In 2012, former Simpsons showrunner Bill Oakley shared a list on Twitter of his ten favorite shows that were “pitched, discussed, written but not aired.” Among the titles he included was a Conan O’Brien-penned episode that would’ve featured a guest appearance from Prince. The Purple One reportedly hated the script, and the idea was abandoned. The same goes for number two on Oakley’s list: a curious entry titled “Lisa the Scientopteran,” written by George Meyer.
If your gut is telling you that the proposed episode in question had something to do with the Church of Scientology, your gut is absolutely correct. Not a whole lot is known about the plot, other than it reportedly involves Lisa joining a Scientology-like cult. According to a 2005 Q&A with Oakley, this wasn’t just some brief pitch that got thrown away, either. In Oakley’s words, the story had been fully worked out by Meyer, and it was “hilarious.”
The Lost ‘Simpsons’ Episode That Took Aim at Scientology and Never Made It to Air
So what was the problem then? How come we never got to see “Lisa the Scientopteran” if it was as funny as Oakley says it is? Well, for one thing, there was the fear of legal ramifications. In his 2007 book The Gospel According to The Simpsons, author Mark I. Pinsky reveals that the church’s reputation for suing and harassing people was a big factor in the producers’ decision to pull the plug on the Scientology episode—this is something Pinsky said he confirmed with one of the show’s writers.
The other issue, as Oakley explained, was “the fact that at least a couple people on the staff/cast would’ve felt personally attacked by the episode and we just didn’t want to deal with the fallout.” This would be a good time to point out that Nancy Cartwright, who voices Bart, is a longtime member of the Church of Scientology. She even got herself in a bit of hot water in 2009 for using Bart’s voice to promote one of the church’s events. In the aforementioned Q&A, Oakley went on to reiterate how hilarious the script was and call Meyer “the funniest writer to ever live.”
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