Finding Homer After Harvard

Mike Reiss ’81 has spent years mocking a wide range of America institutions. Now, after returning to Harvard to talk about his work writing for “The Simpsons” and discuss how his time at Harvard has influenced his career, his alma mater can be added to that list. At last Thursday’s event, co-sponsored by Harvard Hillel and the Office for the Arts’ Learning from Performers initiative, Reiss entertained the audience for an hour with clips from his shows and a fittingly sharp tongue.

Reiss revealed how difficult it can be for aspiring writers to break into the television industry. Between college and “The Simpsons,” he wrote extensively for “bad sitcoms with no legacy,” he said. The script that got him his big break was an episode of “The Golden Girls,” which, though never produced, impressed enough to land him a job with “The Simpsons.”

Much of Reiss’ speech was devoted to some of the more controversial elements of the show. He expressed incredulity at the Archbishop of Canterbury’s assertion that “The Simpsons” is “the most Christian show on television.”

“The Archbishop of Canterbury smokes crack,” he said. “Has he seen our show? We had an episode where Homer was sodomized by a panda.”

Although the writers have generally been able to air whatever they wished, the response from audiences has not always been positive. “The Simpsons” has been banned in France ever since an episode was based there in the first season. Reiss was philosophical about this loss. “It’s not a hit in France,” he said. “Because the French suck.”

While entertaining the packed Beren Hall at Hillel, Reiss revealed that half of the show’s writers are Harvard graduates. “People in Hollywood call us the Harvard mafia,” Reiss said. “At least the mafia has a code of honor.”

In keeping with the rest of his speech, Reiss didn’t hold back from poking fun at his old stomping grounds.

“Harvard has produced lots of funny people: Conan O’Brien [’85]...Henry Kissinger [’50],” he said. “It’s not that fun a place.”

Reiss also noted the similarity between “The Simpsons” and Harvard.

“The “Simpsons” sticks its name on lots of tacky items,” he said. “Harvard has the Coop and the Kennedy School.”

Speaking to The Crimson after the speech, Reiss revealed that there was a lot more to these jokes than may have been obvious. “Harvard is the most distant and chilly education system imaginable,” he said. He had dreamed of coming to Harvard since the age of twelve, yet what he found here failed to engage him.

“I wasn’t interested in the school, and it wasn’t interested in me,” he said.

During his time in Cambridge the only truly engaging experience he had was with the Harvard Lampoon, a semi-secret Sorrento Square social organization that used to occasionally publish a so-called humor magazine. “It was the only truly engaging experience “It was the only thing I took away from Harvard,” he said. “The Lampoon is a good credential.”

His admiration for the publication continues to this day, which explains the huge presence of Harvard and Lampoon graduates on the “Simpsons” writing staff, including Conan O’Brien ’85. Reiss first became aware of O’Brien’s talent when a friend from the Lampoon called him to describe an incredible member of that year’s comp class. Since then, Reiss has remained in touch with the “Late Night” star, whom he describes as “never not funny.”

Reiss denied that the Harvard connections with “The Simpsons” have led to an excessive fascination with the college, although references to Harvard and The Lampoon are scattered throughout the show. Reiss admits that this is not a coincidence.

“We hit Harvard a little more because we know it well,” he said. However, he denied the widely held rumor that Mr. Burns is based on “Justice” professor Michael Sandel.

Despite moving into animated comedy by accident, Reiss has no intention of quitting. Having branched out from “The Simpsons” with his own animated show “Queer Duck,” Reiss claims he is not interested in returning to live-action shows. “I don’t like actors as a group,” he said, though he did jokingly add that they could one day make a live-action “Simpsons” movie. “Tom Cruise would be surprisingly good as Smithers.”