The Simpsons Episode Matt Groening Refused To Be Credited On

Summary Groening opposed The Simpsons crossover with The Critic and tried to have the episode removed from the schedule.

Groening received criticism for publicly attacking colleagues over the crossover, causing friction within the team.

Some praised Groening for standing up for creative rights, but questioned his public approach to the situation.

Matt Groening is a name that will be familiar to most fans of The Simpsons as the show's creator has his name appear in the opening credits of each episode -- except for one special exception. Groening first began developing the idea in 1985, and The Simpsons would debut two years later before going on to become an iconic series which is one of the most beloved shows of all time. Groening continues to work on The Simpsons to this day and wrote both the 2007 movie and a select few classic episodes. However, there was one episode he wanted no part of.

Premiering in 1995, The Simpsons season 6 features the episode "A Star Is Burns." This story sees Springfield hold a film festival in order to elevate their cultural status, and a cinematic battle is created between Barney Gumble's "Pukahontas" - an introspective, black-and-white look at alcoholism - and Mr. Burns' "A Burns For All Seasons," which was the rich man's self-indulgent ode to himself. While it made for a funny installment, the episode was also a crossover with The Critic with the character of Jay Sherman serving as a panel judge for the festival which ultimately caused Groening's displeasure.

Related Disney+: Episodes That Are Missing Or Altered Disney+ has a plethora of movies and TV shows like The Muppets or Andi Mack, but some episodes of shows have been altered or are completely removed.

Matt Groening Objected To The Simpsons Being Used To Promote The Critic

Groening Attempted To Have The Episode Removed Entirely

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In 1994, The Simpsons producers Al Jean, Mike Reiss, and James L. Brooks launched a new animated TV series called The Critic, which followed the life of a movie reviewer called Jay Sherman. Aside from its producing trio, The Critic shared various other similarities with The Simpsons including voice actors (Nancy Cartwright, for example). While the show initially aired on ABC, it was switched over to Fox when its rating began to struggle. Brooks then pitched the idea of a crossover episode to help promote the show on The Simpsons.

Groening was so against this idea that he initially attempted to have it removed from the schedule altogether. When that didn't work, he insisted that his name be removed from the episode's credits. Groening then went public with his anger over the situation, claiming that Brooks' attempt to use The Simpsons as "a commercial" for his other struggling show threatened the integrity of The Simpsons. Groening also voiced frustration that some people associated him with The Critic and felt the crossover would strengthen that (via LA Times).

Matt Groening Received Criticism For His Stance

Groening's Colleagues And Reporters Questioned His Public Attacks

While Matt Groening had some harsh criticism for The Simpsons going through with the crossover episode with The Critic, he received plenty of criticism in response. His most vocal opposition came from James L. Brooks who acknowledged that Groening had every right to disagree with the episode and even to remove his name from it, but it was his handling of the situation and speaking publicly about it that was the issue. Brooks said (via LA Times):

"I am furious with Matt, he's been going to everybody who wears a suit at Fox and complaining about this. When he voiced his concerns about how to draw The Critic into the Simpsons' universe he was right and we agreed to his changes. Certainly he's allowed his opinion, but airing this publicly in the press is going too far. [...] He is a gifted, adorable, cuddly ingrate. But his behavior right now is rotten."

Brooks also claimed hypocrisy against Groening for taking the claim for work done by Al Jean and Mike Reiss when they were writers on The Simpsons only to be so unsupportive when they attempted to make a show on their own. Jean also voiced his disappointment in Groening choosing to take his grievances public and claimed that the negative discussion surrounding the episode distracted from the fact that it was a great episode of The Simpsons.

Outside of the show, Los Angeles Daily News writer Ray Richmond suggested that there were some legitimate merits for Groening to be upset with The Simpsons for agreeing to air the episode and even that his decision to remove his name was a good one. However, he also questioned Groening's public attacks on his colleagues:

"Who's right? Well, Groening is probably correct in judging this an integrity issue. It's a fairly tacky bit of promotion, the kind generally beneath The Simpsons. But it's also true that little is accomplished by taking a gripe like this public. Quietly erasing his name from the credits would have been sufficient. [...] I admire the man's standing up for his creative rights. But I question the way he's gone about it."