Why Jim Carrey Backed Out Of A Poorly Received Episode Of The Simpsons

Most folks agree that "The Simpsons" hasn't been very good for a long time. In recent years, you may have heard that "The Simpsons" is good again or that modern seasons have actually delivered some underrated "Simpsons" episodes. But the reality is that this is a show which has been running for a full 36 seasons at this point, and whatever spin you try to put on it, something went fundamentally awry long ago.

Just when this happened remains a point of debate among fans. There are those that swear "The Simpsons" was only good for a few seasons somewhat early in its run, but most will agree the golden years were somewhere between the third and tenth seasons. Others, this writer included, maintain that the series was good right up until the 12th season, but if this handy chart showing IMDb rankings for each season of "The Simpsons" is anything to go by, season 12 really was the beginning of the show's troubles.

That season contains several underwhelming episodes, one of which is "Simpsons Tall Tales." Airing on May 20, 2001, the season 12 finale didn't exactly bode well for the show's future, not only garnering a lowly 6.9 rating on IMDb (making it one of the lowest-rated episodes on the platform by that point) but drawing a mixed reaction from critics. As such, Jim Carrey was probably pretty glad he wasn't able to make his scheduled guest appearance.

However you feel about it, clearly "The Simpsons" took a dip after its first ten years and became a full-blown disaster in the later years. Yet somehow, even with this dramatic decline in quality, "The Simpsons" has maintained at least some of its cultural caché, attracting the biggest guest stars in the world. Some of the best guest stars on "The Simpsons" are big names that any other show would never have a hope of landing. From musicians such as Johnny Cash and Michael Jackson (whose episode was later banned) to A-list movie stars such as Michelle Pfeiffer, and even esteemed scientists such as Stephen Hawking, "The Simpsons" has hosted pretty much every big name in every business imaginable.

One big star who is yet to make any appearance on the series, however, is Jim Carrey, who at the time "The Simpsons" became popular was experiencing a meteoric rise in popularity himself. Which is why it's odd that Carrey never appeared on the show during the '90s, when both he and it were at the height of their powers. Alas, it took until 2001 for the "Ace Ventura" star to actually get a "Simpsons" cameo, and even that was scuppered at the last minute. 

In "Simpsons Tall Tales" a hobo regales the titular family with three stories during a train ride, all of which feature Simpsons family members as different characters from American folklore and classic American literature. The first tale sees Homer as Paul Bunyan, while the second features Lisa as Connie Appleseed, and the third focuses on Bart and Nelson as Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. Originally, the hobo telling these tales was supposed to be an American legend of a different sort: Jim Carrey. In the end, however, longtime "Simpsons" voice actor Hank Azaria — who recently tested out his AI voice replacement — ended up playing the role. Why? Well, Carrey was a busy man.

"Simpsons Tall Tales" was conceived as somewhat of a follow-up to the well-received 1999 episode "Simpsons Bible Stories," which similarly featured short stories starring the Simpsons family. Sadly, "Tall Tales" wasn't quite as well received, with viewers generally feeling as though it didn't live up to previous anthology episodes (as evidenced by the low IMDb) rating, while reviewers felt similarly underwhelmed. Writing for DVD Movie Guide Colin Jacobson claimed the three-story structure "doesn't really fly here" while DVD Talk's Casey Burchby was even less forgiving, writing, "It's understandable that after 11 years, a show might have trouble continuing to come up with original material for the same five characters, but the anthology episodes come across as rather transparent attempts to avoid that challenge."

It wasn't a complete disaster, but "Simpsons Tall Tales" was just the beginning of what would be an increasingly obvious drop in quality for the series. Could Jim Carrey have made it any better? Perhaps. During the DVD commentary track for "Simpsons Tall Tales" executive producer and showrunner Mike Scully said, "We were actually talking to Jim Carrey about doing it because he had wanted to do it and we couldn't work it out with his schedule at the time. But Hank wound up doing it and did a great job."

At the time "Simpsons Tall Tales" was being produced (2000/2001) Carrey had begun filming romantic drama "The Majestic" and was gearing up to promote "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." Between these two commitments, it seems Carrey simply didn't have time to voice the hobo in "Simpsons Tall Tales." Considering it was a small part, however, I'm not sure it would have done much to elevate the episode, though it surely wouldn't have been one of the worst cameos on "The Simpsons" history, and it would have been nice for the comedy legend to have been immortalized in the series before it fully jumped the shark.

Carrey was referenced elsewhere in the show, however. In the previous season, Homer actually ripped up the script to Carrey's "The Cable Guy" for "nearly wrecking" the actor's career and in season 6 a future version of Lisa and her love, Hugh Parkfield, go to the theater to watch "40 classic films starring Jim Carrey." Alas, even in the years following "Simpsons Tall Tales," the now legendary actor never actually lent his voice to the show.