TVSquad

And you thought that all that business with the WGA strike was over.

The writers for the new animated FOX show Sit Down, Shut Up have walked out, saying they were misled by Sony Pictures. They thought that under the agreement reached a few months ago they would be represented by the Writer's Guild of America but Sony actually has them covered under the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. Under their rules, writers don't get all those things they fought for, including new media (online, DVD, etc) money or even residuals.

As Bob reported earlier this week, FOX is considering a number of new animated series for its schedule. Most likely due to the fact that their new live-action series tend to, um, stink. One of those being considered is Sit Down, Shut Up, which may have an upper hand over its competitor The Pitts due to the creative talent behind the show.

I'm talking about Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein. Fans of The Simpsons would know these two as writers and executive producers of the show during its so-called golden years. Others may know them from their WB animated series Mission Hill and their sort-lived UPN live-action comedy The Mullets. Now they have been named executive producers on Sit Down, Shut Up. They will be taking the creative reigns from Arrested Development creator Mitch Hurwitz, who wrote the first script and now wants to be in a more supervisory role.

Despite twenty-somethings making up a large part of its fanbase, The Simpsons has never really been about that particular demographic. Rather, the show focuses on the baby boomer generation Homer and Marge more or less belong to, given the ambiguous concept of "time" on the series. After the first few seasons, which were helmed largely by people born in the 1950s, some younger talent was brought in, such as Conan O'Brien and the writing/producing duo of Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein. While this added a welcome new dimension to the series, it still remains largely indifferent to the twenty-something zeitgeist. Young adults aren't absolved from the series' satirical jabs, but the heart of the show has always been about the nuclear family and its many struggles.