The Simpsons was pretty experimental at the time, but it attracted a lot of sitcom writers that felt confined by the limitations of live-action sitcoms in the '80s.

The president is the country's scapegoat more than the country's leader; the president has as much power as we think the president has. Whoever has the most money is the puppet master.

You can't really feel the direct change from one president to another versus people closer to you in local elections.

They [ The Simpsons] are just like the Bible to me as far as what the high-water mark of comedy.

I think we give human beings too much credit. We're primates, you know.

Let's hit the joke once and move on to the next joke and just keep it where we have as many jokes per square inch as possible.

I feel the acting conservatory taught me how to be a working actor in the 1700s. We learned stuff like 'to the back of the auditorium, to the back of the auditorium' and the liquid "u." 'The payment is duuue on Tuuuesday.' I also learned how to fence. If anything, when I moved to Los Angeles, I didn't fit in, in any way. I had to do comedy, because I was talking so pretentiously.