By Stephen Press
Hometown Weekly Staff
When Homer Simpson appeared on “The Simpsons” a few weeks ago holding a “Needham’s Best” beer, it was apparent that a local hand was at work. That hand, Dave King, who has worked as a writer on “Parks and Recreation” and “Workaholics,” among other comedies, is a Needham native.
Hometown Weekly was able to track down King for an interview about “The Simpsons,” writing for television, and (of course) Needham.
Hometown Weekly: I'm assuming that you grew up on “The Simpsons.” Can you explain how it feels to write your own chapter in the show's history?
Dave King: It’s definitely one of the coolest, most enjoyable experiences I’ve ever lucked into. I mean, my role is really more like a footnote to a footnote in the show’s history — 600 episodes! — but as a kid who grew up on “The Simpsons,” who then became an adult who’s spent his whole adult life writing comedy professionally, it kind of doesn’t get much better than this. So, yeah, pretty much everything after this will be a letdown.
HTW: Are you a member of “The Simpsons” writing staff, or was the episode commissioned as a one-off?
DK: I’m not on the writing staff of “The Simpsons.” Most TV shows do one or two “freelance” episodes a year, where they ask someone else to write, and I was asked to write this one. Most of my time is spent working on the Netflix series “Love,” but my hiatus happened to line up with the time when they were looking for some help. I play in a fantasy football league with a couple of the writers, and they knew how much I loved Boston and the Patriots because I’m always drafting players like Julian Edelman way too early just so I can have them on my team. I was lucky enough to hang out with the writers during rewrites, and, not surprisingly, every single person there is the funniest person you’ve ever met.
HTW: So, okay. Walk us through this. From the moment you heard about “The Simpsons” opportunity to the moment the show went into production, how exactly did Needham end up in the palm of Homer Simpson's hand?
DK: Matt Selman, Executive Producer of “The Simpsons,” deserves the most credit for this episode. He’s always wanted to do an episode where the Simpsons go to Boston, and he put an incredible amount of care into every step. After the first couple drafts were written and the episode was well on its way, he would occasionally text me for input on a store name or background joke (like “Filene’s Basement’s Attic”). For the Needham’s Best bottle, I guess I kind of got away with just sneaking in a reference to my hometown without really making a joke. Although, when I grew up there, Needham was a “dry” town, so I guess there’s a little irony in a Needham beer bottle.
HTW: You managed to fit a ton of Boston references into the episode. What was your own personal favorite?
DK: Oh man. So many. I love the Larry Bird statue of liberty that they designed for Boston harbor because it commemorates one of my favorite New England sports memories of all time: Larry raising one finger before his winning shot went in during the 3-point shooting contest at NBA All-Star weekend. If you’re from Boston, it’s the coolest move; if you’re not, you have to think he was just being a total jerk.
HTW: Any reaction from Gronk about "Bonkowski"? Any reaction from the Patriots in general?
DK: I haven’t heard anything yet. Please, Gronk, forgive me for my sins. I would imagine that if reached for comment, Coach Belichick would tell us that he’s “on to Cleveland."
HTW: The question I have to ask on behalf of all the aspiring young creatives in Needham: There are obviously no paved roads in the arts, but what would you recommend to Needham's up-and-coming writers?
DK: If you’re interested in writing comedy, hang out with the funniest and smartest people you can. Start making stuff with them, and don’t worry about the quality. Read, write, hang out, do weird stuff, go Rockets.
HTW: Related to that last question, how did Needham influence your career path? What do you remember most fondly about your time there?
DK: I was lucky to find a group of friends at Needham High School who are still among the funniest, most unusual people I’ve ever known. In fact, the first writing I did that was at all attempting to be funny was for a “‘zine” (this was the mid-90s) that my friends Bob Dickson and Andy Miara created. We would print a couple hundred copies and distribute it for free in the cafeteria. It became kind of a cult thing, and Bob put it online in the early days of the internet. Somehow, it even got mentioned in the New York Times, which seemed insane to us. That’s really how I got interested in trying to actually write funny stuff instead of just trying to be funny out loud.
HTW: Dave King, Louis CK, Bill Burr, Conan O'Brien, the Farrelly Brothers, and the list goes on. Why does southern New England continuously produce such excellent comic talent? Is there something in the water, or is the Boston area just inherently hilarious?
DK: It’s truly weird. I don’t know if it’s a self-fulfilling thing where people hear about all the funny people who have come from Boston, so they’re a little more aware of it as an actual career path? Regardless, what a great reputation for a city and region to have. "Yeah, we have the best colleges and hospitals and baseball stadium and we also have the funniest people in the country. Suck on that, Tampa."
Dave King’s work can be seen everywhere from Fox to NBC to Comedy Central. His always-entertaining Twitter feed can be found @davekingthing.
