Producer Al Jean Talks Plot Details from Season 27 of ‘The Simpsons’

The season 27 premiere of The Simpsons is less than two weeks away, but for those who simply can’t wait, series producer Al Jean is dishing out some details.

By now the whole world has heard about Homer & Marge’s upcoming “divorce” (it’s really a legal separation) in the September 27th episode, “Every Man’s Dream,” so of course the discussion would start there.

“I never said they were getting divorced. I never used that word,” Jean told Entertainment Weekly. “And the next thing I know, it’s crazy headlines. I wasn’t trying to trick people … Cartoon characters can fall down cliffs or blow each other’s heads off, but they cannot get divorced,” he added, laughing.

Yet this apparently isn’t just another fight episode featuring the couple. “It’s different than any that we’ve done, but I don’t want to describe it,” Jean explained. “People go, ‘Well, why can’t you describe it?’ When you see the episode, you’ll know why it’s different, but I can’t say until you see it. But they’re not permanently divorced.”

Jean did, however, leak a little bit about how the marriage troubles came about, and it involves a pharmacist voiced by Lena Dunham. “Homer discovers that he has narcolepsy and he gets a prescription and they become interested in each other,” he said. “She is forward and funny and interested in people who have big bags of prescription drugs.”

In another installment, Lisa befriends a rich girl played by Kristen Bell. “She plays this daughter of an internet billionaire and Homer becomes best friends with the father, who’s wonderful and really cool. Lisa doesn’t really like the girl after a while, but Homer wants to keep the friendship going because he enjoys the perks.”

We also previously heard about Sofia Vergara playing Bart’s new teacher, Mrs. Berrera, and Jean had some info on that topic too. “She’s the first teacher that Bart’s ever had with a tat,” he said. “She’s more forgiving of Bart than Mrs. Krabappel was. She pays special attention to him … We thought it’d be interesting if both Bart and Skinner have a crush on the same woman. She feels Skinner is a wounded soul that she wants to take care of. She is a vet like Skinner, and that’s his attraction.”

As for the character’s (and actress’s) future on the show, Jean clarified, “She’s not a substitute teacher, although we’re just testing the waters. We have a situation where Bart doesn’t have a regular teacher, so she may come back or she may not, if she wants to. She was really funny and we were really glad to have her. And as she said, ‘I’m just 100 yards away on the Fox lot [where Modern Family also films].'”

Other guests this season include SNL’s Kate McKinnon and Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks, who will share a role. “Lisa meets a homeless woman who is voiced both by Kate McKinnnon and Natalie Maines, who does the singing,” Jean explained. “It turns out she’s got an incredible voice and Lisa tries to help her get a music career going. She’s like the opposite of Bleeding Gums Murphy. But there’s a flip. It’s not the same progression.”

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma will also lend his musical talents to an episode, in which Marge’s mother receives the musician as a birthday gift from her former lover, Mr. Burns. “We have him playing the music that you hear in that scene. And he says, ‘I used to play cello on the subway, but Mr. Burns says the meanest things I’ve ever heard.’”

On the topic of other characters’ love interests, Smithers gets in on the fun too. “We have a show where Smithers realizes he’s never going to get what he wants from Burns so he quits and falls in love with somebody else,” Jean said. “The someone else is a character that Hank [Azaria] has done on the show before, Julio, who is a little like his character from The Birdcage.”

As for other returning characters, Spider-Pig will make an appearance in season 27. “Half of the episode is a Maggie short where she befriends the animals on the roof and features the return of Spider-Pig,” Jean said. “We animated it a little differently; it’s a really beautiful show … As usual he does whatever a Spider-Pig does, which in this case means helping Maggie rescue a friendly possum from Cletus’ kitchen. Then he trots off to wherever he’s needed most, or wherever there’s a comfy pile of slops, whichever he sees first.”

Of course the biggest return this season is that of veteran cast member Harry Shearer, who seemed poised to permanently walk away from the show, before eventually signing a two-year contract along with the other voice talent. “I’m very glad he’s back,” Jean said. “He’s really talented … He said it wasn’t a publicity stunt, which is true. I’m glad it’s over.”

As for the more distant future, the topic of another crossover (like last season’s Family Guy and Futurama installments) came up. “Futurama had a great ending of its own and I thought we didn’t detract from that. We did a good crossover,” the producer said. “We did the Critic one years ago and the X-Files one. It has to be something where it really fits. I like Bob’s Burgers, but I go, ‘Well, we did Futurama, so that would be a similar sort of thing.’ If there’s another show like Homeland or 24 on the horizon — those I thought worked out well. The essence to them is you do it while people are really excited that you are doing it, rather than continuing to do it while people get sick of it.”

I don’t see how a Bob’s show would be similar to a Futurama one, but I’ll take Al’s word for it. One thing I can be sure about, is that fans still loyal to the show after 26 years probably won’t get tired of any part of it soon – and hopefully there’s no end in sight. “We’ll for sure do 625 episodes [which runs through season 28]. Beyond that, I don’t know. I wouldn’t be surprised if it ended,” Jean admitted. “But I also wouldn’t be surprised if it continued. The cast is signed through season 30, so if Fox chose to do two more after episode 625, they could easily do it.”

Let’s all hope so.