Waylon Smithers (L) kisses his first boyfriend, fashion mogul Michael De Graaf, (Photo courtesy of The Simpsons & 20th Television)
HOLLYWOOD | Rob LaZebnik, 59, one of the creative writers and co-executive producer of the longest running cartoon comedy in American television history, “The Simpsons,” teamed up with his son Johnny, 27, also a television creative writer to produce an episode that gives the character of Waylon Smithers a boyfriend.
The episode set to air Nov. 21, the start of the Thanksgiving holiday week, is titled “Portrait Of A Lackey On Fire.” The synopsis for the episode reads: “Smithers finds true love with a famous fashion designer, but will his new relationship destroy Springfield?”
The long-suffering assistant to the show’s Über wealthy and twisted maniacal character of Montgomery Burns, falls in love with fashion designer Michael De Graaf, voiced by four time Tony Award and six time Emmy Award nominated out actor Victor Garber. Smithers is voiced by Emmy Award winner Harry Shearer.
The 2016 season episode of “Tom Collins,” had Smithers come out as gay after years of speculation. For the elder LaZebnik, who wrote that episode, his inspiration was his son Johnny who is gay. For the writing duo, this up coming episode brings the storyline full circle as they explore a gay relationship.
i can finally come out of the closet as a d’ohmosexual. watch a very gay episode of @TheSimpsons on november 21, written by me and my dad 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/RqlMcetIUv
— Johnny LaZebnik (@jlazebnik) October 30, 2021
In an interview with the New York Post Nov. 11, the elder LaZebnik told the paper; “To be able to work with Johnny on this was, like, such a dream and to be able to see how truly funny and talented he is was just, you know, super fun and rewarding.”
His son noted, “I know my dad is a comedy writer. I grew up with him — obviously, I know he’s a funny guy,” Johnny, 27, told The Post. “But actually getting to sit down and write jokes with him was so much fun. And there were some moments where I was like, ‘Dad, that’s disgusting — we can’t put that on television,’ which I didn’t expect to be saying because I’m usually the disgusting one.”
“We now have this piece of content that we put into the world together that is a combined brainpower of the two of us.”
The younger LaZebnik also told the Post; “So often, gay romances are a subplot or alluded to or shown in some kind of montage or as a punchline.
“And what I think I was really excited about, with this episode, we get to see – without spoiling too much – the beginning, middle and who knows how it ends of a gay relationship, of really getting into the nitty-gritty of how gay people date, how they meet, what it’s like.”
He added: “That was really special to me to get to highlight characters who are not punchlines, who are fully formed.”
