The writing room of The Simpsons has been the genesis of many notable comedy careers, with talent like Conan O'Brien escaping the cramped room where the world's longest-running television animated series is written into life.
During the 1990s, there was often a figure in the smoky haze of the room, a Simpsons writer who has never appeared on an episode commentary (besides one unconfirmed incident), and has never done publicity for the show. His name is John Swartzwelder, and he is the genius behind 59 episodes of The Simpsons, far more than any other individual writer. But despite this impressive record, there are only a handful of photos of him, none official.
Swartzwelder, who worked on the series until the 15th season, is now an absurdist fiction writer, and he remains as reclusive as ever. Since the show's sixth season, he was granted dispensation from having to attend writers' meetings and was allowed to submit his work from home. It is said that the reason for Swartzwelder's departure from the room itself was his habit of chain smoking, which he carried on even after a ban had come into place.
Separated from his fellow writers, the long-haired genius, according to Simpsonscreator Matt Groening in an episode's DVD commentary, found a diner he liked, and would write from the same booth every day whilst drinking “copious amounts of coffee.” However, California soon banned smoking inside public places, and Swartzwelder found himself with nowhere to go. Instead of finding a new place to write, he simply purchased the booth, installed it in his home, and continued his work as if nothing had changed.
The diner booth personifies Swartzwelder's style of writing. His scripts often feature cla**ic American motifs, such as gangsters (he came up with the now infamous Fat Tony character), carnival workers, and Wild West movie tropes. His imprint is instantly recognisable in some of the greatest episodes in the show's history, including “Krusty gets Kancelled,” which contained an “Eastern European Itchy and Scratchy” called Worker and Parasite, one of Matt Groening's favourite moments from the series.
It would be hard to nail down the best of Swartzwelder's work, but his first credited episode, entitled “Bart the General,” is widely regarded as the first “proper” Simpsons episode.
It's not just in writing that the secretive Swartzwelder has had his impact on the town of Springfield. Due to his solitary nature, he often makes fleeting cameos as a mental patient or as a surprise witness called by inept attorney Lionel Hutz. If you blink, you will miss the homages, often written in by more recent writers seeking to honor one of their greatest predecessors.