"The Simpsons" scribe/co-exec producer Dana Gould has set up a pair of projects, including a zombie laffer at Comedy Central... tentatively titled "The Last Larry." Partially inspired by "Shaun of the Dead," half-hour is set in a post-apocalyptic world in which the few remaining survivors are trying to get on with their lives.

"It's a very traditional sitcom set in the world of a zombie holocaust," Gould said. "I felt fairly positive after I pitched it that I wouldn't hear a lot of 'Not that idea again.' "

Comedy Central is developing a script for "Larry," which Gould would write and exec produce. Tom Lassally and Dave Becky of 3 Arts Entertainment will also exec produce.

Gould -- who continues to perform regularly as a standup -- would star in the project, which would explore how people deal with the small things in life even after something cataclysmic.

"I hope to rip off not only 'Shaun of the Dead' but also 'Battlestar Galactica,' " Gould joked. "If I could combine those two shows in a sitcom, I think I'd be accomplishing something."

Labels: WRITER WATCH

Labels: THE MARGE REPORT

Labels: THE INSIDE SCOOP

O.J. Simpson in "The Simpsons"? An internet parody of The Simpsons featuring O.J. Simpson has infuriated bosses at 20th Century Fox.

The studio has asked online video site Broadcaster.com to take down three animated clips, titled The OJ Simpsons that re-imagine the series with the ex-American footballer.

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The clips also parody the opening scene of The Simpsons, with Simpson being chased by several police cars - just like he was chased live TV in the US, after the pair were found dead in Los Angeles in June 1994.

Labels: NEWS CORP. NEWS, UNRELATED SIMPSONS IN THE NEWS

Rupert Murdoch can take a joke - at least if he's making money off it - but his Fox News minions don't like being teased by their corporate siblings at "The Simpsons."

Matt Groening, creator of the modern cartoon classic, notes that the Fox overlord was willing to do a cameo on the show - introducing himself as "the evil billionaire tyrant Rupert Murdoch."

"He said he liked the show," Groening says in June's Playboy, which features his drawing of himself as Hugh Hefner, flanked by foxy-looking Marge Simpson and her sisters, Patty and Selma. "He seemed sincere … [though] there were little dollar signs in his eyes."

But "Fox News gives me a headache," says Groening, especially "the spinning logos and American flags and music designed to scare you s-less." He fondly remembers the "Simpsons" episode where "we had a news crawl like [Fox News] across the bottom of the screen. It said things like … 'Brad Pitt plus Albert Einstein equals Dick Cheney,' 'Study: 92 percent of Democrats are gay' … We were forbidden ever to do it again. Fox said it would confuse viewers."

With the 400th "Simpsons" episode and "The Simpsons Movie" approaching, Groening recalls how Elizabeth Taylor once agreed to play little Maggie saying her first word, "Daddy."

"We did 24 takes, but they were always too sexual. Finally Liz said, 'F— you,' and walked out."

Another time, his staff heard that "Prince wanted to do the show, so we wrote him a script. It didn't work out, because his chauffeur had written a script too, and Prince wanted to use that one."

As a parent, Groening says, "I'm the dad I wished I had. I try to let my kids have a good time." His reward? "[My kids] tell me I'm not funny anymore. … My son said he wishes ['Family Guy' creator] Seth MacFarlane were his father."

Labels: GROEN DRAIN

Labels: GROEN DRAIN, HOMERCIDE