Episode 497: Bill Oakley

On today's episode, I talk to TV writer Bill Oakley. Originally from Union Bridge, Maryland, Bill attended Harvard where he spent most of his time writing for the Harvard Lampoon. After graduating, Bill took on a number of different jobs until he and his longtime friend and writing partner Josh Weinstein were eventually hired to work on The Simpsons. Together, the two wrote some of the most classic episodes of the show including "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song", "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" and "22 Short Films About Springfield", and were subsequently promoted to executive producer and showrunner during the seventh and eighth seasons. Since then, Bill co-created Mission Hill, wrote for Futurama, Portlandia and Disenchanted, and currently is the showrunner for the delightful HBO Max series Close Enough! This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter.