Hearing Matt Groening and Conan O’Brien Talk ‘Simpsons’ Rules Is Amazing

The Simpsons have loomed large in my life. I would watch it constantly growing up, record episodes on VHS tapes, and devour the comics and video games the show spawned. Many minutes were spent running out of the living room to describe the couch gag to my Dad, often starting with, “Dad, ya know what happened?!” Or, at least, I did that until I remember him telling me to stop at one point (something I would never do to my kids). Despite being shot down by my dad, talking about The Simpsons has become just as enjoyable as watching it.

I’ve been good friends with a gentleman named Mikael for almost twenty years. He was the best man at my wedding. But as we’ve both gotten older and taken on other responsibilities, and therefore haven’t been able to see each other as much, we still regularly text each other Simpsons GIFs and clips, and then talk about why we think they’re funny. I’ve also started showing the show to my kids, and we’ll often chat after episodes, both so they can understand it better and so they can tell me what they thought was funny.

It’s the best! Most jokes/scenes/episodes in the show have a wealth of things to discuss. To that end, it was pretty magnificent to hear Conan O’Brien, a former writer on the show, discuss it with its creator, Matt Groening, on a recent episode of Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend. First, Conan clearly admires Groening, and it shows. He’s not only interested to talk to him, but he practically hangs on every word. To make it even more exciting, they talk about The Simpsons’ rules and how Conan broke one.

Conan has always honed in on some of my favorite jokes, which involve a character possessing knowledge or a backstory you wouldn’t assume, like Barney knowing Linda Ronstadt, and just leaning into it, because the joke feels emotionally honest (or is just too damn good). In Marge vs. The Monorail, Leonard Nimoy is famously beamed up when the episode ends, and it was apparently a huge discussion in the writers’ room because they often didn’t want something unrealistic to happen, but the joke was so funny that it stayed.

There’s a clip below, but it’s really worth listening to the whole episode. Groening had an immense impact on Conan’s life, so it’s fun to hear him gush, but it’s also just a blast to hear him talk about The Simpsons so much. He tells a story about former writer John Swartzwelder supporting his late-night ambitions that is really fascinating.