Matt Groening: This doesn't happen in America! Maybe Ohio, but not in...

I judge my life by how miserable it used to be. If I could pay my rent, I was deliriously happy. Now I'm deliriously happy all the time.

Matt Groening

miserable judging pay

I like the 'Simpsons' pinball machines. Those are pretty great.

Matt Groening

pinball machines

I was always frightened by taverns. They just seemed like very unpleasant places to go.

Matt Groening

places-to-go frightened taverns

Most TV shows don't reward you for paying attention.

Matt Groening

tv-shows rewards attention

I went to Bali, and I was in a small village, and somebody who was with me showed a woman a little figurine of Bart and asked: 'Do you know who this is?' And she said: 'Mickey Mouse.'

Matt Groening

bali small-villages littles

You toyed with my heart, like it was a toy heart. (Lisa Simpson)

Matt Groening

toys my-heart heart

'The Simpsons' from the very beginning was based on our memories of brash '60s sitcoms - you had a main title theme that was bombastic and grabbed your attention - and when you look at TV shows of the 1970s and '80s, things got very mild and toned down and... obsequious.

Matt Groening

tv-shows down-and memories

'The Simpsons' obviously is a huge success, and Fox has nothing to do with its success, with its creative success, and as a result they don't really like the show. They don't like 'The Simpsons' at Fox.

Matt Groening

results creative foxes

The thing about a cartoon is, you can do whatever you want. The tightrope that we are walking on 'The Simpsons' and 'Futurama' is "How do you continue to surprise the audience, but make them good surprises?" Not every surprise is good, but you want to continue jolting people.

Matt Groening

cartoon want people

The thing that makes me happiest about Simpsons Illustrated are all the drawings that we get from readers. I wish we could print them all. They're really imaginative. They show a lot of hard work.

Matt Groening

drawing hard-work wish

With "Futurama," I wanted to do unrequited love, and David Cohen agreed, and although our original plan was never to have Fry and Leela get together, we finally just said, "You can only string the fans along so far."

Matt Groening

unrequited-love fans together

We have 'Doctor Who' references on 'Futurama,' but we have a lot of science fiction references that I don't get; but in the staff we have experts on 'Star Trek,' 'Star Wars,' 'Doctor Who' and 'Dungeons and Dragons.'

Matt Groening

doctors stars war

When The Simpsons came around, there really was nothing else like it on TV. It's hard to imagine, but when Fox first took the plunge with it, it was considered controversial to put animation on prime time.

Matt Groening

tvs foxes firsts

Keep your expectations tiny you'll go through life not so whiney.

Matt Groening

tiny expectations

Welcome to Suckersville, man.

Matt Groening

welcome men

I’ll keep it short and sweet - Family. Religion. Friendship. These are the three demons you must slay if you wish to succeed in business.

Matt Groening

sarcastic friendship funny

You tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is 'never try.' Homer Simpson

Matt Groening

trying life funny

I'm presently incarcerated. Convicted of a crime I didn't even commit. Hah! "Attempted murder"? Now honestly, what is that? Do they give a Nobel prize for attempted chemistry? Do they?

Matt Groening

chemistry murder giving

Solitude never hurt anyone. Emily Dickinson lived alone, and she wrote some of the most beautiful poetry the world has ever known... then went crazy as a loon." Lisa Simpson

Matt Groening

crazy hurt beautiful

Did you hear something?" "No." "Did I hear something?" "...I don't know.

Matt Groening

knows

This doesn't happen in America! Maybe Ohio, but not in America!" Homer Simpson