Yes, Yeardley Smith's Husband Watches 'The Simpsons'

The sweet romance between The Simpsons star Yeardley Smith and her retired police detective husband, Dan Grice—which began when he was assigned to protect her at an event for her iconic show—almost didn’t happen. Initially, neither of them wanted to attend the 2014 mural unveiling in Springfield, Oregon. But like a scene from The Bodyguard, he showed up for duty. What started as a fast friendship between the versatile actress (best known for voicing Lisa Simpson) and veteran detective grew into love, and the two tied the knot in June 2022.

Now, the storybook couple are not only happily married, but co-hosting a true-crime podcast, Small Town Dicks, along with Dan's detective twin, Dave. Currently in its twelfth season, the podcast has racked up multiple awards, including Adweek's 2022 Podcast Hosts of the Year and a 2021 People’s Choice True Crime Award.

Related: Beware! These 50 Strange Unsolved Mysteries Are Seriously Spooky

So, how do Yeardley and her husband deal with any inevitable "coworker" clashes? And what can we learn from them about how to successfully mix business with pleasure?

“It is a hard balance, and much trickier than I anticipated," Smith tells Parade. “For people who think, “Oh, I’m just going to do everything with my best friend and the people that I love and it will all work out smoothly, I’m like, ‘Well, OK. I hope it’s easy for you, but it can be a bit challenging.”

Read on for more insights from The Simpsons star—and her husband, Dan, who joined the conversation more than halfway through.

What's it like working with your husband? Any challenges?

Yeardley Smith: It’s a very edit-heavy podcast—we have great stories, but it’s very hard to tell a story well and very few people tell it linearly. And Dan isn’t used to people telling him what to do. So when I would say, “Dan, I need you to rephrase something" or "this word is garbled" or "we have a question here and need to fill in a blank"—at first, Dan would sort of bristle at that. I had to explain to him that it’s not perfect out of the gate. 

How do you separate the work from the personal aspects of your life?

Yeardley Smith: After the first two seasons, which we did in one year, Dan came to me and said, "I don’t want to talk about the podcast all the time." Because I was completely consumed by it. Consumed by gathering content, editing, and consumed with touching the bar that I thought we had set, which was very high.

So it was hard for me because I thought, "I’m going to have to get away from the computer and spend time with my love and do something other than this thing that’s consuming me." And I did it because it was super important. People always want to do [projects] with their friends or with the people that they love, and I’m like, “Eh, it’s risky.” Because if the work relationship goes south, then you’re likely going to lose, alter or possibly damage the love relationship. So you’re going to always walk a tightrope. It doesn’t mean it can’t be done. I feel like Dan and I do it really well.

Related: From I Love Lucy to Schitt's Creek, These Are the 30 Best Sitcoms of All Time

You make a living by being funny. Do you and Dan laugh a lot? 

Yeardley Smith: Well, Dan is very funny. When I first met him, I was like, “This guy doesn’t smile very much. He doesn’t laugh very much.” And then when he retired from being a detective, I literally could see his sense of humor coming back. But one of the things that never came back, and I don’t know if he ever had it, was Dan doesn’t give a lot away, facial-expression-wise. And of course, as a detective, you can’t. That’s the job.

So this skill that Dan has developed to remain totally neutral is still with him. I find it really hard and unnerving because as you say, they pay me to be funny. And I always say, "Dan never laughs at my jokes," and he’s like, "That’s not true, I laugh all the time." I’m like, “Maybe you’re laughing on the inside because I don’t see you laughing on the outside.” For a guy who has no children—and his niece and nephew are older now—he has a ton of dad jokes. He’s a lover of the pun, which is hilarious.

Do you and Dan watch The Simpsons together?

Yeardley Smith: Yes, we do watch The Simpsons. And it’s usually Dan who suggests it, which I do love. I don’t actually think he watched The Simpsons very much before he knew me. Dan played baseball as a child, and then professionally after college, so his whole life I think was sports. He and his brother are all about sports, which is kind of sacrilege; but what can you do?

Related: 5 Math Lessons Hidden in The Simpsons

What was your attraction to Dan?

Yeardley Smith: He had a wonderful, sexy, quiet confidence, and he just really had a hold of himself. He is so even and steady, and a man of great curiosity.

He didn’t seem impressed by me, nor did he seem to need to give the impression like, “You’re not a big deal. I don’t know why I have to pick you up.” He was like, “You’re the job, I’m here to make sure that you are looked after and I’m happy to do it.” There was something really appealing about him not being a part of my show-business world. He was grounded in a way that can be hard to find here in this business.

Related: The Best Parts of Homer Simpson

You’re nearing 800 episodes of The Simpsons. What does that feel like? How is the character of Lisa Simpson sitting with you these days?

Yeardley Smith: She’s just one of the best characters ever created for a female. The Simpsons is a gift; it’s really like I landed in the honeypot when I got that job, for so many reasons. I mean, people are always like, “Oh my god, financially.” I’m like, yes, financially, but also for my soul. To be able to play a character as beautiful and multifaceted and funny and complicated as Lisa Simpson, I mean, a lot of actors never get that. And to be able to play this character for 35 years is extraordinary.

I feel like the day The Simpsons ends will be a very hard day for me. The day The Simpsons ends it will be like Lisa Simpson, one of my very best friends, has moved away and she’s never coming back.

[Editor's note: At this point Dan has joined the video call.]

Dan, were you a fan of The Simpsons before you met Yeardley?

Dan Grice: Before I met Yeardley, I had maybe watched a handful of episodes of The Simpsons. I knew all the players—I knew all the characters in the family, I knew Flanders, Mr. Burns, Smithers. I knew the basic concept of the show. When I was assigned to guard her, they handed me an itinerary and it had a photo of her, just like a little thumbnail up in the corner. And I recognized her and I said, “Oh, I know who she is.” Because I had watched The Legend of Billie Jean and Maximum Overdrive when I was younger, and I immediately made the connection. So she was familiar to me, but it wasn’t because of The Simpsons.

What makes you comfortable with your wife's fame?

Dan Grice: Overall, I think it’s fairly easy. I trust her. The other part of that is I’m a big admirer of [hers]. I’m a fan. I honestly think that I fell in love with her when she was on stage at the Hollywood Bowl. I could feel the chemistry of my body changed when I saw her on stage. I got goosebumps and butterflies. And she’s great with her fans. I don’t mind holding the purse. I don’t mind taking all the photos. I actually don’t even need to be prompted anymore.

Yeardley Smith: He just takes their phone and goes, “I’ll take the picture, you guys stand together.” He’s so, so lovely and gracious about it.

Dan Grice: I would say 99 percent of the fans that we run into are completely respectful and aren’t overbearing, so it’s fine. I get it. I enjoy watching that part of her life.

Small Town Dicks is on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, SmallTownDicks.com, Prime Music, and wherever else you listen to podcasts.

Next, The 20 Best Crime Movies on Netflix Right Now