For a moment, Al Jean couldn’t believe his ears. Here was the British Prime Minister, the man to whom he had sent an irreverent script, shaking his hand in a quiet ante-room at 10 Downing Street and saying, “You’re my hero”. As a writer and executive producer of The Simpsons, Jean wasn’t used to being called a hero, let alone being greeted so effusively by a statesman. But these were exceptional circumstances. British premiers won’t get the chance to be immortalised as a character in The Simpsons very often. Tony Blair knew an opportunity when he saw it and, after 8 months of negotiation between his director of communications and the producers, he agreed to make an appearance. “We never, ever thought he would agree. And, even up to the last minute, we never thought it would happen,” explains Jean. Read More >>>
