Ian Maxtone-Graham
Ian Maxtone-Graham | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Television writer |
| Nationality | American |
| Period | 1983 - Present |
Ian Maxtone-Graham (born on July 3, 1959 in New York City) is an American television writer and producer. He has written for Saturday Night Live (1992–1995) and The Simpsons (1995–present), and has also served as a co-executive producer and consulting producer for The Simpsons. He is currently an executive producer of the show.
Early years
Maxtone-Graham attended Brown University. An enthusiastic swimmer, his first job after college was as a diver with an underwater research team. After struggling to establish a career in journalism, he penned material for the television show Not Necessarily the News and the magazines National Lampoon and Army Man. His work in Army Man, an offbeat magazine published by future Simpsons colleague George Meyer, brought him to the attention of Jack Handey, who suggested he work for Saturday Night Live.[1]
While working for Saturday Night Live, Maxtone-Graham co-wrote "The Chanukah Song" with Adam Sandler.[2]
The Simpsons
Maxtone-Graham has become somewhat infamous among Simpsons fans for a 1998 interview with The Independent, in which he admitted that he had never seen The Simpsons before being hired, and ridiculed "the beetle-browed people on the internet" for their criticism of the show.[3] Although he upset many fans with his comments, Maxtone-Graham has won six Emmys for his work on The Simpsons,[4] and received an Annie Award for writing "The Seemingly Neverending Story".[5]
One of the episodes written by Maxtone-Graham is "E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt)", in which Homer grows a tomato-tobacco hybrid called "tomacco". The episode inspired an Oregon man to make his own version of tomacco by grafting a tomato stem with a tobacco root. He eventually gave some to Maxtone-Graham, who ate it.[6]
Maxtone-Graham himself has inspired a character on The Simpsons: "Very Tall Man", who first appeared in "22 Short Films About Springfield".[7]
The Simpsons episodes
Maxtone-Graham has been credited as writing the following episodes of The Simpsons:
- "Burns, Baby Burns"
- "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson"
- "The Trouble with Trillions"
- "Trash of the Titans" (200th episode, won Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program For Programming less than One Hour)
- "Lisa Gets an "A""
- "E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt)"
- "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily"
- "Tennis the Menace"
- "The Blunder Years"
- "Large Marge"
- "Dude, Where's My Ranch?"
- "Catch 'Em If You Can"
- "The Heartbroke Kid"
- "The Seemingly Never-Ending Story" (won Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program For Programming less than One Hour and Annie Award for "Best Writing in an Animated Television Production")
- "24 Minutes" (with Billy Kimball)
- "Dangerous Curves" (with Billy Kimball)
- "Gone Maggie Gone" (with Billy Kimball, nominated for Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program For Programming less than One Hour)
- "The Color Yellow" (with Billy Kimball)
- "The Scorpion's Tale" (with Billy Kimball)
References
- ^ Catherine Seip. "A Decade of D'oh!". Mediaweek. December 20, 1999.
- ^ Mark Shanahan and Meredith Goldstein. "An animated conversation". The Boston Globe. July 22, 2009. Retrieved on January 28, 2010.
- ^ Chris Turner. Planet Simpson. De Capo Press, 2004. 290.
- ^ Primetime Emmy Award Database. Emmys.com. Retrieved on January 28, 2010.
- ^ 34th Annual Annie Award Nominees and Winners. The Annie Awards. Retrieved on January 28, 2010.
- ^ Horatia Harrod. "Simpsons stories: the tomacco man". Telegraph. January 5, 2010. Retrieved on January 28, 2010.
- ^ Charlotte O'Sullivan. "Behind Every Homer Is a Very Tall Man". The Independent. June 22, 1998.