The Simpsons Showrunner Says He's "Not as Brave" as South Park's Creators: "I Am a Coward"

Matt Selman has been running The Simpsons for years, and in a new Entertainment Weekly interview he handed South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone the biggest compliment possible, at his own expense.“Here’s the headline: I’m not as brave as Matt and Trey. They are brave. They are brave American heroes, and I am a coward,”Selman said. He also clarified comments from an earlier interview that made him sound like he was avoiding political statements altogether.

The difference comes down to speed. South Park can turn an episode around in about a week, which lets it go straight at whatever’s happening in the news right now. The Simpsons takes months per episode, so Selman says it’s“not our mission statement to respond to the crisis of the moment.”Instead, the show leans into broader, longer-lasting themes about a changing world.

The timing is sharp, too. South Park just won Outstanding Animated Program at the 2026 Creative Arts Emmys for an episode featuring a certain micro-endowed president and Satan, and the show briefly rebranded as South America after Trump renamed Lake Ontario. Meanwhile, The Simpsons is in its 38th season, and Selman is devoting 80 percent of his energy to a second Simpsons movie arriving July 2027. So who’s actually braver? Sound off below.