Prince is said to have rejected the script, which had been co-written by Conan O’Brien.
Many famous faces have made appearances in ‘The Simpsons’ over the years, including Lady Gaga, Michael Jackson and JK Rowling, but one star whose planned episode sadly never made it to screens was the late Prince. On twitter showrunner Al Jean treated fans to a look at two pages of the un-produced episode, which was rejected by the singer himself.
Prince had been asked to appear in his own ‘Simpsons’ episode.
According to ‘Simpsons’’ lore, the episode was a follow-up to season three opener ‘Stark Raving Dad’ in which Leon Kompowsky believed he was Michael Jackson, with the King of Pop providing Leon’s voice.
In the episode, which was set to be part of the show’s fifth season, Leon would return, now believing he was Prince. The plot would see Prince get the residents of Springfield to loosen up and become more flamboyant, with everyone eventually becoming more sexually open and dressing in paisley.
More: Will Smith Reveals He Spoke To Prince The Night Before His Death
On twitter Jean confirmed that there was once a planned Prince episode, with a script written by freelancers and touched up by Conan O’Brien. In the pages of the script shared by Jean, one scene has Lisa attempting to buy Prince tickets, only to have her plans scuppered by a spider.
.@TheSimpsons page from unproduced Prince script thank you Jacqueline Atkins for finding! pic.twitter.com/GvYaJKXxgD
— Al Jean (@AlJean) April 23, 2016
The second scene, which Jean captioned ‘possibly another objection Prince had to the script…’ has Marge’s sister Selma revealing she’s a big Prince fan and has even seen 1986 movie Under the Cherry Moon. The scene ends with Selma and Prince walking off together ‘like lovebirds’.
.@TheSimpsons possibly another objection Prince had to the script... pic.twitter.com/OgRxlZ5EKJ
— Al Jean (@AlJean) April 23, 2016
Previously, then showrunner Bill Oakley had said that the script was sent to Prince and the singer sent it back, along with a page of notes. "An entire episode was written to showcase an appearance by Prince," Oakley said during an online Q&A session in 2008 with fan-site No Homers.
More: Prince Re-Enters UK Chart Just Hours After His Death
"But it turned out Prince was on a completely different wavelength (imagine!) and actually had a friend of his write a script for the episode instead. No reconciliation was ever reached and the episode never happened.”
Prince did once make a quick cameo in the animated series, during seventh season episode Radioactive Man. In one scene Prince is depicted commenting on the internet about the upcoming superhero movie. He was also referenced during ‘Lemon Of Troy’ when Milhouse meets his doppelgänger and says "So this is what it feels like when doves cry.”
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