Pete Holmes is now part of “The Simpsons” universe
April 27, 2020 Andrew Buss News, Pete Holmes, Television, The Simpsons
Last night, comedian Pete Holmes officially got immortalized in the world of Springfield. On Twitter, Holmes announced that he had written the first part of a two part episode of The Simpsons.
the episode of #TheSimpsons i wrote airs TONIGHT!!
(“i wrote” is generous, their amazing staff (and cast!) added about 70,000 incredible jokes. i’m humbled and honored to be a part of this unbelievable team!)
i’ll livetweet at 8 PST
here’s a preview: https://t.co/N8QeGXXwJs
— Pete Holmes (@peteholmes) April 26, 2020
The episode reveals the church in Springfield to be falling on hard times. The turn out is now reduced to less than 10 people, including some of the senior citizens, Sideshow Mel, and the Simpson family. In walks Pete Holmes as Bode, a charming youth pastor who has come from Michigan to start working at the church. Eventually, Reverend Lovejoy is convinced to allow him to work there and even stay at his home.
As soon as he takes over for Springfield’s Reverend Lovejoy at service one day, everyone starts to go crazy for Bode and his modern-age ideals he represents. His rendition of Amazing Grace was certainly an easy way to get all the women (and Homer) to swoon. This leads to the firing of Reverend Lovejoy, who travels to Michigan to try to dig up some dirt on the new guy in town.
The episode certainly feels like an extension of some of the things that would feel right at home in an episode of You Made it Weird or Pete Holmes’ memoir, Comedy Sex God. Over the course of the episode, Bode tackles his own doubts with God, the belief structure, meditation, and offers advice on marriage counseling.
Some of the additional bits of information we learned courtesy of Holmes’ Twitter account includes how Richard Rohr inspired his character, how the show sped up Pete’s voice 5% to ensure the entire sermon made it in there, and how Dane Cook gave him his blessing to use his Jeez-its joke in the episode.
Becoming part of The Simpsons universe is almost a right of passage. Once that happens, you know you’ve officially made it in the business. And we’re excited to see how part two plays out next week.
Update: One of our contributing writers actually received an answer from Executive Producer Al Jean on Twitter confirming that Pete Holmes wrote the second part as well.
yes
— Al Jean (@AlJean) April 23, 2020