The Simpsons showrunner Al Jean is stepping down as showrunner of the iconic series after more than 20 years, and his next projects might include a revival of beloved animated sitcom The Critic.
"Oh, there's a lot of reasons that make sense. There's other stuff I have in the works, non-Simpsons, including something with Jon Lovitz," Jean told Cracked of why he was leaving.
After Jean expanded more on his reasons for stepping away, Cracked followed up by asking if the Lovitz project could be a revival of The Critic.
"It's definitely been discussed," Jean revealed. "I'll just say there's really only one hurdle. John is up for it. Maurice LaMarche is up for it. Mike Reiss is too. I can't really say what the one hurdle is, but there's one thing standing in the way."
The Critic ran from 1994 to 1995, and it starred Lovitz as the voice of a film critic in New York named Jay Sherman. It was cancelled after just two seasons, though some short webisodes were produced in 2000 to 2001. Jay Sherman also appeared on The Simpsons multiple times. Mike Reiss is the show's co-creator (along with Jean), and Maurice LaMarche voiced multiple characters.
"I hope so, too," Jean added of the hurdle being overcome. "I've done everything I can on my end to make it work," Jean added.
"Thank you for watching @TheSimpsons tonight … next week the last (Simpsons) episode I'll showrun (at least for now), although as always I'm still thrilled to work on the show. 11/2 an episode by a brilliant new director and a writer I am never satisfied with," Jean wrote on Twitter in October. He remains onboard the show as a consulting producer.
As for the future of The Simpsons, a second movie was announced in September, and season 37 is currently airing.
If you fancy a binge watch, check out our roundup of the 25 best Simpsons episodes of all time.
