THE SIMPSONS’ Matt Selman Reflects on the Show’s Big Swings From ‘Lisa the Boy Scout’ to ‘Not It’

THE SIMPSONS: When the Boy Explorers become co-ed, Bart and Lisa vow to “out scout” each other at the annual jamboree in the all-new “Lisa the Boy Scout” episode of THE SIMPSONS airing Sunday, October 9 (8:00-8:31 PM ET/PT) on FOX. THE SIMPSONS © 2022 by 20th Television.

For nearly 750 episodes, THE SIMPSONS has told stories about the family next door: Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. (The milestone 750th episode airs Sunday, May 21 on Fox.)

The quintet has been through it all, juggling work problems, familial stresses, money issues, and your run-of-the-mill grounded problems.

But then there are also the bigger things. Going to space. Going to jail. Encountering a maybe-alien. The many, many, many, many, many death threats toward Homer and Bart. (Okay, and the time Maggie shot Mr. Burns.)

The animated series has never been afraid to take big swings, but in recent years it’s become more common for them to lean into format-busting installments.

“I just think it’s super important for a show that’s in its 500th season to always be challenging ourselves to do things that are super creative, fun, and stimulating for us,” executive producer Matt Selman tells Give Me My Remote. “Because if we get complacent, that’s terrible for the show. The audience will feel it if we—the producer-writers—are complacent and aren’t like doing weird stuff, it just becomes a bunch of boring stories. And then the smaller, regular episodes where nothing shattering happens, even those start to feel small too small.”

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