE IN THE WORLD IS OSAMA BIN LADEN where I was fighting Osama in an animated video game, they said they wanted to hire me and that was one of the best phone calls I’ve ever gotten.
What can a rabid SIMPSONS do to get your attention out there?
Dress up like a character. If someone performs their favorite bit that would get attention. Or someone that is so excited, that lives and breathes this show and you can’t talk about anything else. That’s the person we want. Hopefully we will find some of them here at Comic Con this weekend.
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