This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The Simpsons" takes aim at Donald Trump in Sunday's episode — albeit somewhat indirectly.
In "Caper Chase" (Sunday, 7 p.m., Fox/Ch. 13), Mr. Burns (voice by Harry Shearer), who is ticked off at Yale, founds his own for-profit university. And the avaricious owner of Spingfield's nuclear power plant hires Homer (Dan Castellaneta) as one of the professors.
If there are echoes of Trump University, they're not altogether coincidental — even though the episode was conceived "before Trump University hit it big," said executive producer Al Jean. But Trump University did affect the script.
"I think we made for-profit college even look greedier because of what happened," Jean said. "We figured that this was going to be a topic that was good whether he won [the election] or not."
(Trump settled the lawsuits against him for $25 million. And it was the single greatest out-of-court settlement ever.)
"The Simpsons" has referenced Trump before, less obliquely. The now-infamous 2000 episode titled "Bart to the Future" showed us President Lisa Simpson — and she's trying to save the country after it's left "broke" by the presidency of Donald Trump.
It's worth pointing out that (a) "Simpsons" writers wrote of a future Trump presidency because they thought the idea was ludicrous and funny, and (b) they predicted a failed Trump presidency.
"Following Trump is President Lisa Simpson, so that'd be good," Jean said.
Five days after Trump won the presidency, the opening credits on the Nov. 16, 2016, episode featured a scowling Bart writing on the blackboard: "Being right sucks."
It might not be the last reference to Trump we'll see in a "Simpsons" episode.
"I think there's a silver lining for comedy writers in what's going on now," Jean said, "but I'd rather have it the other way.
"There's been so many ridiculous things it's been good, not just for us, but for people like Stephen Colbert and Samantha Bee. But I think all of them would rather that it wasn't so interesting," Jean said with a laugh.
Sunday's episode features guest voice appearances by Jason Alexander as a fictional character. And by Neil deGrasse Tyson, Robert McKee, Suze Orman and former Utahn/"Jeopardy!" champion Ken Jennings as themselves — all teachers at Mr. Burns' for-profit university.
Trump has tweeted criticism of "Saturday Night Live" on more than one occasion, but Jean isn't expecting any Trump Twitter wrath to be aimed at "The Simpsons." Although he'd be "honored if that happened."
It's not as if the "Simpsons" writers haven't taken some very pointed shots at the current occupant of the White House before.
"By the way, if Trump didn't tweet at us for depicting his hair as an orange dog, I don't know what would bother him," Jean said.
Scott D. Pierce covers TV for The Salt Lake Tribune. Email him at spierce@sltrib.com; follow him on Twitter @ScottDPierce.