Josh Weinstein

A writer and producer best known for his years on "The Simpsons," Josh Weinstein consistently pushed the limits of American animation. Weinstein was born in Washington D.C. to Rosa and Harris Weinstein. Weinstein attended St. Albans High School in Washington, D.C., where he met and became best friends with Bill Oakley, his lifelong business partner. After graduating college, the pair wrote for local comedy groups such as Gross National Product. In 1989, they moved to New York after being hired to write for shows on the Ha! Network (one of the two precursors to Comedy Central), and write for the humor magazines National Lampoon and Spy. An editor of Spy was hired by NBC to run the variety show "Sunday Best" (NBC 1991), taking Oakley and Weinstein to Los Angeles with him. When the show was canceled after three episodes, they found themselves unemployed for a long period. After changing their agent, they wrote a spec script for "Seinfeld" (NBC 1989-1998), which was well received; among the admirers were Al Jean and Mike Reiss, show-runners for "The Simpsons" (Fox 1989-) Weinstein and Oakley were hired to write the episode "Marge Gets a Job," then were brought into the writing staff permanently in 1992 as story editors and writers. During seasons four through six, the pair wrote many of the series' most beloved epsiodes, including the show's 100th episode "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song" and the two-part cliffhanger "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" For the seventh and eighth seasons, Weinstein and Oakley were appointed executive producers and showrunners for "The Simpsons." They sought to push the envelope, adding greater realism and emotional depth to the series. With their satirical "The Itchy and Scratchy and Poochie Show," the series surpassed "The Flintstones" as the longest-running animated series for television. After leaving "The Simpsons" in 1998, Oakley and Weinstein created another animated television series, a satire of downtown hipsters called "Mission Hill" (WB 1999-2000). The show was plagued by bad ratings and was quickly canceled, but gradually achieved cult status among fans. In 2001 and 2002, the pair worked as consulting producers on Matt Groening's sci-fi epic "Futurama" (Fox 1999-2003) and in 2003, created their first live-action series, "The Mullets" (WB 2003-04). The pair were due to serve as show-runners on the classroom animated comedy "Sit Down, Shut Up" (Fox 2009); Oakley left the project over a contract dispute, but Weinstein remained until it was canceled. When "Futurama" was revived on the Comedy Central network, Weinstein returned as a producer and writer, winning an Emmy in 2011. No longer working with Oakley, Weinstein next served as show-runner for the British children's series "Strange Hill High" (CBBC 2013-).