Michael C. Scully (born October 2, 1956) is an American television writer and producer. He is known for his work as executive producer and showrunner of the animated sitcom The Simpsons from 1997 to 2001. Scully grew up in West Springfield, Massachusetts , and long had an interest in writing. He was an underachiever at school and dropped out of college, going on to work in a series of jobs. Eventually, in 1986, he moved to Los Angeles where he worked as a stand-up comic and wrote for Yakov Smirnoff .
42-419: Scully went on to write for several television sitcoms before 1993, when he was hired to write for The Simpsons . There, he wrote twelve episodes, including " Lisa on Ice " and " Team Homer ", and served as showrunner from seasons 9 to 12 . Scully won three Primetime Emmy Awards for his work on the series, with many publications praising his episodes, but others criticizing his tenure as a period of decline in
84-407: A tie , much to Marge 's pride and Homer's distress. Dissatisfied with the outcome, the spectators riot and trash the arena. The idea for the episode came from The Simpsons writer Mike Scully , who wanted to do an episode involving ice hockey because of his passion for the sport. Bob Anderson , who also had a small interest in hockey, directed the episode. To better familiarize himself with
126-512: A "gag-heavy, Homer-centric incarnation" by Jon Bonné of MSNBC , while some fans have bemoaned the transformation in Homer's character during the era, from dumb yet well-meaning to "a boorish, self-aggrandizing oaf", dubbing him "Jerkass Homer". Some of Scully's work on the show also received critical praise. Scully won five Primetime Emmy Awards for his work on The Simpsons , while Entertainment Weekly cited "How I Spent My Strummer Vacation" as
168-489: A basketball team, but is unable to dribble properly. She then attempts to join a volleyball team, but the team's only ball is deflated when it lands on her spiky hair. Lisa becomes despondent. Later, the family watches Bart play hockey for his team, the Mighty Pigs, coached by Chief Wiggum . After the game, Bart ridicules Lisa for her lack of athletic skill and uses his hockey stick to pelt her with litter. Apu ,
210-489: A career in riding around with my friends listening to Foghat ," so Scully decided he "definitely wanted to break into comedy" even though he "really had no reason to believe [he] could succeed." Regardless, he moved to Los Angeles, California , in 1982. In California, Scully worked in a tuxedo store. He also got a job writing jokes for comedian Yakov Smirnoff and developed his joke writing skills by performing himself at amateur stand-up comedy nights. He purchased scripts from
252-460: A lot of Lisa 's shows. I have five daughters, so I like Lisa a lot. I like Homer , too. Homer comes very naturally to me: I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing. A lot of my favorite episodes are the ones when Homer and Lisa are in conflict with each other ... They're very human, I think that's their appeal." Scully became showrunner of The Simpsons in 1997, during its ninth season . As showrunner and executive producer, Scully said his aim
294-544: A musician or a hockey player." At Main Street Elementary School, with the encouragement of his teacher James Doyle, he developed an interest in writing, serving as editor for his school newspaper. He graduated from West Springfield High School in 1974, having been voted "Most Likely Not to Live Up to Potential" by his classmates, and dropped out of Holyoke Community College after one day, undecided about what he wanted to do with his life. He took up work in
336-406: A realistic show about family life into a typical cartoon during Scully's years: "Under Scully's tenure, The Simpsons became, well, a cartoon. ... Episodes that once would have ended with Homer and Marge bicycling into the sunset (perhaps while Bart gagged in the background) now end with Homer blowing a tranquilizer dart into Marge's neck." The Simpsons under Scully has been negatively labelled as
378-403: A skill for ice hockey . A rivalry between her and Bart ensues. The episode was written by Mike Scully and directed by Bob Anderson . Scully's passion for hockey inspired the plot. It features cultural references to films such as Rollerball and The Pope of Greenwich Village . The episode was well-received by critics and acquired a Nielsen rating of 11.6. Principal Skinner gathers
420-689: A variety of half-hour comedy shows, including Taxi , to train himself to write them and had numerous speculative scripts rejected. He started "bouncing around Hollywood working on some of the lousiest sitcoms in history." He served on the writing staff of The Royal Family , Out of This World , Top of the Heap and What a Country! , where he did audience warm-up, a role he also performed on Grand . "There's one web site where they're always calling for me to be fired, where they really hate me. They find targets and they'll go after you. I think their expectations are unrealistic. People want everything to stay
462-416: A very cartoony feel to it. We always knew the initial audience for the show would be 12-year-olds to start, and then when families saw that the writing was very Simpsons - like, because many of the writers were from The Simpsons , [we thought] families would start to watch it together." It was canceled after six episodes; Scully and Thacker laid the blame for this on the show's timeslot, 9:30 P.M., which
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#1732782928470504-437: A writer and producer for the show during its fifth season and wrote the episodes " Lisa's Rival ", " Two Dozen and One Greyhounds " and " Lisa on Ice " which aired in season six . "Lisa's Rival" was his first episode; he wrote the script, but the original concept had been conceived by O'Brien. Similarly, he wrote the script for "Two Dozen and One Greyhounds", which was based on an idea by Al Jean and Mike Reiss . "Lisa on Ice"
546-584: Is an absolute jerk in this episode, taunting his children when they lose and praising them when they win and humiliate their sibling" and "it's not just Homer. Marge, characteristically so, tries to remain diplomatic, but even she starts screaming for blood when Bart is tripped by an opposing player." David Mirkin Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include
588-464: The odds of the upcoming game, Marge sends him away as he pleads, "They're gonna take my thumbs!"; a reference to Eric Roberts ' line, "Charlie, they took my thumb", in The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984). In its original broadcast, "Lisa on Ice" finished 34th in the ratings for the week of November 7 to November 13, 1994, with a Nielsen rating of 11.6. It was the second-highest-rated show on
630-474: The Fox network that week. Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide , Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, called it "a fabulous episode for Lisa and Bart, although with a special mention for a few seconds of tremendous Edna Krabappel wickedness". DVD Verdict's Ryan Keefer said
672-512: The clothing department at Steiger's department store, as a janitor at the Baystate Medical Center and also as a driving instructor. He commented: "I think if I had actually succeeded at college and gotten a degree in accounting or something, I might have given up too quickly on writing. Having no marketable job skills was a tremendous incentive to keep trying to succeed as a writer." He realized "there probably wasn't going to be
714-562: The coach of the Kwik-E-Mart Gougers, witnesses Lisa deflecting the litter and throws a hockey puck at her without warning, which she catches. Apu makes Lisa the Gougers' goalie . Lisa excels as goalie and leads the team to its best season ever. Homer begins alternately favoring Bart and Lisa depending on whose team is winning the most games. As a result, a sibling rivalry develops between Bart and Lisa. The rivalry peaks when
756-416: The episode "is one of the few episodes centered on Lisa that I enjoy watching", and gave it a B+ grade. DVD Talk 's Aaron Beierle said, "there are definitely some funny moments in this episode, the sweet-natured way that the episode ends never sat right with me". ESPN.com named the episode the fifth best sports moment in the history of the show. The Orlando Sentinel ' s Gregory Hardy listed it as
798-565: The episodes " Eagleton " and "Soda Tax" as a speaker at the Pawnee community meeting. In 2012, Scully co-produced and co-wrote an animated TV version of the film Napoleon Dynamite , which was canceled after six episodes. That May, Scully signed a seven-figure, multi-year overall deal with 20th Century Fox Television to develop several projects. He served as co-executive producer on the single-season NBC sitcom The New Normal (2012–2013), alongside Allison Adler and Ryan Murphy . Scully held
840-452: The family." Gretzky eventually ended up appearing in the Season 28 episode " The Nightmare After Krustmas ", becoming the first hockey player to guest on the show. The episode starts out with Lisa tricking Bart into believing it is a snow day by throwing a snowball at him which she made out of the ice in the fridge. The scene was inspired by Scully, who as a child loved to sit and listen by
882-486: The group as the "unofficial house band" of The Simpsons during his tenure as showrunner. Scully also created a pilot for Fox called Schimmel in 2000, starring Robert Schimmel , which was dropped after Schimmel was diagnosed with cancer. Scully served as a consulting producer on the NBC series Parks and Recreation , and wrote the episodes " Ron and Tammy " in 2009, and " The Possum " in 2010. Scully also had cameo roles in
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#1732782928470924-581: The picket line during the 2007–2008 WGA strike . Scully received a lifetime achievement award by the WGA West in 2010. Lisa on Ice " Lisa on Ice " is the eighth episode of the sixth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons . It was the first broadcast on Fox in the United States on November 13, 1994. In the episode, Lisa discovers that she possesses
966-404: The posts "trying to teach his goalies to stay in the crease." Lisa's line, "Hack the bone! Hack the bone!" was inspired by ex– Springfield Kings backstop Billy Smith . Although there was an emphasis on detail for the show, one mistake Scully regrets is having the game clock running (and eventually expiring) on Bart’s penalty shot. The clock would be paused in a normal hockey game until the shot
1008-590: The radio waiting to see if there was going to be a school snow day . Scully thought that there was nothing more disappointing than to wake up expecting a snow day, only to find out there was no snow. The academic alerts the Springfield Elementary School students receive were based on those Scully received in junior high . The scene where Milhouse was bound by his hands and legs to the net was inspired by stories Scully had heard about Springfield Indians owner Eddie Shore tying his players to
1050-469: The same title for Fox's Dads (which debuted in 2013). In 2018, he signed an overall deal with 20th Century Fox Television. He is married to writer Julie Thacker ; the couple have five daughters. His elder brother Brian Scully is also a comedy writer; his younger brother, Neil, is an ice hockey writer. His mother died in 1985. Scully was awarded an honorary doctorate in fine arts from Westfield State University in 2008. While on crutches, Sully walked
1092-400: The same. I think it's easier for people to go in and just criticize and say what they hate about something, rather than find out what they like." —Scully in 2001 on criticism of his stint as The Simpsons ' showrunner In 1993, David Mirkin hired Scully to write for The Simpsons , as a replacement for the departing Conan O'Brien , after reading some of his sample scripts. He began as
1134-670: The screen, the handwriting recognition changes it to " Eat up Martha ", and Kearney throws the Newton at Martin instead, referencing the MessagePad's poor handwriting recognition. The assembly is held at the Butt-Head Memorial Auditorium; Skinner muses "I really shouldn't have let the students name that one." When Moe visits Bart and Lisa at the Simpson house to see if they have any injuries that may affect
1176-459: The seventh-best episode of the show with a sports theme. TV Squad 's Adam Finley gave the episode a positive review, commenting that it is "a skewering of parents who become too involved in their children's sports and turn what should be a lesson in teamwork, trying your hardest, and losing gracefully into a kind of Roman Coliseum where grown adults live out violent fantasies and their own failed ambitions through their children". He added, "Homer
1218-458: The show's 22nd best episode. Robert Canning of IGN also gave the episode a positive review, something he also did for "Behind the Laughter" and " Trilogy of Error ", which aired during season 12. He called the latter "one extremely enjoyable misadventure. The Simpsons may have peaked in the '90s, but that doesn't mean the eight years since haven't delivered their share of quality episodes. This
1260-499: The show's quality. Scully still works on the show and also co-wrote and co-produced 2007's The Simpsons Movie . More recently, Scully co-created The Pitts , The Boy Who Lost His Schoolbag and Complete Savages as well as working on Everybody Loves Raymond and Parks and Recreation . He co-developed the short-lived animated television version of Napoleon Dynamite , as well as co-creating Duncanville with his wife, Julie Thacker , and comedian Amy Poehler . Scully
1302-462: The sport, Anderson ordered a batch of VHS highlight tapes, watched the NHL playoffs for the first time, and made several trips to scout youth games, taking notes on how players looked stickhandling and shooting. In his original draft of the episode, Scully had written cameos for Bobby Orr and Wayne Gretzky but, he explained, "they wound up falling out of the story, because we had such a good story with
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1344-416: The students of Springfield Elementary School at an assembly to announce which subjects they are failing. Lisa , who prides herself on her academic achievements, is horrified to discover she is failing gym class. Lisa attempts to appeal to her gym teacher, who makes her a deal: if Lisa regularly participates in a sports program outside of school, she will get a passing grade in gym class. Lisa attempts to join
1386-458: The subject of criticism from some of the show's fans. John Ortved wrote "Scully's episodes excel when compared to what The Simpsons airs nowadays, but he was the man at the helm when the ship turned towards the iceberg." The BBC noted "the common consensus is that The Simpsons ' golden era ended after season nine ", while an op-ed in Slate by Chris Suellentrop argued The Simpsons changed from
1428-466: The town learns that the Gougers will face the Mighty Pigs at their next match. Bart and Lisa's animosity towards each other enhances their athletic skill. With four seconds left, Bart is tripped by Jimbo , giving him a penalty shot against Lisa that will decide the outcome of the game. As they face off, Bart and Lisa remember the good times they had together when they were younger . Bart and Lisa discard their equipment and hug each other. The match ends in
1470-546: Was "quite possibly the best boss I've ever worked for" and "a great manager of people," while Don Payne commented that for Scully "it was really important that we kept decent hours". Scully served as showrunner until 2001, during season 12 , making him the first person to run the show for more than two seasons. He returned in season 14 to write and executive produce the episode " How I Spent My Strummer Vacation ", and co-wrote and co-produced The Simpsons Movie in 2007. Scully's tenure as showrunner of The Simpsons has been
1512-440: Was a writer and co-executive producer on Everybody Loves Raymond for part of season seven and all of season eight, winning an Emmy for his work. Scully co-created (with wife Julie Thacker ) The Pitts for Fox and Complete Savages for ABC , which was produced by Mel Gibson . The Pitts was a sitcom about a family suffering from bad luck. Thacker stated the show was designed "as a companion piece for The Simpsons . It had
1554-607: Was born October 2, 1956, at Springfield Hospital in Springfield, Massachusetts , and grew up in the Merrick section of West Springfield . His father, Richard, was a salesman and owned a dry cleaning business, his mother Geraldine (d. 1985) worked for the Baystate Medical Center once Scully and his brothers were old enough to be left at home alone. Scully is of Irish ancestry. As a child Scully "hoped to be
1596-451: Was inspired by Scully's love of ice hockey and featured many experiences from his childhood, as was " Marge Be Not Proud " (which he wrote for season seven ) which was based "one of the most traumatic moments" of his life, when he was caught shoplifting at age 12. He jokingly told Variety that "It's great to be paid for reliving the horrors of your life." He also wrote " Team Homer " and " Lisa's Date with Density ". Scully noted: "I wrote
1638-500: Was one of them." Tom Martin said that he does not understand the criticism against Scully, and that he thinks the criticism "bothered [him], and still bothers him, but he managed to not get worked up over it." Ortved noted in his book that blaming a single show runner for what some perceive as the lowering quality of the show "is unfair." When asked in 2007 how the series' longevity is sustained, Scully joked, "Lower your quality standards. Once you've done that you can go on forever." Scully
1680-494: Was taken. The episode features several references to Rollerball (1975). Kent Brockman's line about a Garry Trudeau musical revue about Ronald Reagan is a reference to Rap Master Ronnie , an off-Broadway play about the Reagan administration that ran throughout the 1980s.At the assembly, bully Kearney has Dolph take a memo on an Apple Newton , a personal digital assistant . When Dolph writes "Beat up Martin " on
1722-489: Was to "not wreck the show", and he headed up the writing staff and oversaw all aspects of the show's production. During his time as showrunner he was credited with writing or co-writing five episodes: " Treehouse of Horror VIII " ("The HΩmega Man" segment), " Sunday, Cruddy Sunday ", " Beyond Blunderdome ", " Behind the Laughter " and " The Parent Rap ". Scully was popular with the staff members, many of whom praised his organization and management skills. Writer Tom Martin said he
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1764-602: Was too late for the target audience. Complete Savages , which Thacker and Scully wrote with the " Simpsons sensibility" of layered jokes, was canceled in January 2005 due to low ratings and network anger at Scully and Thacker's decision to write to TV critics in what the Hartford Courant labelled "unsanctioned promoting". A fan of NRBQ , Scully produced, with Thacker, a documentary about the band in 2003 entitled NRBQ: Rock 'n' Roll's Best Kept Secret ; Scully employed
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