Legendarily reclusive The Simpsons writer John Swartzwelder recently sat down for a rare interview. In the interview, Swartzwelder talks about his experience on The Simpsons, how he got the job, and which of the many episodes he wrote are his favorite. He also talks about the process of writing an episode and revealed how he feels about one of The Simpsons' more polarizing and infamous characters: Frank Grimes.
Swartzwelder is a bit of a legend amongst Simpsons fans. He's famously private, almost never giving interviews or even appearing in photographs or any behind-the-scenes commentaries. Despite his reclusiveness, there are plenty of hilarious stories from other Simpsons writers describing Swartzwelder as a chain-smoking libertarian with an incredibly dry and dark sense of humor. There's even a rumor that he was the inspiration for Nick Offerman's grumpy libertarian character Ron Swanson on beloved NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation.
One of Swartzwelder's most revered episodes of The Simpsons was titled "Homer's Enemy," in which fans were introduced to a character by the name of Frank Grimes, a new employee who works alongside Homer at the Nuclear power plant. Frank is portrayed as the opposite of Homer Simpson in every way: he's hard-working, smart, and takes his job very seriously. As Frank gets to know Homer, he finds it difficult to tolerate the offish donut-loving imbecile, a man with no regard for safety despite literally being the power plant's safety inspector. Homer tries to warm up to Grimes, inviting him over for dinner to meet his family, but that only makes things worse. Frank is consumed by jealous rage and infuriated that someone as dumb as Homer could have such an incredible life while be so beloved by everyone. Finally, Frank snaps at work and starts imitating Homer, mocking his stupidity and irresponsibility. While imitating Homer's disregard for safety, he grabs a pair of exposed power cables, electrocuting himself to death. For a final, literal nail in the coffin, Homer falls asleep and starts snoring at his funeral, which just makes everyone laugh.
It's definitely one of the darker episodes of the animated sitcom. It's rare that characters on The Simpsons, or for that matter any cartoon, actually die, and when they do it's usually a pretty big deal, like Maude Flanders or Lisa's Jazz idol Bleeding Gums Murphy. Frank Grimes, however, is only around for one episode and is then unceremoniously killed off (He does make a cameo later on as a ghost in one of the "Treehouses of Horror" episodes). When asked about this episode and the famous Frank Grimes, Swartzwelder had this to say to the New Yorker: "Grimey was asking for it the whole episode. He didn’t approve of our Homer. He was asking for it, and he got it. Now, what was this you were saying about heart?" So it looks like Swartzwelder hasn't lost his dry and dark sense of humor. Within the interview, he also says that he's pleased fans still enjoy the episodes he wrote and gives some pretty helpful advice to any aspiring writers out there, but according to him if you take that advice you'll have to send him some royalties.
Swartzwelder is responsible for writing 59 episodes of The Simpsons, more than any other staff writer on the show. Swartzwelder was famously distant even from the other writers on the staff. He spent most of his time writing at a local coffee shop and legend has it when the coffee shop banned indoor smoking, Swartzwelder bought a replica of the booth he sat in and installed it in his own home. Swartzwelder is also responsible for such classic Simpsons episodes as 'Itchy & Scratchy & Marge,' 'Bart Gets an Elephant,' and 'Homer vs. the Eighteenth Amendment,' all of which rank among his personal favorites.
The Simpsons is now streaming on Disney Plus.
Source: New Yorker