The Simpsons are known for having the greatest variety in the people that guest star in their episodes. They can range from celebrities, political figures, even scientists such as Prof Stephen Hawking. As they approach their 500th episode, their special guest will be Julian Assange – founder of Wikileaks, and the first guest to appear on the show while still under house arrest.

Assange was approached to do the guest spot after Simpsons producer Al Jean heard through the grapevine that he was interested in being on the show. He was tracked down by the casting director, Bonnie Pietila, who clearly has a knack for this sort of thing – in the past she’s managed to persuade people like Tony Blair and even Banksy to be on the show. Being under house arrest meant that Assange couldn’t fly to Los Angeles, so his lines were recorded from an undisclosed location – whilst being directed from Los Angeles.

The scene featuring Assange from the upcoming episode

EW sums up the plot line of the 500th episode as follows:

In the milestone episode, Homer and Marge discover that the residents of Springfield are holding a secret town meeting to kick them out of Springfield for all of their shenanigans over the years. As a result, “the Simpsons go off the grid to this very rugged place where they meet [Assange], who’s sort of their new Flanders,” explains Jean. And how exactly is he like pious neighbor Ned? “Well, he lives next door,” quips Jean. “The similarities end there… He invites them over for a home movie and it’s an Afghan wedding being bombed.”

Should be a great episode, and give some good publicity for wikileaks.org, which has suffered since Visa, Mastercard and PayPal shut down their donations account.

[Source: EntertainmentWeekly]