Matt Selman

Matt Selman
Selman at San Diego Comic-Con International in July 2010
Born	Matthew David Selman September 9, 1971 (1971-09-09) (age 49) Watertown, Massachusetts, U.S.
Occupation	Writer, Producer
Known for	The Simpsons
Spouse(s)	Renee Ridgeley
Children	2
Website	https://twitter.com/mattselman

Matt Selman (born September 9, 1971) is an American writer and producer.

Early life[]

Selman grew up in Massachusetts. He graduated from Beaver Country Day School in 1989. He studied history at the University of Pennsylvania and served as Editor-in-Chief for 34th Street Magazine.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

Career[]

After considering a career in journalism, he decided to try to become a television writer. After two years of failed spec scripts he was eventually hired to write an episode of Seinfeld in 1996.

The Simpsons[]

In 1997, Selman joined the writing staff of The Simpsons, where he has remained, rising to the position of executive producer.^[6] He has written or co-written 28 episodes of the show, including "Natural Born Kissers" which the show's creator Matt Groening listed as his eighth favorite episode in 2000.,^[7] "Behind the Laughter", "Trilogy of Error", "Sky Police" and "The Food Wife". He also co-wrote the 2007 film adaptation of the show, as well as co-writing the video games The Simpsons: Road Rage, The Simpsons Hit and Run and The Simpsons Game.

Selman has won six Primetime Emmy Awards for his work on the show, sharing them with the other producers.^[8] Selman received an Annie Award in 1999 for writing "Simpsons Bible Stories".^[9] He also won a Writers Guild of America Award in 2004 for writing the episode "The Dad Who Knew Too Little".^[10] In the episode, Homer's e-mail was said to be chunkylover53@aol.com. Selman registered the e-mail and received thousands of messages after the episode aired.^[11] He responded to some of them in the character of Homer, but gave up when he forgot the password.^[12]

Of his writing of The Simpsons he said: "The hardest thing is we have to try and make each episode as good as everything that's come before it. We have a legacy of greatness, and you don't want to be the person that ruins The Simpsons."^[13]

As of 2020 he is joint show runner with Al Jean.

Other journalistic endeavors[]

Selman formerly wrote for Time.com's Techland "Nerd World" blog alongside Lev Grossman,^[4] and is also the creator and writer of the Icebox.com webtoon "Superhero Roommate."^[14] Selman also has written jokes for many animated movies. He appeared alongside Groening and voice actor Hank Azaria to judge on a The Simpsons-themed challenge on an episode of Top Chef: Masters in 2010.^[15][16]

Personal life[]

Selman is married to Renee Ridgeley^[17] and has two daughters.

Credits[]

• Seinfeld (1996) – writer, program consultant
  • "The Wait Out"
• The Simpsons (1997–present) – writer, producer, story editor, supervising producer, executive producer
  • "Natural Born Kissers" (1998)
  • "Simpsons Bible Stories" (along with Tim Long and Larry Doyle) (1999)
  • "They Saved Lisa's Brain" (1999)
  • "Eight Misbehavin'" (1999)
  • "Behind the Laughter" (along with George Meyer, Tim Long, and Mike Scully) (2000)
  • "Lisa the Tree Hugger" (2000)
  • "Trilogy of Error" (2001)
  • "Simpsons Tall Tales" (2001)
  • "Jaws Wired Shut" (2002)
  • "The Dad Who Knew Too Little" (2003)
  • "All's Fair in Oven War" (2004)
  • "Pranksta Rap" (2005)
  • "Future-Drama" (2005)
  • "Girls Just Want to Have Sums" (2006)
  • "The Haw-Hawed Couple" (2006)
  • "Husbands and Knives" (2007)
  • "That '90s Show" (2008)
  • "Bart Gets a 'Z'" (2009)
  • "O Brother, Where Bart Thou?" (2009)
  • "Flaming Moe" (2011)
  • "The Food Wife" (2011)
  • "The Day the Earth Stood Cool" (2012)
  • "Gorgeous Grampa" (2013)
  • "Covercraft" (2014)
  • "Sky Police" (2015)
  • "There Will Be Buds" (2016)
  • "The Great Phatsby" (along with Dan Greaney) (2017)
  • "Heartbreak Hotel" (along with Renee Ridgeley) (2018)
  • ”The Clown Stays in the Picture” (2019)
• The Simpsons: Road Rage (2001) – co-writer
• The Simpsons Hit and Run (2003) – co-writer
• The Simpsons Movie (2007) – co-writer
• The Simpsons Game (2007) – co-writer

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Matt Selman.

• Matt Selman at IMDb
• Nerd World Blog
• Matt Selman at IMDb