Reclusive 'Simpsons' writer reveals how the show got around network censors with 'Itchy & Scratchy'

Notoriously reclusive “Simpsons” writer John Swartzwelder, revealed how the show got around the censors in its early days in an extremely rare interview. 

After getting his start in advertising before pivoting to the world of TV on "Saturday Night Live," Swartzwelder became one of "The Simpsons’" most beloved writers and promptly shied away from the public spotlight.  However, he granted an interview with noted comedian interviewer Mike Sacks for The New Yorker in which he opened up about his career and the bafflingly unregulated early days of America’s favorite animated comedy.  "Thanks to the deal [executive producer] Jim Brooks had, Fox executives couldn’t meddle in ‘The Simpsons’ in any way, though we did get censor notes," Swartzwelder explained. "The executives weren’t sent advance copies of the scripts,nd they couldn’t attend read-throughs, even though they very much wanted to. All we had to do was please ourselves."