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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

Michelle Obama may be willing to appear on “Carpool Karaoke” and Parks and Recreation, but apparently she draws the line at animated television shows. During a recent interview with Variety, 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.

 

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Write to Megan McCluskey at megan.mccluskey@time.com.

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