Stephen King Refused To Cameo In A Simpsons Episode That Paid Tribute To Him

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When it came time for "The Simpsons" to do a "Treehouse of Horror" segment about "It," the clown-heavy Stephen King book that was recently made into a two-part movie adaptation, they decided to switch things up a bit. They made the segment episode-length, which gave them just enough time to do the story justice. The seven-person friend group from the source material was turned into the five-person friend group of Homer, Marge, Moe, Lenny, and Comic Book Guy. The love triangle between Bill, Beverly, and Ben was turned into the story's main focus, this time with Homer and Comic Book Guy fighting over Marge. 

The episode, "Not It," was a big success, reeling in a lot of viewers who'd otherwise tuned out from the show's post-golden era seasons. It was also a hit among Stephen King fans, especially since the "Treehouse of Horror" series has always been surprisingly light on parodies of King-based movies. Sure, the show did a segment about "The Shining" in season 5 and a segment about "The Dead Zone" in season 15, but that was pretty much it. Considering how many "Twilight Zone" parodies the Halloween episodes gave us, it's odd that they used Stephen King so sparingly. 

Also a little odd is how Stephen King was offered the chance to voice a cameo for the show's latest parody of King's work, but he declined. "[He] declined to participate in this one," said showrunner Matt Selman in a 2022 interview. "I don't think he quite — some of these authors, they don't understand that they have all the power. He's the brand. He must know that; he's Stephen King. So iconic. Like, I don't even think I have time to read all the books he's written in the rest of my life, let alone for one person to write all those books."

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Maybe one reason for King's disinterest in "Not It" is because he'd already appeared on "The Simpsons" before. In the 2000 episode, "Insane Clown Poppy," King voices himself at a book fair. Marge asks what project he's working on now, and King says he's decided to take a break from the horror genre. "I'm working on a biography of Benjamin Franklin," he says. "He discovered electricity and used it to torture small animals and Green Mountain Men ... and that key he tied at the end of a kite? It opened the gates of hell!"

As someone who admittedly wasn't that impressed with King's acting in his "It: Part Two" cameo, I was pleasantly surprised on rewatch to see how well he delivers his lines on "The Simpsons." However, the funniest joke here isn't even anything King says; it's how when Marge tells him, "Let me know when you get back to horror," King happily writes himself a note reading, "Call Marge, re: Horror." How could King possibly know Marge's name if she never introduced herself? That's the real scary part here. 

Tragically, "Insane Clown Poppy" was not a well-liked episode. It was bashed by critics for being unfunny and low-energy, and also for being a bit lazy with all the guest cameos. This show's penchant for quick celebrity cameos has always been a mixed bag amongst the fandom, and "Insane Clown Poppy" is a great example of why that's the case. 

Perhaps Stephen King didn't want to star in "Not It" because he wasn't impressed with the results of his first time working for the show. Or maybe he declined simply because he was busy; it's hard to know for sure. But with so many Stephen King books and movies for the "Treehouse of Horror" segments to draw from, it's unlikely that "Not It" is the last time the show will invite him back on.