At some point, the world may tire of digging into O.J. Simpson's controversial life, particularly where it pertains to the murder trial for Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. But that time hasn't come yet, as evidenced by Fox's recent special O.J. Simpson: The Lost Confession. Of all the shocking reveals that were promised ahead of the resurrected special, perhaps the big winner came not from the telecast itself, but from The Simpsons' showrunner Al Jean, who revealed the hit animated comedy had tried landing O.J. Simpson for a guest spot back in the day. Hopefully not for a prescient episode, though.
One might have thought that Homer or Bart Simpson would have been the most notorious people with that surname to ever walk Springfield's streets, but it appears athlete-turned-actor-turned-criminal O.J. Simpson could have been on The Simpsons' long and colorful list of famed guest stars. Obviously, this potential cameo appearance would have gone down well before he was accused of murder, since that would have embiggened fans' rage in 1998.
In a response to his original tweet, Al Jean confirmed that the show had reached out to O.J. Simpson to appear in the classic Season 4 episode "Last Exit to Springfield," which took a satirical look at medical plans, unions and workplace strikes. (Cartoons!) The Naked Gun vet would have taken on the role that ended up going to Dr. Joyce Brothers, and Jean is pretty thankful for that fact. I'd assume that most Simpsons fans are also thankful for it, since that episode would be quite the awkward relic if Simpson would have agreed to the cameo.
Knowing this now, Juice, I totally want to see The Simpsons take on The People v. O.J. Simpson at some point, Juice, though that's largely because we want Sterling K. Brown to continue his pop culture takeover with a voiceover role. (Juice.) I would also take Sarah Paulson, Cuba Gooding Jr and John Travolta all showing up on The Simpsons at some point together, too. Alternately, it'd once again be interesting to see Simpson show up on The Simpsons at this point, though it'll never happen.
Fans of Fox's animated programming lineup might remember that Family Guy put O.J. Simpson through the wringer with the 2009 episode "The Juice is Loose," in which Peter won the chance to play golf with Simpson, to the dismay of Quahog citizens. In that episode, the former football great was voiced by Mike Henry, and not by Simpson himself. Pretty sure they didn't try and get the real thing for that ep.
With many more guest stars yet to be heard, The Simpsons returns to Fox on Sunday, March 18, at 8:00 p.m. ET. Head to our midseason premiere schedule to see all the new and returning shows on the way.
