--- title: Michelle Obama Rejected The Simpsons With Amazing Note description: Michelle Obama may be willing to appear on "Carpool Karaoke" and Parks and Rec, but apparently she draws the line at animated TV shows. canonical: https://time.com/4488094/michelle-obama-rejected-the-simpsons/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-12T20:29:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:36:26.616Z og:title: Michelle Obama Rejected a Role on The Simpsons Flawlessly og:description: With a two-word note og:url: https://time.com/4488094/michelle-obama-rejected-the-simpsons/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc3c852efe15b2d8d/6988a598524fc0656adf971d/michelle-obama-simpsons.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: First Lady Michelle Obama Hosts National Student Poets Program With Hip Hop Artist Q-Tip og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Michelle Obama Rejected a Role on The Simpsons Flawlessly twitter:description: With a two-word note twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc3c852efe15b2d8d/6988a598524fc0656adf971d/michelle-obama-simpsons.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Michelle Obama Turned Down a Role on _The Simpsons_ With a Truly Hilarious Note ## Video: Watch Michelle Obama’s Emotional Speech at the Democratic Convention [Watch (HLS stream): Watch Michelle Obama’s Emotional Speech at the Democratic Convention](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/FK5NXdd9.m3u8) (2:06)  _Published 2016-07-26. First Lady Michelle Obama gave an emotional speech at the Democratic national convention Monday night, arguing for the importance of black and female role models in the White House._  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Sep 12, 2016 8:29 PM UTC  In the State Dining Room at the White House, September 8, 2016 in Washington, DC, First Lady Michelle Obama welcomed the fifth annual class of the National Student Poets Program. In the State Dining Room at the White House, September 8, 2016 in Washington, DC, First Lady Michelle Obama welcomed the fifth annual class of the National Student Poets Program.Cheriss May/NurPhoto via Getty Images  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Sep 12, 2016 8:29 PM UTC [Michelle Obama](http://time.com/4421538/democratic-convention-michelle-obama-transcript/) may be willing to appear on “[Carpool Karaoke](http://time.com/4415791/michelle-obama-carpool-karaoke-james-corden-late-late-show/)” and [_Parks and Recreation_](http://newsfeed.time.com/2014/02/27/michelle-obama-is-going-to-be-on-parks-and-recreation/), but apparently she draws the line at animated television shows. During a recent interview with [_Variety_](http://newsfeed.time.com/2014/02/27/michelle-obama-is-going-to-be-on-parks-and-recreation/), _The Simpsons_ co-creator James L. Brooks revealed that the long-running comedy series once tried to get the First Lady to play herself in an episode — to disappointing results. After finding out that FLOTUS said _The Mary Tyler Moore Show_ — another of Brooks’ co-creations — is one of her favorite programs, the Emmy winner explained how she turned down a chance to make her Springfield debut. “We tried to get her on _The Simpsons_ and we couldn’t,” he said. “We finally got a note that said ‘good try,’ because we were so aggressive.” _The Simpsons_ version of Mrs. Obama (voiced by Angela Bassett) did show up in the fifteenth episode of the twenty-first season — an installment in which she teaches Lisa that there’s nothing wrong with being an overachiever. Read more at [Variety.com](http://variety.com/2016/film/markets-festivals/james-l-brooks-edge-of-seventeen-michelle-obama-1201857649/). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4488094/michelle-obama-rejected-the-simpsons/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4488094/michelle-obama-rejected-the-simpsons/"},"headline":"Michelle Obama Turned Down a Role on The Simpsons With a Truly Hilarious Note","datePublished":"2016-09-12T20:29:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:36:26.616Z","description":"She sent a two-word note","url":"https://time.com/4488094/michelle-obama-rejected-the-simpsons/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","Michelle Obama","TV","The Simpsons"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc3c852efe15b2d8d/6988a598524fc0656adf971d/michelle-obama-simpsons.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc3c852efe15b2d8d/6988a598524fc0656adf971d/michelle-obama-simpsons.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"First Lady Michelle Obama Hosts National Student Poets Program With Hip Hop Artist Q-Tip","caption":"In the State Dining Room at the White House, September 8, 2016 in Washington, DC, First Lady Michelle Obama welcomed the fifth annual class of the National Student Poets Program.","creditText":"Cheriss May/NurPhoto via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4488094/michelle-obama-rejected-the-simpsons/","name":"Michelle Obama Turned Down a Role on The Simpsons With a Truly Hilarious Note"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Watch Michelle Obama’s Emotional Speech at the Democratic Convention","description":"First Lady Michelle Obama gave an emotional speech at the Democratic national convention Monday night, arguing for the importance of black and female role models in the White House.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/FK5NXdd9/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-07-26T03:03:12.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/FK5NXdd9.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4488094/michelle-obama-rejected-the-simpsons/","duration":"PT2M6S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4488094/michelle-obama-rejected-the-simpsons/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```