All language subtitles for Icons.Unearthed.S02E04.The.Wars.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264-playWEB_track3_[eng]

[THUNDER RUMBLING]

NARRATOR: There's no doubt
that the writing

on The Simpsons
is exceptional.

But if the characters
looked like this,

or like this...

[SCANNER BEEPS]

-Even this...
-[PLAYING SAXOPHONE]

...it wouldn't be
quite the same.

Would it?

The gags they do on that show,

you can't do
on a live action show.

[SCREAMING]

MAN: The combination
of cartoons and comedy

allowed you to get away
with topics and stories

that I don't think
you could do anywhere else.

Hold still while I gas you.

MAN: The cartoon aspect of it
was a wonderful cover

to do subversive stuff.

NARRATOR: Not to mention
the violence.

Lisa, no!
Your hands are too weak!

NARRATOR:
And even more violence.

Itchy & Scratchy.

[SCREAMS]

NARRATOR: The animators
have the ultimate power.

They can kill whoever they want.

[GASPS]

They could bring back
whoever they want.

[YELPS]

Hey, cool, I'm dead!

It's not just
that the script is funny.

They're really
iconic characters.

NARRATOR: From the most
elaborate scenes...

-[EXCLAIMING]
-...to the dullest ones.

[SNORING]

Without our amazing animators,
it would not have happened.

NARRATOR: And the story
of how it did happen

is far from a straight line.

It was one
of the hardest jobs...

Go away.

...I've ever had in animation.

NARRATOR: In fact,
this tale is maybe even

just a touch crooked.

Something wasn't right
at Klasky-Csupo.

[IN SOMBER TONE] Yeah.

Hmm.

That was a big deal.

[THEME MUSIC PLAYING]

[BIRDS CHIRPING]

NARRATOR: To tell the story
of the world's most popular
animation,

we, of course, need to talk
about the animators.

And to do that,
we need to once again...

-[WHISTLING]
-...travel back
to the glorious late 1980s...

where here,
in this very building,

a celebration was erupting
for the staff of animation
company Klasky-Csupo.

It was early in the morning,
but there was still champagne.

NARRATOR: And employees
that had been there
since the early days

were coming to terms
with landing the biggest gig
of their careers.

I was, you know,
there to be directing.

And it was very exciting.

I didn't wanna be a PA anymore,
and so I lobbied for a position

on the show as an artist.

They gave me a position
as a background cleanup artist.

I was really excited
to be a part of it.

I wanted to be on The Simpsons
'cause I loved the shorts.

NARRATOR: Oh, yes, we remember.

Eat my shorts.

NARRATOR: But what the excited
employees of Klasky-Csupo
didn't realize was...

their beloved show was a pawn

in a game of network
television chess

being played
behind the scenes.

In 1989, the Fox network
was less "crafty fox"

and more "hungry dog,"

trying to bite
into the backside

of the big three networks,

CBS, ABC and NBC.

Trying to turn the Big Three
into Four.

It was a startup network.

It's not like
they had a lot of choices.

And so they just kept
throwing things at the wall,

seeing what stuck.

NARRATOR: The problem
was audience numbers.

A lot of the country
couldn't get Fox yet.

NARRATOR: What they lacked
was the network affiliations

the Big Three had
with smaller stations
across the country.

In short, Fox could only reach
20% of America.

And the problem
with that was...

How do networks make money?

They make money
by selling advertising.

How are advertising rates
determined?

How large is your audience?

NARRATOR: So far, not even
Married... with Children

had tempted these stations
to team up with Fox

and expand their reach.

What they needed
was a bigger-than-big hit.

They needed a revolutionary
television show,

to convince
these smaller stations
to affiliate with them.

KIMMEL: They gave The Simpsons
the go-ahead.

They were taking a chance
on an animated show.

It was a huge gamble.

NARRATOR: For Gabor Csupo
and his wife, Arlene Klasky,

who ran the animation studio,

they couldn't have cared less
about Fox's predicament.

They were dealing
with their own Big Three,

Sam Simon, Matt Groening
and James L. Brooks.

And on top of having
to deal with a three-headed
creative beast,

they needed
an animation staff.

I don't know
how many people it was, 75.

And it was, at the time,
just kinda difficult

to find people.

NARRATOR: That is, for a price
that worked for Gabor.

ARCHER: We were
a little underpaid.

I was unaware
that I should be paid more.

NARRATOR: And what Gabor Csupo
couldn't provide in pay,

he could provide
in good times.

It was pretty insane.

Launching water balloons
off of the roof onto cars.

[LAUGHS]

NARRATOR: Even
disciplinary action
was dealt with, uh...

RUSSO: He said something
to the effect of,

"In my country, in order
to save face, you must wrestle."

I was like, "So you mean,
like, wrestle, like,
get into, you know...

"Like, wrestle with each other?"

And he said, "Yeah,"
and we started wrestling.

It was one of those things
where it's like, looking back
at it, it was crazy.

[LAUGHING]

NARRATOR: Klasky-Csupo seemed
more circus than studio.

And the future of Fox
was riding on the reaction
of the crowd

to Gabor's ring master antics.

He threw these crazy parties,
where he would invite
the entire industry,

and it was all
a Simpsons-themed party.

NARRATOR: But every party
has a pooper,

and at Klasky-Csupo,
Margot Pipkin was that pooper.

Because somebody needed
to make sure some work
got done.

Margot was the producer
of all producers.

She was tough,
but she made sure you felt like
you were wanted and needed.

She was great.

NARRATOR: But as for
Margot's assistant,
Sherry Gunther...

I don't wanna speak ill
of people, but she was just

hard to deal with.

NARRATOR: Well, lucky she was
just the assistant then.

Because amidst
that party atmosphere,

Joe really did
let his hair down.

RUSSO: In my time as a PA,

I had made a series of mistakes

that led up to Margot Pipkin
calling me into her office

and saying,
"You're fired," basically.

So, I went into Gabor's office
and told him, you know,

"Hey, I made
this huge mistake."

In his crazy Gabor way,
uh, said...

NARRATOR: Ooh! "Let's wrestle"?

..."Let me give you
another chance."

NARRATOR: Oh, right. Yes.
Another chance. Very good.

So, the next day,
Margot called me into her office

and said, "I need you
to grab the bull by the horns
and commit 100%,

"and stop wasting
everyone's time,"

"because this is going
to be big."

NARRATOR: But before it was,
there was a big problem.

Because when the infamous
first episode of The Simpsons
first came back from Korea...

Oh... shit. Oh, fuck.

They hated it.

It was not what a lot of us
thought it would be.

It was literally like
a horse's ass taking a dump.

NARRATOR: That episode's
director, Kent Butterworth.

He's phased out
almost immediately.

The Butterworth incident...

NARRATOR:
And there would be others.

One by one, they started
kinda calling in

members of his crew,

you know,

and they were asked
to leave also.

NARRATOR: A task that
largely fell on Margot Pipkin.

And like Joe before him,

Rich Moore was called
to Margot's office.

Margot Pipkin called me in,
and I'm thinking, like,

"Okay, well, I guess
this is my last day."

And she's like, "Well,

"we'd like to promote you
to director."

I would love
to see his expression.

I was, like, blown away.
You know, I was 24 at the time.

I was like,
"Can I think about this?"

And she's like,
"I really don't think

"there's anything
to think about." [LAUGHS]

Of course, right then,
I was like, "Yes, I'll do it."

NARRATOR: But the hirings
and firings were kept
well away from Fox.

I don't think Fox knew
what was going on.

They just wanted
their big show
to be successful.

NARRATOR: But Rich
would quickly learn that
his toughest audience

wouldn't be Fox,
it would be his idols.

MOORE: We were so nervous,

like, screening
with Matt Groening,

with Sam Simon,
and with James L. Brooks.

I just remember
my heart beating, and it's like,
you know, please let it,

let it go over well.

So, the thing starts,
and we're about a minute in.

I think it's a scene
where they go to church.

Today is Sunday, the Lord's day.

And, you know,
we're getting to some
of the first jokes of it.

RADIO ANNOUNCER:
By the way, this game
is being brought to you

by the good people
at Duff Beer.
You can't get enough.

MOORE: And Jim starts to laugh.

I was like, "Oh, thank God."

RADIO ANNOUNCER: ...good!

It's good! It's good! It's good!

It was exhilarating, you know,
by the end of that meeting,

you know, to feel like,
"I did it."

NARRATOR: But while
Rich was a shining light,

Klasky's workflow
with their Korean contractors

was suffering
a communication breakdown.

Imagine a world
without computers,

and without cell phones,
without any of that capability.

NARRATOR: Since
Zoom was a few decades away,

Wes Archer would have
to dial up the Korean animators
old school.

There were no phone calls
because of
the translation problems.

NARRATOR: That's right,
because it was the '80s,
and that meant...

There was no e-mail.

NARRATOR: Which left
only one way to communicate

with Korea in the late '80s,
and that was...

Via fax machine.

NARRATOR: And the fax machine
was used a lot.

The animators are doing
character designs

for any characters that are new,

sending them over by fax.

NARRATOR: They were also
black and white, which is
notable, because...

Every single cell
had to be painted.

Sent the color over there,
so they could follow it

and do all
of the production throughout.

NARRATOR: While the materials
were shipped, any follow-up
would've been done...

Via fax machine.

NARRATOR:
And the fax machine was...

-ARCHER: Black and white.
-NARRATOR: But keep in mind...

We sent the color over there.

NARRATOR: Which resulted in...
That's right.

Somewhere along the way,

the Korean animators
had concluded
Smithers was Black...

-[CHILDREN APPLAUDING]
-Now let's have even more fun.

NARRATOR: ...a decision
color designer Gyorgyi Peluce
clearly never intended.

I could have make him Black,
which is fine.

With a nice purple hair,
which is good.

But definitely
would not change a color
in the middle of our show.

NARRATOR: But The Simpsons
didn't have time
for corrections.

They had shows to deliver
to Fox,

who were desperate
to stamp their mark
on Sunday night primetime.

But the glue that had held
the production together

was about to get unstuck.

Margot was going to have a baby,

and so she left
on maternity leave.

NARRATOR:
But with Margot gone,

who would keep
the Klasky-Csupo
party animals in check?

[BURPS]

NARRATOR: But before
the first cork was popped,

Sherry Gunther
crashed the party.

And Sherry was
Margot Pipkin's assistant.

She was very young,
and she had a lot of energy.

-NARRATOR: And...
-RUSSO: Hard to deal with.

I remember talking to Gabor
about it, and I said,

"At some point,
Margot's gonna come back

"and everything will go back
to normal."

He goes, "I don't know,
babe. I don't think
she's coming back."

NARRATOR: Just like that...

She was in charge.

NARRATOR:
The upheaval at Klasky-Csupo
had the potential

to derail The Simpsons
in their very first season,

with a new unpopular boss.

She was just hard to deal with.

NARRATOR: Joe Russo
had a decision to make,

pull on his big boy pants
and get to work,

or leave the organization
that gave him his big break.

When it came down to it,
I loved my job, and I had
a good time doing it.

Made up my mind to stay.

NARRATOR: Joe and the other
staff were able to put
the upheaval behind them,

delivering Fox
their Sunday night
trophy show.

Where some networks
may have been nervous
by the media response,

the controversial story lines
put The Simpsons on newspapers
across the nation,

which is exactly
what Fox wanted.

KIMMEL: If you weren't
watching anything on Fox,

you still knew
who Bart Simpson was.

I'm Bart Simpson.
Who the hell are you?

KIMMEL: Controversy makes
people wanna tune in.

And if you suddenly
have this network that
not everybody can get,

that has shows that
people are talking about,

people are gonna be contacting
their cable companies,

"Why don't I have
a Fox station?"

NARRATOR: And that's
exactly what happened.

As Season 1 progressed,
demand for regions
without Fox,

or more specifically,
The Simpsons, grew to a point
where something had to give.

TCI is this major cable operator

that is now getting complaints
from customers.

They're reading Time magazine.

There's Bart Simpson
on the cover...

Why can't they see this show?

And so, TCI is offering,

"We'll put The Simpsons
on our systems.

"We'll pay you
for the right to do this."

Having 100% coverage meant,
potentially, big bucks for Fox,

because now, the whole country
was a potential audience.

NARRATOR: Finally,
the Big Three would
become Four.

And it was all because
of The Simpsons.

But it wasn't just
the storylines that captured
the viewers' imagination,

it was the way
they were brought
to life by Klasky-Csupo.

He looks so life-like, man.

NARRATOR: When their workflow
locked down, the animation team
was looking forward

to a streamlined,
less stressful Season 2.

RUSSO: We'd thought,
in Season 2, was just
going to be killer,

because we'd figured out
how to do it.

NARRATOR: Unfortunately,
the other Big Three
over at Gracie Films,

James Brooks, Matt Groening
and Sam Simon,

saw this as an opportunity

to ratchet up the complexity
of the storylines,

building out
The Simpsons universe,
episode by episode.

It started to move from stage,
family, situations, you know,

into these much bigger,
you know, stories.

NARRATOR: Now,
as you'll remember
from last episode,

the writers saw this
as a wonderful opportunity

to flex their
creative muscles.

When you're doing animation,

it's just as easy to do a scene

at Yankee Stadium
with 50,000 people,

as it is to have Homer and Marge
at the kitchen table.

NARRATOR: However,
the animators disagreed.

Sorry, I'm kind of
at a loss for words.

No idea... [LAUGHING]

It's very easy to say, like,
"The enemy attacks the fort."

Or, "The circus train crashes."

Someone has to sit
and, you know, board it,

and figure it out,
and realize it.

I thought, man, it'd be nice
to be able to say,

"Well, what if Homer
is in a rocketship on his way
to the moon?"

Like, we can do that. Sure.

When you see that in a script,
you kind of roll your eyes.

[LAUGHS]

Ha-ha-ha!

NARRATOR: In fact,
there seemed to be no limit

to what the animators
were expected to crank out.

But I must kill you!

Musical numbers were starting
to be kind of introduced.

Big action sequences.

There was times
when you would just think,
like, how in the world...

How are we gonna make this work?

NARRATOR: And the rumblings
between Klasky and Gracie

were being felt all the way up
at Fox's head office.

KIMMEL: They had 13 episodes
the first season,

and they ran them.

Bart Simpson!

And then they ran them
a second time.

-[REWINDING]
-[DISTORTED] Bart Simpson!

And then they ran it
a third time.

-[REWINDING]
-...Simpson!

It was like, in August,

"Well, when are we gonna be
getting the new episodes?"

NARRATOR: And the rumblings
at Fox's head office

were in turn being felt
all the way down
at Klasky-Csupo.

You know,
working till 2:00 - 3:00
in the morning... [CHUCKLES]

...sometimes, and...

Just 'cause there was just
so much work to be done.

It was, it was rough, you know.

It was rough, but we made it.

NARRATOR: Season 2
finally launched

to the whole of America
in November 1990.

Bart mania had
officially begun.

They moved Simpsons
to Thursday night,
their second season,

opposite Cosby.

Sometimes being number two
in that slot,

because the other networks
were slacking off.

And they were hitting
the demographic numbers.

NARRATOR:
The ratings were good.

Advertising dollars
were rolling in.

And so, the third season
of the show was green-lit.

But it wasn't business
as usual.

Sam Simon relinquished
show-running duties
to standout writers

Al Jean and Mike Reiss,
who ran a tight ship.

They ran it excellently
and perfectly,
as far as we could tell.

NARRATOR: However,
over at Klasky-Csupo,

the volume of work
that they were dealing with

was becoming unmanageable.

They still have a tiny crew.

They hadn't grown the staff

to handle these
much bigger stories.

There is a point
at which animation
becomes unproduceable,

depending on your schedule
and your budget.

NARRATOR: Turns out
animation is a lot more like
live action, after all.

Bigger ideas needed
bigger budgets.

The animators were tired,

and sick of being undervalued.

The third season was a slog.
I mean, it was like,

"All right, we're going
to follow up Vietnam

with another Vietnam,"

you know, so...

"Strap in, boys," you know...

"We're going back,
going back in the brush,"
you know.

There's no way my life
could possibly get any worse.

NARRATOR: By Season 4,
it was obvious they'd have
to flex some animation muscle

against Gracie Films,
if things were to change.

That took Klasky-Csupo saying
to Gracie Films, like,

"If you want to do shows
like this,
then we need more money.

"We need more time.
We have to hire more people."

NARRATOR:
But it was a decision
that would alter the course

of The Simpsons forever.

I had heard through
the grapevine that
someone got hired,

a layout artist, just like me,
and they were getting paid

a substantially greater salary
than I was.

I said, "Well, I guess I gotta
go talk to Sherry about this."

NARRATOR: 'Course,
everyone remembers Sherry.

And she's like,
"She is a stronger artist
than you are."

And I said, "Well, I mean,
I can swallow that,
but we do the same job.

"I'd like to get
the same compensation."

And she said, "Fine,
you can have your salary."

NARRATOR: Joe got his raise,

but Klasky-Csupo was burning
through money fast.

James L. Brooks' Gracie Films
felt it was time

to start tracking exactly how
Sherry Gunther was spending
the show's budget.

There was going to be tension

because Gabor didn't like
to be told how to do things.

He was confident that
how he was doing it
was going to work.

NARRATOR: But to be sure,
Gracie Films decided

to install a mole
in Klasky's operation.

ARCHER: Richard Raynis
would kind of report back

to Gracie Films
about what was going on.

NARRATOR: And something
was going on.

Something wasn't right.

NARRATOR: Maybe
it was Joe's raise,

or maybe
it was something else.

ARCHER: Sherry Gunther had
to open up the books
for Gracie Films.

There were some irregularities
on the books.

I think they had kind of
busted her for doing something,

and she was making up
some kind of excuse
or something.

NARRATOR: It was clear
Gracie Films was losing
confidence in Klasky-Csupo.

And that Sherry Gunther

was the face of it.

They basically said if Sherry
was still on the project,

they would pull the project
and take it to another studio.

I was nervous for Gabor,
because he wanted

to make something really great
and really cool,

but because he was so uniquely

involved with the people
that he worked with,

and supportive of his crew,

he had this big decision
to make.

I was a little tense.
I was anxious,
'cause I was like,

what's gonna happen here
at Klasky?

I remember everybody
kind of scrambling.

NARRATOR: Leaving Gabor Csupo
to once again wrestle.

This time, not with Joe,
but with his conscience.

Should he remove Sherry,

or risk having
his Hollywood dream
come to an end?

And he chose... loyalty.

To Sherry.

RUSSO: He made the decision
to keep her.

Gabor said, "You don't tell me
how to run my studio.

"She works for me.
I'll keep her in line.
Don't you worry about it."

And true to Gabor's form,

she stayed,

even though, like,
nobody liked her.

NARRATOR: Leaving Gracie Films
with very few options.

NARRATOR:
Season 4 had just begun.

Gabor had laid his cards
on the table,

prepared to call
Gracie Films' bluff.

They weren't just gonna
take away the show mid-season.

Right?

[INHALES DEEPLY]

[IN SOMBER TONE] Yeah.

NARRATOR: For right
or wrong, Sherry Gunther
had become the face

of the problems
that Gracie Films had
with Klasky-Csupo.

There was, uh...

The decision to, you know...

Pull the show away
from Klasky-Csupo.

NARRATOR: The news
hit like a bombshell.

[INHALES DEEPLY]

[IN SOMBER TONE] Yeah.

It was huge.

That was a big deal.

I was, you know, loyal to Gabor,

and like, they,
they, you know...

Those bastards took the show
away from him.

NARRATOR: The only thing
that was certain
for The Simpsons

was that everything
was about to change.

[CRYING] Oh,
I'm going to miss this.

KIMMEL: They succeeded,
but Fox didn't
particularly care

who was doing work for them.

They were pulling
in an audience.

NARRATOR: Its new home
would be Film Roman,

owned by, you guessed it,
a guy named Phil Roman.

Getting The Simpsons over
to the studio, just came
out of the blue.

It was just a phone call.

Valerie Ebenaugh from Fox
said, "Would you like
to do The Simpsons?"

I said, "Yeah, but, you know,
my friend Gabor Csupo's
doing it."

And she says, "Well, we'd like
for you to do it."

NARRATOR: Phil wanted
to talk directly with Gabor.

ROMAN: Animators tend
to know each other.

You know, I called Gabor up.
I said, "Hey, Gabor.
What's going on?"

He says, "They're trying
to tell me how to run
my studio," and this and that.

He says, "But if you're
gonna be doing... I'm glad
that you're gonna be doing it."

NARRATOR: Phil Roman
wasn't just any old animator.

To Gabor,
he was animation royalty.

MOORE: Phil's been around.

And he had worked
on some really huge
crown jewels.

NARRATOR:
In 1955, Disney hired
a young Phil Roman

as an assistant animator
on Sleeping Beauty.

And long before
there was Bart Simpson,

Phil Roman animated
one of the greatest
troublemakers of all time.

He's done some shit, you know.
He worked on the Grinch.

NARRATOR: Phil Roman
eventually started directing.

And it was an iconic little boy
on a primetime cartoon
that put him on the map.

Maps to movie stars' homes!

NARRATOR: No, not Bart.
More like the inverse of Bart.

Can you cure loneliness?

You bet your sweet...

ass! [LAUGHING]

NARRATOR:
With Gabor's blessing,

The Simpsons were moving
to Film Roman,

who leapt into
the third episode

of Season 4, Homer the Heretic.

[YELPS]

NARRATOR: But what would
become of the Klasky staff
working on The Simpsons?

We were all just invited
to follow the show over
to Film Roman.

NARRATOR: "Invited"
is one way to put it.

All the directors
were under contract to Fox.

You know what I think
of this contract?

So, they had no choice
of staying with Gabor, you know.

That's what made
the switchover so easy.

NARRATOR: And that included
Rich Moore and Wes Archer.

But for those with a choice,
it wasn't so black and white.

The majority of the studio
went over to Film Roman.

They didn't wanna leave
The Simpsons.

But I stayed at Klasky-Csupo
and worked on some
other projects.

I just wanted to do
some different things.

NARRATOR: And even though,
he had issues with
one of the bosses,

like Gabor himself,
Joe remained loyal
to the team.

It was my home. I didn't work
for another studio,

I worked at Klasky-Csupo.

I didn't work for The Simpsons,
you know. I worked for Gabor.

And he saw something in me,
and he nurtured something in me

that I never saw in myself.

He taught me how
to be a good producer,

and how to find ways
to make people feel

that what they're doing
is important.

I'll always be grateful
for my relationship
with Gabor.

He's a great man.

NARRATOR: It was the end
of an era,

and the beginning of a new one.

One thing I did, too,
to kind of break the ice,
especially with the directors,

I took them out to lunch
at the Smoke House.

He would always say, like,
"Okay, guys, you want
a glass of wine,

"you want a martini?"

We're like, "Oh, well,
we don't really drink
at lunch, Phil."

Uh-oh! My heart just stopped.

And he's like, "What!

"What kind of animators
are you?"

NARRATOR: However,
the party atmosphere
would be short-lived.

Back at the office,
Phil's other employees
were, well,

a little set in their ways.

We were like a group
of outsiders coming into

a very nice, polite studio.

And it was made up
with a lot of his friends,
who were older.

You know, uh, veterans.

And we were a bunch
of 20-something...

It wasn't bad. It wasn't like,
you know, we all had to work
in suits or anything,

but you know,
it was a little bit more
scheduled and structured.

NARRATOR: Moving to Film Roman
only brought The Simpsons
team closer.

It was as if The Simpsons
were a fraternity

on a very uptight campus.

-Get outta here!
-[GRUNTS]

At Christmas time,
we dragged the Christmas tree
from the lobby

and put it
in the women's restroom.

You know, it's just,
like, dumb stuff.

I remember the lady that ran,
kind of, the ink and paint.

She was like,
"Who drags a Christmas tree
into the women's bathroom?

"Who are these people
that we've allowed in here?"

They just thought
we were the Anti-Christ.

NARRATOR: The guerilla warfare
tactics from the army
of young animators

only increased as they fought
to make their mark
on their new workplace.

I don't know...

[LAUGHING] There's some story.
I don't wanna get into it.

MOORE: "Oh, they're having
a birthday party tomorrow.

"Look, there's cake
in the refrigerator.

"What if we took this mustard

"and stuck it into the side
of the cake and squeezed...

"Can we fill it with mustard?"
You know.

"Wouldn't that be funny?"
You know.

And then they cut it,
and it's filled with...
which we did,

and always felt really bad.

NARRATOR: Inheriting
this gaggle of pranksters

must've been
an interesting development
for Phil Roman.

However, around that same time,
the change of animation studios

certainly wasn't the only
interesting development
at Gracie Films.

In fact, there were plenty
of interesting developments.

There was so much development,
and the big money was
in development.

This was the golden age
of development deals.

The development deal,
for those who don't know,

is when a TV production company
pays you money just
to come up with ideas.

NARRATOR: And everyone
was trying to come up
with the next big thing...

Gonna call it The Leftorium!

NARRATOR: ...including
Gracie Films, who'd come up
with the last big thing.

But James L. Brooks
couldn't exactly rely

on his crack team
of comedy writers.

At least, among the ones
that were left.

So, a lot of writers
got development deals
at other places,

and were eager to go off
and create their own shows.

Paying people
nine million dollars

for three years to sit around
on their asses

coming up with ideas was great.

NARRATOR: Even Matt Groening
was interested in developing
a Simpsons spinoff,

centered around
Krusty the Clown,

who had plenty of quirky
character traits to explore.

Hey, kids!

They put Krusty in a position
where the premise of him

not being...
entertaining people,
not being on air,

not being on stage,
is terrifying to him.

You know, he hates himself.

It speaks to this, like,
pathetic tenderness to Krusty,

in a way that
you don't often get to see.

NARRATOR: And showrunners
Al Jean and Mike Reiss
ran with it,

developing that idea
into a pitch,

which Matt rejected...

-[CRIES] Krusty, I...
-Shut your hole!

NARRATOR: ...in favor
of some kinda Krusty the Clown
live action reality show,

which never happened.

What! That's the sweetest plum!

You little!

NARRATOR: But don't worry
about Krusty and his spinoff,

because around the corner,

would be a very interesting
development, indeed.

-[EXPLOSION]
-[SCREAMING]

[LAUGHS]

NARRATOR: The Simpsons
animation team had found

a new home, with Phil Roman
at Film Roman.

But in Korea,
where the majority
of the animation was done,

big changes were afoot
as well.

And it was an ex-Simpsons
director who had some
big boots to fill.

MOORE: Gregg Vanzo, he started

an overseas studio
called Rough Draft Korea.

NARRATOR: Gregg
and The Simpsons
went way back.

Gregg was a storyboard artist,
but took over directing duties

on There's No Disgrace
Like Home.

Gregg was looking
to reinvent the way

Korean and American
animators interacted.

And Gregg went over there
and started a studio,

with his wife, who was Korean,

and trained a whole team
of people.

He taught principles,
the fundamentals of animation,

and it started kind of
a revolution, you know,
in Seoul,

you know, of quality
over quantity.

NARRATOR: But as
Season 4 progressed,

one particular episode
hit too close to home
for Rough Draft to handle.

Humor had turned to insult.

MOORE: There was a joke
in a Simpsons episode
that I directed,

about the quality of Korean,
you know, animation studios.

There were Communist,
you know, soldiers

prodding the animators
with bayonets.

REPORTER: I'm here
live in Korea,

to give you a firsthand look
at how American cartoons
are made.

Gregg Vanzo, who was,
you know, overseeing
that episode was like,

"It's not cool, guys."

"This is insulting," you know,

"and I'm of the mind
not to animate this."

NARRATOR: For the Korean
animators at Rough Draft,
a line had been crossed.

It was not only insulting
to the Korean animators,

but to Gregg Vanzo,
who had dedicated himself

to changing the way
American and Korean animation
studios collaborated.

He's like, "Truth be told,
the quality of our workplace

"is much nicer than Film Roman."

"Like, I've seen Film Roman.
It's a sty.

"It's like, come here and see...
and check out Rough Draft."

You know, "It's like,
this is insulting."

NARRATOR: Rich had
only one move left... grovel.

I was like,
"Gregg, you're like... I know.

"It's a joke. It's, you know..."

And he's like,
"Fine, I'll do it.
But this is bullshit."

NARRATOR: Gregg took
the high road,

but insisted
Rich Moore come see
Rough Draft Korea for himself.

I did get a chance then,
after that, to go overseas,

and to Seoul, to check out
some of the studios.

And he was absolutely right.
The facilities were immaculate.

It's like... It was much nicer
than Film Roman. [CHUCKLES]

We are a bunch of slobs
compared to this.

NARRATOR: And
Film Roman were learning
Rough Draft's work

was as immaculate
as their office.

Amazing!

It's getting the same quality

that you would get here
from an American animator,

and they're sending it
to Korea.

They never failed us.

NARRATOR: And as
Season 4 hit TV,

audiences also appreciated
the difference in quality.

What had formerly been kind of,
you know, rougher looking lines,

you can really feel, you know,
the show kind of moving

from one phase to another,
even by just looking at it.

NARRATOR: The Simpsons
animators and Film Roman

were also starting
to realize they could
live happily together.

ARCHER: Yeah, Phil...
Phil was a nice guy.

I could tell the production
was more organized

and a better run production,
with more support.

I was able to get better pay.

I didn't feel underpaid
anymore.

I mean, I didn't really
feel underpaid at Klasky-Csupo,

but I had nothing
to compare it to.

I say, good on Film Roman, man.

NARRATOR: But just as
all the cogs in The Simpsons

machine looked to be
finally clicking into place...

VITTI: Gracie signed
a gigantic deal with ABC

to create new shows.

NARRATOR: Well, no big deal.

That's what was going on,
right? Remember...

This was the golden age
of development deals.

NARRATOR: And also remember...

There was so much development,
and the big money
was in development.

NARRATOR: It was showrunners
Al Jean and Mike Reiss

who certainly
hadn't forgotten,

and revived their
Krusty the Clown pitch...

Ha! Oh!

NARRATOR:
...tweaked it a little,

and developed their way
into creating The Critic.

Jim Brooks was highly involved
in The Critic.

NARRATOR: And
after his involvement,

the show was far removed
from Krusty's antics,

and for that matter,
Springfield.

The premise...

A misanthropic film critic
in New York.

NARRATOR:
With the vocal talents

of none other than
Jon Lovitz...

Welcome to Coming Attractions.

NARRATOR: The Simpsons
showrunners jumped
at the chance

to leave The Simpsons

and run Gracie Films'
brand new animated series.

But they wouldn't be
jumping ship alone.

I got a phone call
from the showrunners,

and they said, "Well, you know,
We're working on a new show.

"We'd be interested
if you could check it out,

"because we would
like you to run it."

I really loved the pitch,
so I was on.

NARRATOR: But how would
Phil Roman take the news?

NARRATOR: Rich Moore
was leaving The Simpsons
after four seasons.

Fuck The Simpsons.

No. I'm kidding.

NARRATOR:
But he did actually quit.

Responsible for many defining
moments of hilarity.

Hey, Flanders,
it's no use praying.

I already did the same thing
and we can't both win.

NARRATOR: But for Phil Roman,
it kinda was a win-win.

Because Film Roman would now
also be animating

the next big thing
from Gracie Films.

Created by Al Jean
and Mike Reiss,

by way of Krusty the Clown.

But make no mistake,
Phil Roman knew

he was presiding
over the mothership.

At the time, it was
the crown jewels, you know.

The Simpsons, you know,
that's the hottest show.

NARRATOR: And now
with a very busy studio...

ROMAN: The studio
just kept expanding.

NARRATOR: ...he needed things
to stay just the way

they should be,
on The Simpsons.

He was concerned
that it's like,

that we weren't going
to pull resources off of...

You know, like,
poaching people
off of Simpsons

to work on The Critic.

You know, because
so much work had been done

to build a great crew,
to make The Simpsons.

To me, those are my people,

those artists,
those are the animators.

They were very dedicated.

NARRATOR: But Phil
wasn't unreasonable.

We were able
to take a few people
from The Simpsons,

but you know, it was like,
"All right, that's enough."

[LAUGHS] You know, it's like,
"That's good. You can have
those, but no more."

NARRATOR: So, Phil was happy,
and Rich was happy

on this brand new show,
in exactly the same building,

with exactly the same boss.

Just designing the characters
took a long time.

Mike and Al didn't
want it to look

anything like Matt's style
on The Simpsons.

And then the earthquake...

of '94.

NARRATOR: In the blink
of an eye, everything changed.

Santa Monica Freeway
at La Cienega, totally down.

NARRATOR: The devastation
was immediate and brutal.

It was very...

Had some very emotional moments.

REPORTER: In the background,
we have a major
gas main ruptured,

and right before it,
right in the foreground...

It happened early
in the morning.

NEWSMAN: Governor Wilson
has just signed a state
disaster declaration.

ROMAN: One of my employees
lived close by to the studio.

Drove over real quickly
and looked at it, and said,

"We've lost the studio.
It's gone. It really
looked pretty bad."

From the outside,
like, part of the building,

it had kind of peeled away.

You know, it was listing.

It was like, "Oh, shit."

NARRATOR: Desperate
to salvage what they could,

in the hope of continuing
to make The Simpsons
and The Critic,

somehow, they were
allowed inside.

They would let a few of us in,
at a time, to get our things.

So, we went up the stairs.

Couldn't use
the elevators, of course.

And, I mean, it looked
like the whole building
had been shaken.

And everything was everywhere,
like, all over the floor.

We were just kinda,
like, wading through papers,

and office supplies,
and stuff like that.

So, I went into my office,

and this giant AC unit
was sitting on top of my chair,

like, which was kinda crushed.

It's like,
this would've killed me.

NARRATOR: The studio
was beyond saving.

And now, the fate
of all Film Roman shows,
including The Simpsons

and The Critic,
were on life support.

And we had, like,
about maybe six or seven
shows going on.

It was fairly obvious, like,
we would not be going back

to that building anytime soon.

NARRATOR: With Simpsons
and Critic deadlines
bearing down on him,

Phil had to find a solution.

We contacted all my executives,

and we had a meeting
at one of the restaurants

that was still open.

Had a lunch meeting.

NARRATOR: One of those
lunch meetings? No.

This was a time of crisis.

We started looking at the spaces
around the building

where we... the studio.

NARRATOR:
It was slim pickings.

Under the circumstances,
not being able to deliver

would've been understandable.

It was... it was a fiasco.

Animation will always be
a significant hassle. [CHUCKLES]

Without an office, it would be
too difficult to pull off.

We just needed a roof
over our head.

Finally, they found
other offices

near the main place.

NARRATOR:
While still standing,

the building was...
well, not flashy.

We were in an even crappier
office building.

You know, it was
very uncomfortable.

NARRATOR: The question now was,

could everyone
put the horrific event
out of their minds

to create the shows?

MOORE: Dude, it was horrific.

If this had happened
during the day,

a lot of people would
have been hurt, you know,

or maybe lost their lives.

NARRATOR: Incredibly,
the team pulled together,

and focused on
what was important.

Fortunately, it never hurt
the creativity of the show
or the output.

The show went on.

We didn't miss an air date,
on none of the shows.

NARRATOR: While
for The Simpsons,
it was business as usual.

When The Critic premiered,
from the get-go,

it was a disaster
with audiences.

Originally scheduled
for a 25-episode run,

it was canceled after 13.

It did not have the broad appeal
of The Simpsons.

NARRATOR: If ABC came
to Gracie Films hoping
to get the next Simpsons,

what they got was a show
that went out of its way,

to be as different
from The Simpsons as possible.

James L. Brooks
and Gracie Films fell back

on their relationship
with Fox,

who agreed to play
the rest of the series,

directly following
The Simpsons.

The Critic was
going down, fast.

The show needed
a ratings boost.

James L. Brooks had been
around the sitcom block,

and had the playbook down.

He had a plan, but needed
a favor to pull it off.

NARRATOR: In an attempt
to breathe life back

into the failing Critic series,

as it moved to Fox,

James L. Brooks
came up with a plan.

A plan that was
seldom successful.

Uh-oh.

Gracie Films wanted
to do a crossover episode

with Jay Sherman, you know,
coming to Springfield.

NARRATOR: Problem being,
crossovers seldom satisfy
either audience.

ALL: Boo!

NARRATOR: Savvy viewers know
when they're being served
a cheap promotion.

Marge, do you respect
my intelligence?

You can historically see
from these shows...

I'm here on Gilligan's Isle.

Gilligan!

Once they start to do
this stuff, that's when
the quality goes down.

Whoa, whoa, whoa!

Greetings, Fonzie!

MOORE: Matt was not
too keen on that.

You know, not because
he didn't like the show,

but Matt was like,

"We don't wanna
accelerate our demise."

Sorry I couldn't help you fellas
get your jobs back...

MOORE: You know,
where, "Oh, The Jetsons
are visiting The Flintstones."

It's never good.
It doesn't work.

And so, Matt
very understandably,
just thought,

"I do not want my show
being used in that way."

It's like
you're really selling out.

ARCHER: I agree with Matt.

You have to respect
The Simpsons universe.

This can't happen here.

Why are we pretending like
these two shows take place
in the same universe?

You know, they're different.

NARRATOR: Matt had a point,
but he also had a reputation.

One that could be exploited.

He was a good guy.

-Such a good guy.
-Good guy. I like Matt.

NARRATOR: It was time
to break out the guilt trip.

Some people were like,
"Come on, Matt," you know.

"It's like it's...
We're all one family here."

"This is Gracie Films.
One show helping another.

"Can't we make an exception?"

NARRATOR: Matt did
what nice guys do,

and invited The Critic
to Springfield.

MARGE: Dear, Mr. Sherman,
on behalf of the people
of Springfield,

I would like to invite you
to judge our film festival.

MOORE: Everyone worked
really hard to make it
as good as it could be,

and kind of avoid that...
that kind of blatant, you know,

like, "Oh, this is
just for promotion."

How do you sleep at night?

On top of a pile of money.

NARRATOR: But before
you get too "critical..."

Had we not had that crossover,
we would not have Barney's film,

that he made
for the film festival.

It's brilliant.

Like, there's some good stuff

that came out
of that crossover episode.

NARRATOR: It was all
inconsequential.

I'm gonna pull the trigger.

NARRATOR: Fox canceled
The Critic

after the run had finished
airing in May 1995.

Matt instantly said,
"Every successful
animated character

"in the history of the animation
has large eyes."

Immediately realized,
"Huh, maybe we should've
showed this

"to Matt before
we animated the show."

NARRATOR: The end of The Critic
signaled the end

of Rich Moore's time
at Film Roman.

After The Critic,
I had the opportunity

to come back to The Simpsons,
but had another opportunity

with a friend, who had just
started a small studio.

NARRATOR: From
storyboard artists
to top-level talent...

MOORE: It's really a case of

"the best of times,
worst of times."

You know, it was
one of the hardest jobs

I've ever had in animation.

But definitely, the most
satisfying and fulfilling.

NARRATOR: The Simpsons
provided the platform

for all its staff to go on
to bigger and better things.

Even Gabor Csupo.

He reached out to Nickelodeon
and started getting other shows,

sort of, in the pipeline,
and becoming the go-to studio

for all of the shows
at Nickelodeon.

NARRATOR: Including
the wildly successful
Rugrats series

that spawned several films,

making millions
at the box office.

And Wes Archer
was feeling the call of home.

I'm originally
from Houston, Texas.

I got a very good offer
to go supervise/direct
on King of the Hill,

so I went on to that.

I'm ever grateful
to the production
of The Simpsons,

and how it launched
my animation directing career.

Without The Simpsons,
I probably would've
moved back to Texas,

and been a hillbilly.

NARRATOR:
From disastrous screenings

to natural disasters,
Klasky-Csupo and Film Roman

both played integral roles
in what would go on

to be the most
successful sitcom of all time.

Let's go make
some fireworks of our own.

The thing is that
it is the humor

and the attitude,
everything's set apart

from everything else, you know.

It just became very unique.

NARRATOR: As the creators,
one by one, leave The Simpsons,

they leave behind a show
generations of artists
will work on,

collaborate on,
and fight over.

But there's one thing
everyone agrees on...

Without our amazing animators,
it would not have happened.

[THEME MUSIC PLAYING]