The scene was directed by David Mirkin and was the first time a Simpsons character had been in the real world in the series.

Throughout his childhood, Mirkin had an interest in film, and explored both writing and filming.

Mirkin pitched to the series ' story editors for several years without success, because they had very limited script buying power.

" This meant Mirkin had to adapt his preference for character-driven comedy to fit the show ; it " forced you to put all the cleverness into the plot, a much more difficult thing to do.

It was the first nomination the show had received in that category and for the first episode Mirkin wrote as the series ' showrunner.

" A philosophy he carried in to his later work, Mirkin felt that " being the head writer ... was not enough ; you had to see the material through its execution – especially the weirder stuff.

Mirkin had wanted to cast comedian Chris Elliott in the pilot, but was prevented by Fox, which wanted Elliott for another show.

Mirkin served as executive producer for the series, directed most of the episodes, wrote several of them, and oversaw the filming and production of them all, to ensure that they had the correct " tone ".

Unlike most single-camera shows, which have around six days to film, Mirkin had to film each episode in two days.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that Mirkin had been " forced off the show ," due to the negative reaction of Spelling and others, though in 2012, Mirkin stated that he left the series after refusing to accept a substantially reduced budget.

Due to the high staff departure at the end of season four, Mirkin " pretty much had to build show from the ground up again ," and noted that this " was exciting but also a big challenge.

In 2004, Mirkin stated that he " really wasn't at all intimidat to join show's writing crew ," because he " had worked with and written with " many of his fellow writers previously and concluded that, " took this show in a direction that is more personal to me.

" Lisa the Vegetarian " was approved by Mirkin after the story was pitched by Cohen ; Mirkin had just become a vegetarian himself, and so many of Lisa's experiences in the episode were based on his own.

James Berardinelli wrote that Mirkin " brings a lot of energy to the production, always keeping things moving ," while Jack Matthews of The Los Angeles Times says Mirkin " knew exactly what he had here and composed it like frames in a comic strip, ordering cheerful snow-cone colors for everything from the girls ' childlike outfits to the decor of a Laundromat.

In 1999, several of the Fox executives who had disliked Get a Life came to Mirkin and apologized for the way they had treated the show, stating that they now found it funny.

In the early 1990s, Mirkin was in a relationship with actress Julie Brown, with whom he had worked on The Julie Show and The Edge ; the two considered getting married.

On 9 January 1913, Jacob had married Marie Mirkin, who came to Amsterdam from Warsaw in May 1913.

David Mirkin had the initial idea for the episode, Steve O ' Donnell was the lead writer, and Steven Dean Moore directed.

Mirkin had been the show runner during seasons five and six, but had been brought back to run two episodes during the ninth season.

Mirkin worked on the concept for a long time, basing the story on NASA's Teacher in Space Project scheme to send ordinary civilians into space in order to spark interest amongst the general public.

Mirkin had worked on the idea for the episode for a long time, basing the story on NASA's Teacher in Space Project scheme to send ordinary civilians into space in order to spark interest amongst the general public.

Mirkin wanted to produce a surreal, Monty Python-esque, single-camera comedy series.

In 1991, Mirkin wrote a pilot with Julie Brown entitled The Julie Show, starring Brown, but NBC did not produce it.

Mirkin returned to the role of showrunner to produce the episodes " The Joy of Sect " and " All Singing, All Dancing " for season nine.

They commissioned Mirkin to write, produce and direct a similarly-themed show of his choice.

Several people at the network enjoyed it and commissioned The Edge, a sketch comedy show also written by Mirkin and Brown, with Mirkin directing.

The Simpsons writer David Mirkin said that one of his favorite jokes on the show is the one where Grampa cycles down the street in high speed and shouts that he feels young again, and is then knocked flying from his bicycle after a doll's head flies into the spokes and falls into an open grave.

Mirkin has been cited as introducing a more surreal element to the show's humor, as shown by his sole writing credit for the show, " Deep Space Homer ", which sees Homer Simpson go to space as part of a NASA program to restore interest in space exploration.

Mirkin stood down as showrunner after season six, but produced several subsequent episodes, co-wrote The Simpsons Movie ( 2007 ) and remains on the show as a consultant.

Mirkin was apprehensive about the job because he was aiming to work on Cheers, a show more focused on character-driven humor which Mirkin preferred writing, but felt he could not turn the opportunity down.

Mirkin and Elliott decided to develop a show together, along with Adam Resnick.

Fox was lukewarm about the idea, but Mirkin convinced them to order a pilot by understating how dark the show would be.

The network executives disliked the pilot after seeing an initial run-through, but Mirkin felt that this was because they " didn't get " the show and opted not to change it.

However, Mirkin and Elliott refused to " on the essential goofiness of the show.

The show's production process was lengthy ; Mirkin would rise at to film the show, write further episodes from until, and then repeat that the following day.

Due to the logistics of filming the show, especially its many sets and effects, Mirkin convinced Fox to not film it in front of a studio audience and use a laugh track instead.

" A strong cult following subsequently developed, and Mirkin noted that although the show was canceled " ultimately we got the audience I was hoping for and they are super dedicated and passionate to this day.

The show's production company TriStar Television refused, while Mirkin responded: " The thing about these parodies is they don't hurt a show.

In a 2004 interview with Animation Magazine, Mirkin stated that he felt that he " brought show back to a more story-oriented " approach and increased the focus on characters and their emotions, although " at the same time still keeping it surreal and weird ".

Ortved — using interviews with writers Bob Kushell and Brent Forrester and Mirkin's assistant Charleen Easton — describes Mirkin as an " outsider " on the show, with the writing staff, at least initially, divided with respect to Mirkin's comedy and leadership style.

Mirkin left The Edge during its run and became the executive producer and showrunner of The Simpsons for its fifth and sixth seasons.

" Mirkin left his role as executive producer of The Edge during its run.

Executive producers James L. Brooks and Richard Sakai hired Mirkin following his exit from The Edge.