# Ian Maxtone-Graham (SNL, The Simpsons, The Hanukkah Song)

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/ian-talks-comedy-140290/ian-maxtone-graham-snl-the-simpsons-the-hanukkah-song
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/ian-talks-comedy-140290/ian-maxtone-graham-snl-the-simpsons-the-hanukkah-song.md
Podcast: [Ian Talks Comedy](https://stenobird.com/podcast/ian-talks-comedy-140290)
Published: 2026-09-19T13:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ian-fermaglich/episodes/Ian-Maxtone-Graham-SNL--The-Simpsons--The-Hanukkah-Song-e3ohmhp
Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/21d579e4/podcast/play/125409273/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-8-8%2F926d61f9-a3ac-1984-6bf3-6dd749f52290.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/ian-talks-comedy-140290/episodes/ian-maxtone-graham-snl-the-simpsons-the-hanukkah-song
Duration seconds: 3149

## Resource

Ian Maxtone-Graham joined me to discuss remembering the moon landing; Batman; writing humorous articles in high school and at Brown; getting hired on Not Necessarily the News; Motown Review; being head writer for Comedy Central game show Clash; getting hired at National Lampoon; asking Jack Handy to submit Deep Thoughts leads to him getting hired on SNL; Fred Wolf; Fetal Abuse Laugh-a-Thon with Victoria Jackson, Woody Harrelson, Phil Hartman & Jon Lovitz; Glenn Close Christmas monologue; working with her again on the Simpsons; best comedies also are dramatic; creation of the Hanukkah Song; working with Norm on Update; getting three pieces on Jason Alexander episode; favorite hosts; Bob Newhart; Norm's Charles Kuralt; leaving SNL to go to The Simpsons; becoming the Tall Man character; "Burns, Baby Burns" original idea; hard to write for Rodney; "City of NY vs. Homer Simpson"; donated a cel to the 9/11 Museum; 70's NY; "Trash of the Titans"; policy wonk vs. populist; "Blunder Years"; Paul Newman guest voice; Smithers back story; How I Wet Your Mother w/ David Byrne and Glenn Close; Dads; importance of graphics on SNL

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## Transcript

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