Reiss recalled that Johnny Carson might have been a little miffed that he was never asked to appear on “The Simpsons.” Other actors impersonated Carson, but despite the large roster of celebrity guests on the show, even as early as 1992, Carson was never invited. The show’s writers decided to rectify this by writing an episode for Carson especially. As Reiss put it:
“We’d heard from a friend who was working for him that Carson said, ‘Gee, they got all these big celebrities on ‘The Simpsons’ –- why don’t they ask me?’ So we did.”
The problem was, their “star vehicle” for Carson didn’t paint the star comedian in a very flattering light. It was a classic “Simpsons” conceit, cynically deconstructing fame in the show’s inimitable fashion, but it would have made Carson out to be a gross couch potato who drinks too much beer. Reiss continued:
“We wrote a storyline where a postretirement Carson comes to visit the Simpsons … and won’t leave. He becomes the bad brother-in-law: sleeping on their couch, stealing the last piece of pizza, drinking Homer’s beer. Carson was deeply offended and turned down the part.”
No doubt it would have been funny, but Carson clearly demanded more respect. After 30 years of hosting “The Tonight Show,” he didn’t want to play an alternate version of himself that is little more than Oscar from “The Odd Couple.” Luckily, Reiss had a better idea. When “Krusty Gets Kancelled” was being written, he felt that Johnny would be happy to appear … if they made him heroic and comedically superhuman.