‘The Simpsons’ Legend Al Jean Talks His Last Episode as Showrunner, His Proudest Moments and Why Now was the Time to Take a Step Back from Springfield

Alongside creator Matt Groening and series developers Sam Simon and James L. Brooks, Al Jean stands as a monumental figure in the history of The Simpsons. One of the show’s first writers, along with his then–writing partner Mike Reiss, Jean helped shape its early voice by penning some of its first episodes. The duo later served as showrunners for Seasons Three and Four.

After a few years away from The Simpsons, Jean returned as the sole showrunner in Season 13—and for the next quarter century, he remained in that role, guiding the show through hundreds of episodes. In 2020, he was joined by Matt Selman, and the two served as co-showrunners—until last night.

On October 26, Jean posted on X: “Thank you for watching @TheSimpsons tonight … next week the last (Simpsons) episode I’ll showrun (at least for now), although as always I’m still thrilled to work on the show.”

That episode, “Bad Boys... For Life?”, aired on November 2. Though The Simpsons shows no signs of slowing down and Jean will continue to be involved, his final turn as showrunner closes a remarkable chapter in the show’s history—one he recently joined me to look back on.

Can we start by talking about “Bad Boys… For Life?”?

Yes. It's an episode that I've been working on for a while. It's a little bit of everything: a little bit of my relationship with my father, a little bit of being a father and a bit of a tribute to just how wonderful Dan Castellaneta and Nancy Cartwright have been all these years as Homer and Bart. The original title was "Bart's First Prank," so it explains how Bart got to be the way he is and how he and Homer got a little closer.

Has this one been an idea in your head for years?

Yes, it's been in the works for several years. We had the table read two days after the election in 2024, which is about the worst readout environment you can possibly imagine. Everybody was not in a good mood but, thanks to the cast, especially Dan and Nancy, it read well. I am very grateful for that. I've been working on this one on and off since 2022, although I've been working on my relationship with my late father for 64 years, I guess.

Did you have this one in mind as being your last one, at least as showrunner?

Somewhat. It is the last one I'm doing as showrunner for the time being. I'm always cautious to say that anything is an end point. There's no such thing as an end point and you never know what's going to happen next. So, it has a closure of its own, but it's certainly not a closure for the series. And the show, as you know, has been picked up through season 40 and I couldn't even tell you if it was going to stop there. I mean, it's really going strong.

What were the feelings you were going through writing and overseeing this episode in particular?

The biggest feeling, if I'm not the person in charge — and I think Matt Selman is doing a fantastic job — is relief. When Mike Reiss and I took over after Season Two, the thought in my head 24/7 was “Don't let this thing go down. Don't let it disappear. Don't be the person that ended The Simpsons.” Which I can safely say, 35 years later, I'm not the person that ended it. Mission accomplished.

There's two great things about it. You work with so many brilliant people, the cast, the animators, the other writers, everybody is just so amazing and that's a huge blessing. And, when I meet people who watch the show, I've heard people go, “My parents were splitting up. I was really depressed and I would watch The Simpsons and it would cheer me up.” That means the most, really. To have a job where you actually do that, that's an extra part of it is really amazing.

Has it had a similar impact on you over the years?

When things in the external world don't always go the way you want, it's been wonderful to have this show and the people on it you can come and talk with. It's kind of a place to go that you feel at home and that's always been true since Mike and I started in 1989.

From “Bad Boys... For Life?”, is there any moment in particular you wanted to highlight?

It's a small thing, but it's a joke that I had pitched and got into the first Simpsons episode, “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire” — where Homer is talking about the dog — and in this one he's talking about Bart when he says, “He's useless, he's pathetic. He's... me!” That moment is special to me.

There's another little plot too, which is, as you know, canonically on the show, Bart is left-handed, as is Matt Groening. I'm not left-handed, but Mike Reiss, my writing partner is, my brother is and my mother was. So, a lot of the episode deals with Homer discovering Bart's left-handedness and wanting to make him right-handed because he thinks that's what the world wants. We have a little tribute to lefthanders at the end of the show.

Your post implies that you’re not entirely leaving The Simpsons; what will your role be going forward?

I’m a consulting producer, it’s sort of the Valhalla for showrunners. It's like that scene at the end of Lord of the Rings where they're all going on the boat and it's very nice.

What does consulting producer mean?

I'm not in charge of episodes, but, like today, there was a great read and I came in and I pitched a bunch of stuff and I think two of the things that I pitched they thought were really good and would go in the episode. I do that for every episode. You just see if you can suggest stuff that helps, you read the scripts and give a little production advice. But as I say, the biggest thing I want to underline is that I think the show is going great, and I foresee a very long and bright future for it.

That gets into one question I had which is, will this change the show from the viewer’s perspective?

I mean, we've been on for 35 years and there's been minor changes, but in terms of something that's been around that long, in my view, the changes are less significant than the continuity. We've sadly lost great people — like Marcia Wallace and Sam Simon — and they are irreplaceable. But on the other hand, I've always felt the show is very continuous. 

It's not coming to this, but the end I always envisioned for the show is that you go back to the Christmas special it began with so that there's no beginning and no end. The entire series is a mobius loop.

Is Matt Selman the sole showrunner now?

His system is that he has what he calls co-runners that work under him, like Brian Kelley, Carolyn Omine and Tim Long. I'd let him describe it, but that's how his system works.

If you don’t mind my asking, why are you choosing now to step back?

Oh, there's a lot of reasons that make sense. There's other stuff I have in the works, non-Simpsons, including something with Jon Lovitz. 

Also, I always like round numbers. It’s been 20 years running it by myself and 10 Emmys. So I was like, “That's a pretty good number.” But, if somebody said, “Hey, what about this? Do you want to run another episode?” I'd say, “Oh, probably.” I don't know what the future holds. With this show, there have been many times where I go, “Well, that must be the end of it.” It never is, so I haven't said that for about 15 years.

That Jon Lovitz project, might that be a revival of The Critic?

It's definitely been discussed. I'll just say there's really only one hurdle. John is up for it. Maurice LaMarche is up for it. Mike Reese is too. I can't really say what the one hurdle is, but there's one thing standing in the way.

Well, hopefully that one hurdle is toppled because I love that show.

I hope so, too. I’ve done everything I can on my end to make it work. 

Are there any favorite episodes or moments you’d like to reflect on a bit?

I'd be happy to. There's that one Halloween show, “Treehouse of Horror XXV,” where every segment was great. There was the Hell classroom and there was a Kubrick parody, and I love Kubrick. Then we had the modern Simpsons meeting the Tracey Ullman Simpsons. Every segment was a lead segment, in my opinion. That one's really special to me. 

There was one where Lisa was reading To Kill a Mockingbird and, in her imagination, Homer started to turn into Atticus Finch. That meant a lot to me because we actually got footage cleared from the movie To Kill a Mockingbird through the estate of Gregory Pack by the girl that played the daughter, Scout. That was really personal to me, having two daughters. 

The first one — the Christmas show — means a lot. I had a copy of the first draft written by Mimi Pond that I donated to the Smithsonian with my notes on it. I never thought that would have happened. Then there’s this one from Sunday. There are so many. They can't all be your favorite, but a lot of them are.