Simpsons writer comes to campus

D'oh! Springfield is making its way to Clifton. So all you yellow-people fans strap on your sky-high blue wigs and head to campus.

The Programs and Activities Council (PAC) is bringing Mike Reiss, a writer for both The Simpsons television series and the feature movie released in July of this year. The event is scheduled to be held in the Great Hall of Tangeman University Center Nov. 30 at 6 p.m.

Reiss will be discussing the work that goes into bringing the animated family to TV and the silver screen. After the discussion, Reiss is scheduled to show The Simpsons Movie, which Roger Ebert described as "funny, sassy and intelligent, in that moronic Simpsons way" in his review of the movie.

Reiss has been on a tour promoting the movie for some time now, which may seem odd to moviegoers because movie promotion is traditionally done before a film is released. Andy Roth, Reiss's manager, disagrees with this opinion.

"It's available non-theatrically, it's in between the theater and DVD release right now," Roth said. "The timing is right."

Getting a writer for anything as successful as The Simpsons sounds like a daunting task for any event organizer, but it wasn't. While Reiss has toured all over the country and stopped at many places, he particularly enjoys speaking at college campuses, according to Nicole Lepone of Student Activities and Leadership Development. She sees Reiss's stop at the University of Cincinnati as a good experience for students.

"It's a two-fold situation: one, he'll discuss the behind-the-scenes, and two, he'll show the movie for free, which is beneficial for anyone who hasn't seen it yet," Lepone said.

According to his manager, Reiss has made stops at the University of Wisconsin, Iowa State and Washington University in St. Louis, amongst other campuses during the tour.

"While The Simpsons obviously has cross-generational appeal, the college-age crowd right now is his biggest market," Roth said.

Latoya Watson, a third-year computer science student and current PAC member, thinks the discussion and movie should be a big draw for students looking for Friday night diversion.

"If you like The Simpsons, that should be enough," Watson said. "Plus, he could give advice to anyone that wants to be a writer."

"The Simpsons is a huge part of pop culture and our generation, especially in the demographic here at UC," said Chris Kittrell, third-year fashion design student at UC.

PAC is also the student group that sponsors the spring concert featuring a national recording act each year. Earlier this quarter, PAC brought in comedian Colin Quinn and hosted a free movie premier of Kite Runner. Like Colin Quinn's standup, the movie premiere and the spring concert, Reiss's discussion and The Simpsons Movie is set to be free to all students with a UC ID.