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Springfield Confidential:

Jokes, Secrets, and Outright Lies from a Lifetime Writing for The Simpsons

 

by Mike Reiss, with Mathew Klickstein

foreword by Judd Apatow

(Harper Collins, 2018)

UPDATED EDITIONS ...  Paperback released in late April 2019 followed by foreign editions in Germany, Russia, Czech Republic and Spain

Springfield Confidential: Jokes, Secrets and Outright Lies from a Lifetime Writing for The Simpsons, by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein, Foreword by Judd Apatow

About the Book 

In celebration of The Simpsons thirtieth anniversary, the show’s longest-serving writer and producer offers a humorous look at the writing and making of the legendary Fox series that has become one of the most revered artistic achievements in television history.

Four-time Emmy winner Mike Reiss—who has worked on The Simpsons continuously since episode one in 1989—shares stories, scandals, and gossip about working with America’s most iconic cartoon family ever. Reiss explains how the episodes are created, and provides an inside look at the show’s writers, animators, actors and celebrity guests. He answers a range of questions from Simpsons fans and die-hards, and reminisces about the making of perennially favorite episodes.

In his freewheeling, irreverent comic style, Reiss reflects on his lifetime inside The Simpsons—a personal highlights reel of his achievements, observations, and favorite stories. Springfield Confidential exposes why Matt Groening decided to make all of the characters yellow; dishes on what it’s like to be crammed in a room full of funny writers sixty hours a week; and tells what Reiss learned after traveling to seventy-one countries where The Simpsons is watched (ironic note: there’s no electricity in many of these places); and even reveals where Springfield is located! He features unique interviews with Judd Apatow, who also provided the foreword, and Conan O'Brien, as well as with Simpsons legends Al Jean, Nancy Cartwright, Dan Castellaneta, and more. 

Like Cary Elwes’ As You Wish, Jennifer Keishin Armstrong’s Seinfeldia, and Chris Smith’s The Daily Show: An Oral History, Springfield Confidential is a funny, informational, and exclusive look at one of the most beloved programs in all of television land.

Amazon #1 Best Seller (TV Shows)

Amazon #1 Best Seller (Comedy Television: Kindle Edition)


Amazon "Best of the Month" Pick 


Entertainment Weekly "20 Books to Read in June"; #5 on "Must List" 

Parade Magazine's "Parade Pick"

USA Today "New and Noteworthy" Selection

NY Post's "Most Unforgettable Books" of 2018

Vulture's "Top Ten Comedy Books" of 2018

AV Club "Five Books to Read in June" 

Semifinalist for Goodreads' "Best Humor Book of 2018"

Semifinalist for 2019 Thurber Prize

Booklist (American Library Association) "Best New Books of the Week" 

Springfield Confidential (left to right): Mathew Klickstein, Matthew Daddona (editor), Denise Reiss, Mike Reiss, Maria Silva (publicist)
Left to Right: Mike Reiss, Colodardo Governor Jared Polis, Springfield Confidential, Mathew Klickstein
Mike Reiss, Mathew Klickstein, Springfield Confidential

Press

and editorial reviews
Vulture features Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

Vulture

Springfield Confidential, by writer and producer Mike Reiss, feels contemplative, full of awe, and braggy, in that he can’t believe he’s telling you these stories and also can’t believe The Simpsons has worked for so long. ...

NPR features Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

NPR/WNYC

Mike Reiss ... shares stories, scandals, and gossip about working with America’s iconic cartoon family and provides an inside look at the show’s writers, animators, actors and celebrity guests ..

The Wall Street Journal features Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

The Wall Street Journal

“The Simpsons” recently ran its 636th show, surpassing “Gunsmoke” for the most episodes of a scripted, prime-time television series. ...

The Washington Post features Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

The Washington Post

“Springfield Confidential” — a title that nods, of course, to the Simpsons’ unmappable home town — offers a wealth of great anecdotes, all peppered with punchlines that make Reiss’s memoir as hilarious as whichever season of “The Simpsons” you recall most fondly. ...

NY Post features Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

NY Post

The ultimate gift for Simpsons fans. Longtime show writer Mike Reiss regales us with tales from the show’s history — including how its beloved characters became yellow ...

Vulture features Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

Vulture

Probably because it’s the best and most important comedy TV show of, well, ever, tons of books about The Simpsons have been published. But not until Springfield Confidential has one really nailed what it’s like to work in the mystical promised land of The Simpsons’ offices ...

AM New York features Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

AM New York

“The Simpsons” and the family’s ever-changing scramble to get to their couch have dominated TV screens across the world for almost 30 years, and writer/producer/showrunner Mike Reiss has been there for it all. ...

Colorado Public Television features Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

Colorado Public Television

Watch the full episode.

Kirkus Reviews features Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

Kirkus Reviews

Always honest, playful, and engaging, the book will provide fans with deep insight into the show’s history but also into its daily production and future. ...

Cracked.com on Springfield Confidential

Cracked.com

As founding Simpsons writer and producer Mike Reiss wrote in his 2018 book Springfield Confidential: Jokes, Secrets and Outright Lies from a Lifetime Writing for The Simpsons, which he co-authored with Mathew Klickstein, the original idea for The Itchy & Scratchy Show came from the 1940s-1950s series of animated shorts called Herman and Katnip, which Reiss calls “a cheap, ultra-violent knockoff” of Tom & Jerry. Leave it to the Harvard nerds to make a simple Simpsons joke needlessly inaccessible.

Associated Press features Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

Associated Press

Reiss, a four-time Emmy winner who has been with "The Simpsons" for most of his career, gives readers a laugh-out-loud account of how the show came to be ...

Film Springfield features Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

Flim Springfield

Mike Reiss’ new book, “Springfield Confidential: Jokes, Secrets, and Outright Lies from a Lifetime Writing for The Simpsons” is a biography and tell-all of sorts about his years working on “The Simpsons”, and much more. ...

The AV Club features Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

The AV Club

As The Simpsons nears its 30th year, few can say they were with the show since the beginning. Mike Reiss is one of them, a young TV writer who only took the gig because he didn’t get staffed on another series. ...

Call of The Simpsons features Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

Call of The Simpsons

Das Buch trägt den Untertitel "30 Jahre Simpsons - Das inoffizielle Fanbuch" und ist seit dem 09. September 2019 auch auf Deutsch, erschienen im Heyne Verlag, erhältlich. In dem Buch werden bekannte und eher unbekanntere Fakten und Geschichten aus der Welt hinter den Kulissen der Simpsons gelüftet ...

WIBX features Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

WIBX Radio

Mathew Klickstein talks new book, Nickelodeon and The Simpsons ...

History of the 90s features Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

History of the 90s

On this episode of History of the 90s host Kathy Kenzora looks back at the creation of the ground-breaking show and some of the controversy it created with help from Yeardley Smith, the voice of Lisa Simpson. ...

Entertainment Weekly features Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

Entertainment Weekly

Mike Reiss reveals the origin stories of Hans Moleman, Mrs. Krabappel, and more ...

Clarin features Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

Clarín

En Springfield Confidencial. Bromas, historias y secretos de toda una vida escribiendo para Los Simpson (RocaEditorial), Mike Reiss, guionista y productor, detalla junto a Mathew Klickstein datos curiosos, inéditos y memorables de la serie animada ...

Gothamist features Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

Gothamist

Written with Mathew Klickstein, it's the first substantial book to be written about the show, with never-before-told stories ...

The Nerds Templar features Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

The Nerds Templar

As a fan, I pretty much devoured Springfield Confidential: Jokes, Secrets, and Outright Lies from a Lifetime Writing for The Simpsons. ...

Time features Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

Time

In his new book Springfield Confidential, longtime writer, producer and prior showrunner of The Simpsons Mike Reiss dispenses plenty of inside information on the longest-running network television show in America. ...

Syfy Wire features Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

SyFy Wire (Video)

Watch the full video here.

Inc. features Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

Inc.

It might be hard to describe a book about The Simpsons cartoon as insightful, but somehow author Mike Reiss pulls it off. ...

Screen Rant features Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

Screen Rant

The Simpsons is now in its 30th season. What began as a series of recurring sketches on The Tracey Ullman Show quickly became a national phenomenon and has since become the longest-running primetime scripted series in the history of American television ...

The Washington Post features Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

The Washington Post

“Why does the show endure?” legendary comedy writer Mike Reiss asks of “The Simpsons,” the show he used to run, in his forthcoming book Springfield Confidential. “Because it’s based on two fundamental principles: family and folly.” ...

Slate features Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

Slate

It’s the first book of its kind by a true Simpsons lifer and offers an informative, frequently hilarious, and occasionally frustrating glimpse into the long career of the world’s most famous four-fingered family. ...

USA Today features Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

USA Today

Springfield is full of humorous asides and fun facts, including 23 steps to making an episode and why the characters are yellow. ...

El Programa Fan features Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

El Programa Fan (Argentina Radio)

Para celebrar el próximo 30° aniversario de Los Simpsons, uno de sus guionistas desde el comienzo y también su productor, Mike Reiss, acaba de publicar (en colaboración con Mathew Klickstein) un libro con historias sobre la trastienda de su trabajo ..."

Booklist features Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

Booklist (American Library Association)

Reiss has been writing for The Simpsons since before the show went to air ... he got the job because someone else didn’t want it (“Nobody wanted to work on The Simpsons,” he tells us, as hard as that is to believe nowadays); the show, of course, was an instant smash hit, and Reiss’ career path was set ...

Vanity Fair features Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

Vanity Fair

The book, Springfield Confidential: Jokes, Secrets and Outright Lies from a Lifetime Writing for the Simpsons, by Mike Reiss—an original Simpsons writer still at the show—and Mathew Klickstein, author of a Nickelodeon oral history, contains scads of extremely funny and fascinating background material ...

Fandom Spotlite features Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

Fandom Spotlite

Simpsons writer Matt Reiss and author Mathew Klickstein gave a panel at Terrificon 2022 to talk about this long-running cartoon series, their experiences, and to answer fan questions.

Radio New Zealand features Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

Radio New Zealand

No one could have predicted that a family of yellow, four fingered characters would change TV and pop culture forever when The Simpsons debuted on December 17th, 1989. and is now the longest running scripted television show in American history. ...

San Francisco Weekly features Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

San Francisco Weekly

Having written for The Simpsons off and on since the show’s premiere in 1989, he’s helped guide Homer to the perfect muumuu, pitted Bart against the continent of Australia, and forced Sideshow Bob to navigate his way through an endless sea of rakes ...

PopSugar features Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

PopSugar

Hittin' the Road? These 89 Audiobooks Are Here to Keep You Company

Entertainment Weekly features Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

Entertainment Weekly

Founding Simpsons writer Reiss offers a funny and factoid-filled glimpse behind the curtain — or, brown couch — of the beloved sitcom ...

New York Post features Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

New York Post

Reiss’ new book, “Springfield Confidential: Jokes, Secrets, and Outright Lies from a Lifetime Writing for the Simpsons,” written with Mathew Klickstein, takes us on a hilarious journey through Reiss’ career, which includes writing for “The Simpsons” for most of its life. ...

La Silla Rota features Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

La Silla Rota

Springfield confidencial (Roca Editorial) de Mike Reiss con Mathew Klickstein. Bromas, historias y secretos de toda una vida escribiendo sobre Los Simpson ...

Cinema Blend features Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

Cinema Blend

As part of the new book Springfield Confidential: Jokes, Secrets and Outright Lies from a Lifetime Writing for The Simpsons, author Mike Reiss provided insight into, for instance, the potent potable Duff Beer's actual name origin, debunking the claims of a certain rock n' roller. ...

Bustle features Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

Bustle

If you, like me, grew up watching episodes of The Simpsons with your dad, then he will love this new book from the show's longest-serving writer and producer. ...

The Forward features Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

The Forward

Mike Reiss has been a writer for “The Simpsons” for 28 years. He has won 4 Emmy Awards and a Peabody for his work on the show. A multi-talented Harvard graduate — he was president of the Harvard Lampoon — he has also written 18 children’s books, five plays and now a memoir ...

The New Yorker features Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

The New Yorker

“The Simpsons” has so many running jokes—the location of Springfield, Bart’s prank calls, Burns’s hound-releasing, Lenny getting severe eye damage—but there are some that have never made it to air ...

Chicago Tribune features Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

Chicago Tribune

The most common question Mike Reiss has heard from fans of “The Simpsons” over the past 30 years is a simple one: “What’s it like?” ...

Kurt Anderson talks Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

Kurt Andersen

“The Simpsons is one of America’s greatest cultural products of last few decades, and Mike Reiss was and remains one of its key creators. So if you like The Simpsons, why wouldn’t you read this entertaining, charming and informative insider’s chronicle? I did, and I’m better for it.”

Nancy Cartwright talks Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

Nancy Cartwright

“Mike Reiss always brings his own unique, quirky, eccentric genius with him.”

Conan O'Brien talks Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

Conan O'Brien

“The good is always rare. A truly great comic is rare. Mike Reiss, by definition, is a rarity.”

"Weird Al" Yankovic talks Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

“Weird Al” Yankovic

“Besides providing a hilarious look at what is perhaps the greatest TV show of all time, Mike Reiss has also created a staggering literary work that is almost completely devoid of typos and grammatical errors. It’s well worth the price of this book for the proofreading skills alone.”

Dick Cavett talks Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

Dick Cavett

“Reiss has done a masterful job of compiling this laugh-filled account of his long years as a writer on this beloved show. It’s the sort of book that makes you wish your dinner guests would go the hell home so you can get back to reading it.”

Dan Castellaneta talks Springfield Confidential, written by Mike Reiss with Mathew Klickstein

Dan Castellaneta

“Mike Reiss is a great example of somebody who writes for a living and does it so well in so many different ways. And, of course, he helped write this thing called The Simpsons.”

Audiobook Clips w/ Mike Reiss

Best Darn Diddly Podcast 

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