Simpsons Historian Dates Last Funny Episode to C. 1992 A.D.

Last week's release of The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History brought about a never-before-heard crew anecdote of Michael Jackson's strange, voice-assisted guest spot on the series. Now that the Unauthorized History, based on 80 interviews and three years of research, has hit bookshelves, author John Ortved is sharing more about what he learned about the Simpsons lack of trophies, a potential amusement park and the "throwaway" movie.

Although creators Matt Groening and James L. Brooks refused to be interviewed for the book, Ortved used past interviews Groening and Brooks had given, in addition to speaking with former Simpsons writer Conan O'Brien ("He speaks in perfect paragraphs"), Fox owner Rupert Murdoch and Simpsons voice actor Hank Azaria. Ortved spoke to the New York Times and elaborated on several topics he brought up in his book.

The series' free fall quality-wise:

"In terms of its spiral, to be fair to the writers, there's only so much you can do with a set of characters. I mean, 20 years? I don't know how they do it. But if they're still trying to break ground, they should have canned it 10 years ago."

The disappointing Simpsons Movie:

"It was 90 minutes of throwaway jokes. It was about as good as a very good episode in the later seasons, but I don't think it worked. Its kind of shocking to me that that group of writers couldn't come up with something better. I mean the final scene in the movie literally involved a ticking time bomb. I think that's what happens at screenwriting class at the Y."

The chance of the Fox series winning an Emmy:

"The Simpsons deserved the Emmy back in 1992, when it was the fastest, funniest thing on TV... Now, The Simpsons would never stand a chance.

On the possibility of the yellow animated family getting their own theme park:

"They just opened The Simpsons ride at Universal Studios, and I see a trend in that way. In the interviews I conducted, someone compared Matt Groening to Walt Disney. The Simpsons is a brand at this point that is as recognizable or getting to be as recognizable as Mickey Mouse and Disney, and I don't know why they can't have a Simpsons Land at some point."

· Yellow Journalism: Q. and A. With the Unauthorized Historian of 'The Simpsons' [New York Times]