In the annals of Simpsons celebrity guest stars, Thomas Pynchon isn't in the same league of fame as Paul McCartney or Meryl Streep. But nobody (not even you, Comic Book Guy!) must ever doubt the celebrated author's devotion to a certain bald, obese nuclear technician.
The National Book Award-winning writer, who has appeared in three episodes of the long-running Fox comedy, insisted that the writers on one of his episodes remove a line in which Pynchon's character says, "Marge is a great cook. No wonder Homer is such a fat-ass."
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Producer Matt Selman recently shared Pynchon's notes on Twitter; it wasn't that Pynchon took offense to the salty language, but rather, according to Selman, he couldn't in good conscience rip on his hero.
The fax sent to us by Thomas Pynchon with his jokes written on the script page pic.twitter.com/wL8Nm6R92I
— Matt Selman (@mattselman) August 28, 2014 On faxed notes to the Simpsons staff, Pynchon wrote, "Sorry, guys. Homer is my role model and I won't speak ill of him."
He also changed a few of the lines to incorporate some Pynchon puns. Originally, Pynchon was supposed to describe Marge's cooking as "scrumptious." The publicity-shy author of V changed the line to "V-licious."
In a 2009 column for Time, Selman wrote about his experiences directing Pynchon, and how he delighted in name-dropping the famous author in a cocktail conversation with a stuffy intellectual who had spent years researching Pynchon but never had the chance to speak with him. Feel the burn, Poindexter!
The Simpsons Season 26 premieres Sept. 28 at 8 p.m. on Fox.