How Michelle Obama Turned Down A Role On ‘The Simpsons’ With A Simple Note

In its 27 seasons, Fox’s “The Simpsons” has had a large number of guest stars. From ’NSYNC and Lady Gaga to Mark Hamil and Benedict Cumberbatch, Springfield has seen a who’s who of Hollywood stop by, but there’s one person the show hasn’t been able to get.

In a new interview with Variety, “The Simpsons” producer, James L. Brooks, revealed the staff tried to get first lady Michelle Obama on the show but were turned down. According to Brooks, he and the staff were aggressive in their campaign to get the first lady but were ultimately denied with a two-word reply.

“We tried to get her on ‘The Simpsons’ and we couldn’t. We finally got a note that said ‘good try,’ because we were so aggressive,” Brooks told Variety.

A version of Obama has appeared on “The Simpsons” before, in the Season 21 episode “Stealing First Base,” but the character was voiced by “American Horror Story” actress Angela Bassett.

“The Simpsons” will be celebrating its 28th season this year, and Brooks credits animation as the reason for the show’s longevity. “Being animated helps. The thing is so much bigger than any one of us that we all serve it. You walk on there, you think we were killing ourselves for a pilot. Nobody’s lazy and we can have a crazy new thing and do it.”

According to Brooks, the show can always reinvent itself. “We can go into a new form. We sit around and have an idea for a theatrical short and we do it, and it’s silent and there’s no dialogue. It’s crazy how much we get to keep being innocent because we’re doing something that we’ve never done before.”

While Michelle Obama will not be appearing on “The Simpsons” this season, there are plenty of new guests. Celebrities for the new season include Amy Schumer, Sarah Silverman, Taraji P. Henson, Patton Oswalt, Michael Sheen, Drew Carey and Lizzy Caplan.

Celebrities won’t be the only people coming to Springfield this season. For the series’ 600th episode, “Treehouse of Horror XXVII,” Season 8’s Frank Grimes will return as a ghost. Grimes will team up with Sideshow Bob to form a “sinister squadron of ‘Simpsons’ enemies to try to kill the Simpsons,” executive producer Al Jean told Entertainment Weekly. “If that doesn’t make people tune in, I don’t know what else we can say.”

Season 28 of “The Simpsons” premieres on Sept. 25. The season’s first episode, “Monty Burns Fleeing Circus,” will see Mr. Burns starting his own for-profit school in a parody of Donald Trump and Trump University.