Richard Appel facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Richard Appel
Appel at the 2010 Comic Con
Born	Richard James Appel (1963-05-21) May 21, 1963 (age 62) New York City, New York, U.S.
Education	Harvard University (BA, JD)
Period	1994–present
Genre	Comedy
Spouse	Mona Simpson ​ ​ (m. 1993; div. 2012)​
Children	2

Richard James Appel (born May 21, 1963) is an American writer and producer. He used to be a lawyer. Since 2012, he has been a main producer and leader for the TV show Family Guy on Fox.

Richard Appel went to Harvard University and Harvard Law School. While he was a student, he wrote for the Harvard Lampoon, a famous comedy magazine. After law school, he worked as a lawyer for several years. In 1994, he started writing for TV shows. His first big writing job was for The Simpsons. He wrote seven episodes for the show, including "Mother Simpson".

Later, he became a main producer for King of the Hill. He also created his own TV show called A.U.S.A.. He has worked on many other popular shows like The Bernie Mac Show, Family Guy, and American Dad!. He also helped create The Cleveland Show. Richard Appel was married to the writer Mona Simpson, who is the sister of Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple.

Richard Appel's Early Life and Law Career

Richard James Appel was born on May 21, 1963, in New York City. He grew up in Wilmette, Illinois. His family is Jewish.

His mother, Nina Appel, was a lawyer. She was also the dean of a law school for many years. His father, Alfred Appel, was an English professor. He was an expert on the writer Vladimir Nabokov. Richard has one sister named Karen Oshman.

Appel's family lived in California for a short time. Then they moved to Wilmette, Illinois. He went to North Shore Country Day School. In high school, he helped write and edit his senior yearbook.

After high school, he went to Harvard University. He wrote for the Harvard Lampoon. This is where he met other future comedy writers like Conan O'Brien. Richard Appel gave a funny speech at his graduation. After graduating in 1985, he went to Harvard Law School. He wanted to follow his mother and grandfathers into the legal profession.

He worked as a law clerk for two years for a judge. Then, from 1990 to 1993, he was an assistant U.S. attorney. This means he worked as a lawyer for the government. His friends said he was a very good lawyer.

Even though he had a secure job as a lawyer, Appel still dreamed of writing comedy. In 1993, his wife became pregnant. This made him realize he wanted to change his career. Three months later, he had a manager and had written some TV show scripts. He then moved to California to start his new career.

Richard Appel's Writing Career

When Richard Appel started in comedy, his past work on the Harvard Lampoon helped him. It showed he had experience in comedy writing. In 1994, he got his first TV job. He was hired to write for The Simpsons. He worked there for four years as a writer and producer.

Writing for The Simpsons was a big learning experience for him. He wrote seven episodes for the show. His first episode was "Mother Simpson" in season seven. He came up with the idea to write about Homer's mother, who had only been mentioned once before. He named her Mona Simpson, after his own wife. The writers used this episode to explain some things about the characters, like where Lisa got her intelligence.

He also wrote "Bart on the Road" for season seven. In this episode, Bart gets a driving license. He also helped write "22 Short Films About Springfield". He wrote two parts for that episode, but they were cut from the final show.

Appel wrote two episodes for season eight: "Bart After Dark" and "The Secret War of Lisa Simpson". He also wrote "The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons" for season nine and "When You Dish Upon A Star" for season 10.

In 1997, Richard Appel became an executive producer and showrunner for King of the Hill. This meant he led the writing and oversaw all parts of the show. He stayed with King of the Hill until 2001. For his work on The Simpsons and King of the Hill, Appel won three Primetime Emmy Awards. These are very important awards for TV shows.

Appel created a TV series called A.U.S.A., which aired in 2003. This show was based on his own experiences as a lawyer for the U.S. government. He came up with the idea in 2001.

After that, Appel worked as a co-executive producer and writer on The Bernie Mac Show and Kitchen Confidential. He also appeared as an actor in the 2004 movie I Heart Huckabees. In 2006, he created a pilot for a show called My Ex Life, but it was not picked up by the network.

In 2008, he worked as a co-executive producer on Family Guy and an executive producer on American Dad!. He wrote the Family Guy episode "Family Gay".

Richard Appel also helped create The Cleveland Show. This show is a spin-off from Family Guy. He created it with Mike Henry and Seth MacFarlane. The show started in 2009. Appel and Henry were the main producers for the show. They wanted The Cleveland Show to be "more of a family show, a sweeter show" than Family Guy.

Starting with the sixteenth season of Family Guy, Appel became a showrunner for the series. He shares this role with Alec Sulkin.

Richard Appel's Personal Life

In 1993, Richard Appel married the novelist Mona Simpson. She is the sister of Apple founder Steve Jobs. They have two children together. Richard Appel and Mona Simpson have since divorced.

Richard Appel's Credits

Here are some of the TV shows Richard Appel has worked on and the episodes he wrote:

• The Simpsons (1994–98) – writer, producer, co-executive producer, staff writer and story editor
  • "Mother Simpson" (1995)
  • "Bart on the Road" (1996)
  • "22 Short Films About Springfield" (co-writer) (1996)
  • "Bart After Dark" (1996)
  • "The Secret War of Lisa Simpson" (1997)
  • "The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons" (1997)
  • "When You Dish Upon a Star" (1998)
• King of the Hill (1997–2001) – executive producer
• A.U.S.A. (2003) – creator, executive producer, writer
  • "Pilot"
  • "12 Happy Grandmothers"
• The Bernie Mac Show (2003–05) – co-executive producer, writer
  • "Eye of the Tiger"
  • "That Old Mac Magic"
  • "Stiff Upper Lip"
  • "Nerdy Mac"
• I Heart Huckabees (2004) – actor
• Kitchen Confidential (2005–06) – co-executive producer, writer
  • "Praise Be Praise"
  • "Let's Do Brunch"
• My Ex Life (2006) – creator, executive producer, writer
• Family Guy (2008–09, 2013– ) – co-executive producer, writer, executive producer, showrunner
  • "Family Gay"
• American Dad! (2008–09) – executive producer
• The Cleveland Show (2009–13) – co-creator, executive producer, writer
  • "Pilot"

See also

In Spanish: Richard Appel para niños