David X. Cohen: Ah, the same question my parents asked in reference to certain piles of tuition money that went out the window. I always planned to be a scientist. Both of my parents are biologists and my favorite subjects in school were math and physics. (Go math team!) At the same time, I liked to draw cartoons (which I would force my sister to buy for a penny -- the beginning of my professional writing career), and I wrote the humor column for my high school newspaper, and later was a writer for the Harvard Lampoon Magazine. At some point, I had a sudden panic when I realized that there was the option of trying to write professionally, and that I had to make a choice. But I didn't -- instead I took a year off and worked at the Harvard Robotics Laboratory. (I realize that my answer to this question is meandering... sorry. I'll try to buckle down.) Finally, I decided I should go to graduate school before I forgot everything I knew, with the idea that I could try writing later if I wasn't sure I had made the right choice. After three years of graduate school, I felt I wasn't enjoying it as much as I should, and that there was no end in sight, so I took a leave of absence and began writing sample ("spec") TV scripts. After a year or so of unemployment, this got me a job writing a couple early episodes of Beavis and Butthead. Later I got hired at The Simpsons, and about 5 years after that, Matt Groening asked me if I wanted to work on Futurama with him. Which I did, of course...



"Easter Egg" taken from the

Season 2 DVD 2ACV06