Bill Oakley

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William Lloyd Oakley (born February 27, 1966) is an American television writer and producer best known for his work on the animated comedy series The Simpsons.

Oakley and Josh Weinstein became the best friends and writing partners at high school; Oakley later attended Harvard University and served as Vice President of the Harvard Lampoon.

He worked on a number of short-term media assignments, including writing for the variety show Sunday Best, but he was then unemployed for a long time. Oakley and Weinstein eventually wrote a spec script for Seinfeld, after which they wrote "Marge Gets a Job," an episode of The Simpsons.

In 1992, the two were hired to write for the show on a permanent basis.

"Bart vs. : After writing episodes such as "$pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legitimized Gambling)," they wrote "Bart vs.

"Who Shot Mr. Smith" and "Who Shot Mr.

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For the seventh and eighth seasons of the show, the two were named executive producers and showrunners.

They wanted to include several emotional episodes focusing on the Simpson family, as well as several high-concept ones such as "Homer's Enemy," "Two Bad Neighbors" and "The Principal and the Pauper," which received three Primetime Emmy Awards for their respective work. Mission Hill was born after the Simpsons, Oakley, and Weinstein left Mission Hill.

The show was plagued by promotional issues and was quickly cancelled.

They began as consultants on Futurama and then founded The Mullets in 2003.

The two produced several unsuccessful television pilots and were set to appear as showrunners on Sit Down, Shut Up in 2009.

Oakley was forced to abandon the scheme due to a labour dispute.

He has since written for The Cleveland Show and Portlandia without Weinstein.

In 2013, he co-executive producer and writer on Portlandia, awarding a Writers Guild of America Award to his fellow writers.

Oakley co-executive producer on Netflix's Disenchantment, Matt Groening's series.

Rachel Pulido, a fellow writer, has married Oakley.

Early life

William Lloyd Oakley was born in Westminster, Maryland, on February 27, 1966, and raised on a farm in Union Bridge, Maryland. He was a fan of Mad magazine from a young age, which helped shape his comedic sensibility. He attended St. Albans School in Washington, D.C., where he met and became best friends with Josh Weinstein in the eighth grade. In 1983, the two created The Alban Antic, a school humor magazine. Such will be the length of their relationship; the two characters often finish each others' sentences. Oakley later attended Harvard University, where he wrote for and served as Vice President of the Harvard Lampoon, and served as Vice President of the Harvard Lampoon, writing on the historic 1986 USA Today parody controversy. He graduated in 1988 after doing American history.

Personal life

Mary and Bitsy Pulido, as well as a son named James, are married to Oakley and his partner Rachel J. Pulido. He and his family live in Portland, Oregon.

Pulido (born January 26, 1967) graduated from Harvard, where she was a Harvard Lampoon writer. She worked for The Simpsons and Mission Hill, and was the first Hispanic staff writer in The Simpsons' twenty-year history. She is of Mexican descent. Pulido produced the episode "Grade School Confidential" and "22 Short Films About Springfield" starring Bumblebee Man.

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Career

Despite writing multiple spec scripts for programs such as Saturday Night Live and Late Night with David Letterman, Oakley did not land a job on a major comedy series, as previous Harvard graduates who wrote for the Lampoon did not land a job on a major comedy series; he now lives back home. He spent time in public relations, doing media for America's Most Wanted. Oakley and Weinstein wrote for local comedy troupes, such as Gross National Product, in their free time. After being hired to write for a game show on Ha!, they moved to New York City in 1989 and began writing for a variety show starring Denis Leary. They also wrote for the National Lampoon and Spy. Spy's editor, Susan Burke, was hired by NBC to host the variety show Sunday Best, and he brought Oakley and Weinstein with him to Los Angeles in 1991. When the show was cancelled after three episodes, they had been unemployed for a long time, and Oakley lived on unemployment insurance. He later considered applying for the United States Foreign Service.

They created a Seinfeld spec script, which was well received. Al Jean and Mike Reiss, showrunners of The Simpsons, were among those who liked it. There were no openings on the project at the time, but Oakley and Weinstein were hired to write the episode "Marge Gets a Job," based on Conan O'Brien's idea. The episode appeared as part of season four. Diane English and the Simpsons episode piqued her interest, and they were given a job on a sitcom. They were told that Jay Kogen and Wallace Wolodarsky had left The Simpsons and then joined the writing staff on a permanent basis in 1992, during the third season of the show. They began as story editors. They were initially shy and "intimidated" being in the same room with "10 of the greatest minds in comedy," but they soon began laughing with humour. They wrote their scripts together, collaborating on a PC or on a tablet. "Marge in Chains" was their first episode as staff writers, an old notion that they were given. The first draft of the script was based on study about women in jail by Oakley and Weinstein, making it "slightly more realistic" than the final version, which had many realistic elements replaced.

The bulk of the original cast members departed after season four. Oakley, Weinstein, O'Brien, and Dan McGrath were the only writers on the show and spent a month mapping out the majority of the season's episodes before David Mirkin took over as showrunner for season five. "Woel in My Fight for a Candid Life" (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Loving Legalized Gambling), "Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy," Oakley's 100th episode "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Lover" and "Lady Bouvier's Lover" segment. They wrote "Sideshow Bob Roberts" for season six, basing much of the episode on the Watergate affair, which sparked a lot of curiosity. "Grampa vs. s. "Bart vs. Australia" is a discussion about sexual inadequacy. The writing staff wanted to do an episode in which the Simpsons family traveled to a foreign country; they picked Australia because everyone in Australia had a positive sense of humor and "would get the jokes," despite the episode being intentionally inaccurate. The episode was a bit tumultuous; some Australians said the episode was a satire of their country. The Simpsons staff received over a hundred letters from Australians who were mocked by the show just after it had aired. "Who Shot Mr." was the pair's two-part series.

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"" was first introduced by series creator Matt Groening," he said. Oakley and Weinstein argued for Barney Gumble because he was a criminal that could go to prison and could change the show's dynamic. Mirkin suggested Maggie because it was amusing and wanted the perpetrator to be a family friend. Maggie was initially uncertain about being the perpetrator, but it was decided that the episode would end with Maggie's shifting her eyes and making it seem that it was not a complete accident.

The seventh and eighth seasons' executive producers and showrunners were appointed by Oakley and Weinstein. They were selected partly because they had been with the show since the third season and understood many of its dynamics, which was partially understandable. All aspects of the show's development are managed by the showrunner. Each episode takes ten months to produce, so the showrunner must "oversee many different episodes in various stages of development at the same time," with roles including head writer, animators, editors, and composers. Two script-rewriting rooms were often moved at the same time, delegating authority in the rooms to writers such as Steve Tompkins and David Cohen. Mirkin, who had wished that the two characters take over, remained on the show in an advisory capacity, aiding Oakley and Weinstein with technical aspects of the show such as editing and sound mixing. Many of the episodes were based on the five members of the Simpson family and explored their feelings and emotions toward each other when they took over the series. They wanted to produce Treehouse of Horror episodes, episodes about Sideshow Bob, Itchy & Scratchy, and several "format-bending" episodes, including "22 Short Films About Springfield," for which Oakley wrote the Principal Skinner and Superintendent Chalmers scene, the latter being his favorite character. Oakley narrated the scene in a single afternoon, and the finished product looks like it was almost identical to its first draft. The scene has been frequently portrayed as one of the show's best times, and decades later, it will become a common Internet meme. Dani Di Placido wrote for Forbes in 2021, "serves as a nostalgic reminder of the show's best years," when a single scene involving two characters became so popular that fans were still quoting it decades later, and is so malleable that it will morph into one of the internet's most popular memes." Oakley said in 2021 that it was the most popular thing he had written and one of his favorites.

They aimed for "at least two episodes per season that pushed the envelope" [and] broadened the concept of what an episode could be like." They had used this style for both seasons as well as the occasional. Several episodes were devoted to secondary characters in which new topics, such as divorce, were explored in season eight. Many of their guest stars were "old grizzled men with distinctive voices," such as R. Lee Ermey, Donald Sutherland, Kirk Douglas, and Lawrence Tierney. Oakley rated season three as the single best comedic season ever produced, and so aimed to recreate the look of that season for the two he ran, as well as some off-the-wall episodes. They loved Homer's way in the second and third seasons. We intentionally used that as our model. Dimwitted, loving, hyperenthusiastic, goofy parody of the American father – drawn with genuine feelings but then amplified. "Mother Simpson," "Lisa the Iconoclast," "Diddly Doodly," and a few others were among the many examples. I.e. In some of the less realistic scenes, i.e. The Beer Baron – usually Swartzwelder's – we'd treat this stricture with a certain degree of latitude."

"Homer's Enemy," an episode that was supposed to "push the envelope conceptually," was one of their most popular episodes. Oakley's idea for "Homer's Enemy" was first suggested, who believed that Homer should have an enemy. This developed into the concept of a "real world" coworker who will either love or hate Homer. Since they thought it would have funnier outcomes, the writers selected the latter model. The result was Frank Grimes, a man who has been unable to work hard all his life but was dismayed and embarrassed by Homer's fame and admiration despite his inherent laziness and ignorance. "Homer's Enemy" explores the humorous qualities of a realistic character with a strong work ethic embedded in a company environment. Homer is depicted as both an everyman and the embodiment of the American spirit in several scenes; his nefarious traits and silliness are prominently displayed. Grimes, a hardworking and persevering "tru American hero," is relegated to the role of antagonist, and the viewer is expected to be delighted that Homer has emerged victorious. Oakley says the episode was "hypermeta" and concentrated on "parodying to a degree the Homer we don't like. That's one of the things that the episode is supposed to illustrate - 'Homer gone wrong.' However, I would argue that in 'Homer's Enemy' he isn't even all that ignorant or immature." "We wanted to do an episode in which the imagination was challenged," Weinstein said. "What if a normal person had to enter Homer's universe and deal with him?" I know this episode is tense and divisive, but I love it. It seems that it would really happen if a real, somewhat amusing human being had to deal with Homer. Frank Grimes was interviewed about the ending [on NoHomers.net]—we just did this because (a) it's really funny and shocking, (2) we like the fact that "sometimes, you can't win"—we're here to tell you that—in real life, being Homer Simpson could be very risky and life threatening, as Frank Grimes discovered." Many viewers complained that the episode was too dark, unfunny, and that Homer was depicted as overly mannered when it first appeared. Weinstein considers this episode one of the season's most popular because it includes a lot of humour that many viewers "didn't understand." Weinstein addresses a "generation gap"; the episode was originally intended to be disregarded by viewers, but it has since become a favorite among fans of the series.

Other episodes included "Two Bad Neighbors," which sees Homer's feud with the Bushes in the early 1990s. Weinstein said that the case is often misunderstood. Many people aspired for a political parody, but the writers made an attempt to keep the parody apolitical. "It's not a political attack, it's a personal attack," Oakley says. "Rather than criticizing Bush for his policies, this episode mocks his "crotchetiness." Oakley characterized the episode as a companion piece to "Homer's Enemy" in that a protagonist is juxtaposed alongside Homer and does not get along with him.

Oakley found working on the show to be similar to being in a bubble due to a lack of interference from the Fox network's executives, which is commonplace on other shows. "The best part of The Simpsons was that we were able to get away with everything," Weinstein wrote: "There were no episodes we really wanted to do that we couldn't do." Even the crazy high-concept ones like "Two Bad Neighbors" and "Homer's Enemy" were able to be on the air because there were no network executives there to hinder us." Given the network's limited insight, the staff recommended that a new character live with the Simpsons so as to "liven up the show," the staff turned on the show "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show," including one-time character Roy, with no explanation as to who he was or why he was living with the family as a reference to the executive's plan. The episode, which came at a time when The Simpsons surpassed The Flintstones in the number of episodes produced for an animated film, was named by the BBC as one of the ten most memorable episodes of the show. "The writers took the opportunity to pay their respects to the art of animation and rail against network interference in their exhibition," the writers said. The network censorship's intrusion was limited: the normal procedure for an episode's script to be censored and then faxed back with a list of lines and words that could be substituted, causing little complications, because the offending lines were often deleted or modified for comedic purposes after animation. The censor's objections were raised during the episode "Homer's Phobia." Its script was back on display, with two pages detailing virtually every single line. The censors said they did not like the use of the word "gay" or even the discussion of homosexuality at all, and that "the subject and essence of this episode are inadequate for broadcast." The censorship issues were eventually reduced to nothing; when the episode came back from animation in South Korea, the then-Fox president had just been fired and replaced, with the censors being reinstated as well. Only one line was sent back by the new censors: "acceptable for broadcasting."

After season eight, Oakley and Weinstein bowed down because they "didn't want to break [the show]. "We'd never do a joke that we'd never do," Oakley said. The showrunner should not be expected to stay for more than two seasons, according to them. Oakley said that at least two episodes from season eight would have been rewritten, owing to the pressures of being compelled to work on two seasons at once (writing season eight and doing post-production of season seven), and that toward the end, they were "treading water." They were listed as consulting producers for season nine, which was still in its inception writing stages, while broadcasting season eight. Oakley said they spent "anywhere between 0 and 1.1 percent" of the season, but only attended the table readings of the scripts.

"The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson," "The Principal and the Pauper" and "Lisa the Simpson" were three episodes that were carried over from season eight, which aired as part of season nine. "The Principal and the Pauper" was poorly received due to the sudden revelation that Seymour Skinner, a long-serving character, was now an imposter. For example, Chris Turner's book Planet Simpsons' "The Principal and the Pauper" as the "broadcast that marked [the] abrupt departure" from The Simpsons' "Golden Age," which he says began in the middle of the show's third season. "One of] the episode's "lowest episodes in Simpson history," he says. Oakley identifies this episode as his most controversial act during his time as an executive producer. Viewers should avoid viewing "The Principal and the Pauper" as a "experiment," according to Weinstein and his wife. According to them, the negative reception was partially due to the fact that it was not immediately apparent to viewers that this was not an episode (as opposed to, for example, "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase"). Fans are urged to re-create the story and encourage viewers to consider it on their own. The show's "Lisa the Simpson" was their last appearance. The pair wanted to end on a positive note—Weinstein said that the episode was supposed to "represent the hum, depth, and emotions of The Simpsons"—and that they were delighted with the end result.

Oakley received three Emmy Awards for his role on The Simpsons and sent them to the other producers. In 1997, "Homer's Phobia" won the Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming One Hour or Less). For the first year, "Treehouse of Horror VI" was nominated for the award. The staff hoped that the 3D animation sequence "Homer3" would have given it the edge. The episode was eventually lost to Pinky and the Brain. Oakley expressed regret for not releasing an episode with a more emotional oriented plot, such as "Mother Simpson." During season seven of 1996, the show received a Peabody Award. In 1995 and 1998 respectively, Oakley distributed the awards for "Lisa's Wedding" and "Trash of the Titans." Oakley and Weinstein were nominated, as well as the show's composer Alf Clausen, for their article "Who Shot Mr. Burns" from "Who Shot Mr. Burns. (Part Two)"

Many of the episodes starring Oakley and Weinstein are regarded as some of the best on the show. For example, Entertainment Weekly published six episodes ("Homer's Phobia," "A Fish Called Selma," "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase," "The City of New York" and "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase") and one episode they wrote ("Who Shot Mr. Thousands," "The City of New York" and "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase" and "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase" and "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase")

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This is one of the show's 25 best episodes on the website. The episode "You Only Move Twice" from season eight, according to IGN's Robert Canning, may be the best Simpsons episode of all time. "Marge vs. the Monorail" is at least tied in my book, at least. With "22 Short Films About Springfield" and "Simpsons Spin-off Showcase," A. O. Scott described their period as "reaching[ing] a pinnacle of zany self-reference." The two are well-known among the show's followers, and Oakley read and participated in fan discussions of the program on newsgroups such as alt.tv.simpsons, which is why. They appeared in two question-and-answer sessions on the fan message board NoHomers.net in 2005 and 2006.

Mission Hill, a display dedicated to a hip, lazy, 24-year-old cartoonist named Andy French, was sold to The WestB in 1997, shortly after Oakley and Weinstein left The Simpsons. "As an animated series for young adults with a sophisticated, 'Simpsons' style sensibility, they pitched the show in 1998." They wanted to make the show about realistic issues affecting young adults, but not enough mature for The Simpsons. The network was impressed and ordered 13 episodes; they ordered five more after the first was complete. "The target we're looking for is one that is both rich and poor, and it's very savvy in animation," Oakley said. [But] this is certainly a case where a large number of people don't get it. It's not set up, configuration, or even punch line. It's observational comedic comedy. It's jokes told in a strange way, in the background, or with a strange sound effect." The show was marred by "public relations" issues, resulting in the show's "tarnished" from the start. A badly edited two-minute promotional video for the show, which was sent to advertisers in April 1999 for the annual upfronts, was not well received. The upfronts were irrelevant, according to Oakley and Weinstein. Journalists were also unable to view anything of the program at the network's schedule preview in July because no episodes were complete or timely. "The only thing people had of the show was based on a two-minute tape that looked awful," Weinstein wrote to The Washington Post. Six major newspapers panned it before they even saw it." The pilot received mainly critical feedback from newspapers including The Deseret News, and Variety received a positive review. In addition, the show was forced to rename The Downtowners due to its nearness to a MTV show. All of these factors conspirated to ensure that the program attracted little interest, and that there were only a few commercials for it. "I don't know why America doesn't know about this show," Weinstein explained. It's like Teen People with its fall preview, but we're not even in it." Mission Hill came at a time when animated shows were already saturated; some of the reactions could be attributed to the show's genre.

The show was broadcast on Friday, a night on which the WB had never broadcast before, 8:00 p.m., a time Oakley felt was inappropriate, and the Steve Harvey Show, which was also shown in front of The Wayans Bros., The Jamie Foxx Show and The Steve Harvey Show were incompatible with which Oakley thought it was "incompatible." The show's poor reviews and ratings of an average of 1.8 million resulted in its swift cancellation. Oakley said that the pair had been "very naive" in arranging the show and that it "would have been more effective on cable anyway" because it would never have appealed to a large enough audience due to the subject matter. The 13 complete episodes were later released on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block, and the show earned a worldwide fanbase. The WB eventually released the film on DVD after lobbying from Oakley and Weinstein.

Both men worked as Futurama consultants from 2001 to 2002. They were on the radio for two-and-a-days a week, contributing jokes and assisting with stories. They appeared in "That's Lobstertainment" the most. "Roswell That Ends Well" - "That Ends Well" - said the author. In 2003, the Mullets were introduced to UPN as a result of the production of The Mullets. Many television pilots have been written and directed by Oakley and Weinstein. Including a CBS dramedy entitled 22 Birthdays, Business Class, and a NBC comedy starring two traveling salesmen, The Funkhousers, an off-the-wall comedy for ABC about a close-knit families, a Fox project starring Frank Oz and The Ruling Class, all got along, regardless of their social status. They have produced two feature film screenplays: The Optimist for New Line Cinema, in which Seann William Scott was supposed to appear as a man born with no unhappiness gene, and Ruprecht, a Disney-related comedy.

In 2009, Oakley will coproduce Sit Down, Shut Up with Weinstein. Oakley's involvement with the show was suspended due to a labour rift between the staff and Sony Pictures. Sony was reluctant to provide a contract that fell within the terms of the Writers Guild of America's complete terms. Weinstein's appearance on the program continued. Weinstein's two subsequent ventures were without him. NBC hired a pilot for Oakley's sitcom about "the youngest judge in a circuit courthouse" in late 2009. He wrote the 2010 episode of "Gone with the Wind," which was a Cleveland show. Oakley planned a live-action show in which the characters are all robots, which would be produced by the same people who produce the children's show Yo Gabba Gabba! In its second season, Oakley began writing for the sketch comedy show Portlandia. He became a co-executive producer from the show's third season, co-writing every episode with Fred Armisen, Carrie Brownstein, and Jonathan Krisel. The Writers Guild of America for Outstanding Achievement in Writing Comedy/Variety (includes Talking) was shared by He and his co-writers. Oakley and Weinstein teamed up again to co-write and co-execute 22 Birthdays, the flop pilot who appeared on CBS as a pilot for Bravo. In 2013, it was scheduled to air. Oakley also appeared as a co-executive producer on the Matt Groening-created series Disenchantment.

Since 2018, Oakley has been publishing short reviews of various fast food items from restaurants around the United States and posting them on his Instagram channel. This caused The Wrap to christen him as "the Gordon Ramsay of fast food." He founded the annual Steamie Awards to honor what he thought were the best products he reviewed each year in various categories.

Audible released Oakley's original sci-fi comedy Space: 1969, starring Natasha Lyonne and a full cast in 2022.

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