Talkin' Simpsons with Matt Selman (Simpsons Showrunner)

·1 hr·5 clips

Simpsons showrunner Matt Selman defends the most divisive episode he ever wrote, That 90s Show.

Dando sounds genuinely keyed up. He calls this his most in-depth chat with Matt, and it earns that pretty quickly, because the opener barely takes a breath before piling on topics. Comic-Con comes first. Then season 36, Bluey crossover talk, and the old problem of what a Simpsons movie sequel would even be. But That 90s Show soon eats the room, which feels right. Dando calls it arguably the most divisive episode Matt has written for the show. Matt gets careful fast. He says the episode was not meant to wipe out the older flashback romance episodes that fans still care about. The mini golf scene, though, is the one that does not sit neatly. Dando asks whether the pregnancy overlap was meant as an homage, a bridge, or the point where everyone just has to squint. Matt pretty much owns the wobble. If he could do it again, he says he might line up the timelines more tightly so both versions could fit in the same castle, clothes, and dialogue. That is where the interview gets fun. It is less a shiny defense than a working writer talking through intent, joke mechanics, and fan memory knocking into each other. The Marvel comparison helps. Matt points to multiverse chaos, then brings it back to The Simpsons as a show built with contradiction, absurdity, and jokes about cartoons not needing to make sense. The argument mostly works. The catch is right there in his own answer: fans love those older flashback episodes, so even a small continuity bend lands harder than a throwaway gag. Dando keeps the tone loose. He clearly likes Matt, but he still asks the continuity question plainly and gives him room to explain why the long-running hate for the episode feels overblown. The close gets practical, with Jessica Conrad teased as the next guest for the season 36 premiere, plus the usual push for questions, reviews, and Patreon. The continuity trial is not exactly closed. It just gets a good recess.

As heard by us

A candid Matt Salmon conversation makes the disputed continuity of That 90s Show worth reopening.

Matt Salmon's conversation with Dando turns The Simpsons' slippery continuity into a lively, focused argument, with That 90s Show as the pressure point.

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Why you'd press play

You get Matt Salmon in a deep, fan-literate conversation about That 90s Show, Simpsons continuity, season 36 news, Comic-Con, Bluey crossover chances, and sequel ideas.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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