Young ‘Simpsons’ Fans Really Believed That Matt Groening Was a Gun-Toting Maniac

These days, it’s extremely easy to access information about your favorite movies and TV shows thanks to the wonders/horrors of the internet. But back in the dark ages of the 1990s, when dial-up modems, fax machines and slap bracelets were considered cutting edge, pop-culture info was a lot harder to come by.

This meant that fans of The Simpsons who grew up in the ‘90s mostly learned about The Simpsons by watching the show. After all, it’s not like many kids at the time were loyal CBS News NightWatch viewers.

But then, in The Simpsons’ seventh season, one atypical clip show gave audiences a semi-fictional peek at the making of the series: “The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular.”

A lot of the episode was obviously fake (it was hosted by Troy McClure on the Simpsons’ living room “set”), but it did feature actual deleted scenes, including alternate endings for “Who Shot Mr. Burns? Part Two,” and the introduction of Mr. Burns’ robotic Richard Simmons.

The episode also provided footage of Simpsons creator Matt Groening, who, it turns out, is an eyepatch-wearing, gun-toting, whiskey-soaked mad man. In his fleeting appearance, “Groening” warns the cameraman to get out of his office before firing off several rounds. 

We also see that James L. Brooks is a wealthy old-timey fat cat, and Sam Simon, who had already left the show, is portrayed as a Howard Hughes-esque recluse — incidentally, the original gag was to pair Simon’s name with a “No Photo Available” card, poking fun at how Simon’s role in history of The Simpsons has been unjustly ignored. But he took it as an insult, and drew up his own self-portrait instead, which the animators then colored. 

In a recent viral social media post, one Simpsons fan admitted that they “legitimately thought that this is what Matt Groening looks like.” And a number of commenters echoed that they, too, believed this to be an accurate representation of Groening.

On the episode’s DVD commentary, Groening joked, “That really is what I look like, that’s the great thing, they really captured me.” Of course, the real Groening looks nothing like this particular cartoon character, who was seemingly modeled after legendary director and legit maniac John Ford. 

The similarities between Ford and “Matt Groening” became especially obvious thanks to David Lynch’s performance as the filmmaker in the final scene of Steven Spielberg’s The Fablemans. He even shouts “get the fuck out of my office” at the end (possibly because the Simpsons writers were inspired by Spielberg’s anecdote about meeting Ford). 

Any confusion over Groening’s actual appearance was likely put to rest when Groening cameoed on The Simpsons, playing himself who, in the world of the show, is famous for being “the creator of Futurama.”

Perhaps this misunderstanding explains why so many fans were quick to believe that Groening is ex-CIA?