Futon Critic chats with Simpsons scribe Don Payne

There's a short but informative interview with television writer Don Payne over at the Futon Critic. Payne has written for Hope and Gloria, The Brian Benben Show, Men Behaving Badly and Pride and Joy. He has also written the screenplays for My Super Ex-Girlfriend and the upcoming Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Payne has also been a writer on The Simpsons for the last eight years.

Payne gives some insight into how a Simpsons script goes from first draft to what you see on your TV screen. As most fans already know, the script gets re-written about thirty zillion times before it's finally approved for production. Payne also echoes a sentiment I've read from other folks involved with the show, which is that he thought the show only had a couple more years left in it when he joined.

When I typed that last sentence I could actually hear fans and detractors alike saying, "yeah, it should have ended a long time ago." That's fair enough, everyone's allowed their opinion, but I still maintain The Simpsons is one of the best satires of American culture of the last two decades. It may be more familiar now, and even a lifetime fan like myself is sometimes let down by a mediocre episode, but I don't think any other series comes close to duplicating the success and impact of The Simpsons, and that includes South Park (which, just to be clear, I'm also a big fan of).

UPDATE: Thanks to Joel for reminding me of this TV Squad interview with Payne.