Lady GaGa has been announced as a special guest on the season finale for the current run of The Simpsons. Last night (February 19, 2012), the long-running comedy cartoon show celebrated its 500th episode, with a controversial cameo from Julian Assange, the man behind the Wikileaks scandal.
E! Online spoke to the show's creator, Matt Groening and one of the stars, Nancy Cartwright (who provides the voice of Bart Simpson) about Gaga's upcoming performance, describing how her idiosyncratic behaviour amused the show's crew when she came in to record her voice parts. Matt Groening said "The great thing about having Lady Gaga is that she came in a number of times and always with a different getup. Like, she'd leave the room and come back in after a break in a completely new getup. It was unbelievable. The only time that she ever took off her hat was when it was banging into the microphone."
He also told reporters how, after 200 episodes, the writing team considered themselves to be about half way through the show's lifespan. So, with 500 episodes under their belts, he was asked what the mood was like in the writers' camp and joked "It's all bitter, we're just bitter and snacking." Nancy Cartwright also revealed that she would like to work with Hugh Jackman: "I think that'd be fun, just kind of see what it'd be like to play with Hugh Jackman. They'd do a song and dance that'd be fun! A musical!" The Simpsons first aired on December 17, 1989 and is currently on its 23rd season.