Inside ‘The Simpsons’ last-minute addition of late writer Dan McQuade’s likeness to its Philadelphia episode

On the night of Feb. 4, at about 9:30, Christine Nangle received a text. It was from her boss, Matt Selman, executive producer of The Simpsons.

He had an idea. A mutual friend of theirs, Defector writer Dan McQuade, had recently died of neuroendocrine cancer at the age of 43. McQuade was a Simpsons superfan who embraced all of Philadelphia’s quirks, from tacky boardwalk T-shirts to the comically small La Salle smoke machine.

The Simpsons was about to air its 800th episode, set in Philadelphia. It included a litany of local references, many of them obscure to anyone outside the Delaware Valley.

McQuade had been planning to write about it. He hoped to get together to discuss the episode with Nangle and Selman while simultaneously watching and riffing on another Philadelphia-based show — Do No Harm, a medical drama McQuade described as “weird and bad.”

But that never happened. McQuade’s condition worsened. He passed away on Jan. 28 at his parents’ home in Bensalem.

» READ MORE: Dan McQuade, award-winning writer, tireless community activist, and ‘Philadelphia institution,’ has died at 43

The Simpsons episode seemed tailor-made for McQuade. The producers hadn’t sent the final video to FOX studios yet. So, Selman made a proposal: Why not add a Dan McQuade Easter egg?

Nangle, a writer and producer on the show, couldn’t believe it. A few days earlier, she’d had the same thought, and almost texted it to her boss. But she assumed it would be too late, because the episode was set to air on Feb. 15.

The coworkers began to scour footage for any spot they could fit a Simpson-sized, shaggy-bearded Philadelphian. Nangle considered putting him in the Mütter Museum, when Homer visited with a National Treasure-themed contingent.

But that was ruled out. So was the “Philadelphia Super Bowl Riot of 2018.” Selman worried viewers wouldn’t be able to recognize McQuade among the crowd of rabid fans.

“That was the Super Bowl when the Eagles beat my beloved Patriots, because of Bill Belichick’s inflexibility,” the executive producer said. “I thought about jamming him into that, but you wouldn’t have been able to see his cute little face. His little hairstyle.”

» READ MORE: It has taken Homer Simpson a very long time to realize that Philadelphia is his kind of town

Instead, Selman found the perfect scene. About halfway through the episode, at the 10:49 mark, Homer goes to a Roots concert. The camera pans to the front row.

In the upper right-hand corner, wearing a Kelly green satin jacket, with his long hair parted down the middle, is Dan McQuade.

“If it brought his family an ounce of relief, for one millisecond, then it was worth it,” Selman said.

Selman had known McQuade for about five or six years. They were both alumni of the University of Pennsylvania, where they worked as editors at the Daily Pennsylvanian and 34th Street Magazine.

McQuade was 11 years younger, so they never met on campus. But Selman developed an appreciation for his work, and an online friendship blossomed.

Nangle, who grew up in Oxford Circle and attended Little Flower High School, met McQuade only once, when they were teenagers. But like Selman, she got to know him through his writing.

“He did this whole piece about the Franklin Mills Mall,” she said. “Just having somebody give voice to something that you thought was a mundane, dumb part of your life, and elevate it and make it seem like it matters, is really cool. You feel really seen.”

She added: “I barely remember meeting him in high school, but just reading his work, I was like, ‘It’s crazy that I’m not friends with this guy.’ And I was like, ‘Next time I’m in the city, we have to hang out.’”

Long after the producers moved to Los Angeles to work on the show, McQuade remained their portal to Philadelphia’s idiosyncrasies. In a way, Nangle looked to him as a kindred spirit.

They were both trying to bring a bit of the city’s character to a national audience. For Nangle, that meant slipping Delco accents and eccentric characters into her shows.

For McQuade, that meant figuring out how Princess Diana got her hands on a kelly green and silver Eagles jacket.

Selman would often go and back and forth with McQuade about general Philadelphia weirdness. But they’d also talk about The Simpsons — McQuade was a lifelong fan.

A few times, the writer managed to combine his two passions.

“He’d text me photos of bootleg Bart Simpson T-shirts that he found,” Selman said. “And mail them to me. He would always send them to me.”

McQuade and Selman had been planning a story around The Simpsons’ 800th episode for months. In October, the writer flew out to Los Angeles, to discuss it more in person.

(Selman characterized this as more of a “fun-hang session.”)

They toured the FOX studio and went to the gift shop, where McQuade purchased Itchy and Scratchy toys for his son, Simon. They finished the day with lunch at Moe’s Cafe.

“There was a Philly cheesesteak on the menu,” Selman said. “And he was like, ‘I know this is going to be terrible, but I’m going to get it anyway.’

“He didn’t think it was that good. He was a champ about it, though.”

At the time, McQuade seemed to be in good health and good spirits. He’d told Selman about his cancer diagnosis, but said that he “was doing OK.”

When the executive producer heard his friend had passed, he was shocked. Selman read McQuade’s obituary, and looked back on a video of Simon playing with the Itchy and Scratchy toys.

Then, the concept came to him.

Selman reached out to line producer Richard Chung. Chung’s job was to streamline episode production — and it was rare for The Simpsons to add a character, even a minor one, so last-minute. Selman wasn’t sure how Chung would react.

It would cost the company money and time. Not every line producer would have approved. But Chung did.

“This is a good idea,” he said.

The next day, Chung started working on adding McQuade to the episode. He reached out to a character designer, who drew out a sketch.

After it was done, Selman brought the concept to Drew Magary and David Roth at Defector. He asked what they recommended McQuade wear.

“They said, ‘Put him in the kelly green Eagles satin jacket,’” Selman recalled. “So, we were able to put that implied jacket on him.

“And then we just kind of looked for good pictures of his funny hair.”

Selman and Nangle decided to replace a generic member of the crowd at The Roots concert with McQuade.

It was unclear to Selman, or Magary, or Roth, if McQuade liked or disliked The Roots. But it was the best spot to include him. McQuade would be positioned right behind the Phillie Phanatic (tweaked to avoid copyright infringement).

“I don’t know if [Dan] was or was not a Roots fan,” Selman said. “They didn’t seem to know. I think they would have known if he was a huge fan, but I hope he wasn’t an enemy.

“Plus, legal-version of Gritty and legal-version of Phanatic are both there. So, I assumed he liked them. They all went together.”

Less than 48 hours after Selman and Nangle exchanged texts, McQuade was added to the show. He was included in the first-aired broadcast on Feb. 15, as well as the legacy version (on Disney+).

The late writer’s appearance lasted only nine seconds, but fans caught on.

Later that night, Nangle confirmed on Bluesky that it was indeed an homage to McQuade. Her post quickly went viral. She received all sorts of messages and mentions.

One fan printed a screenshot of McQuade’s Simpsons character, and pinned it to the wall of her office cubicle.

“I guess they didn’t want to put his mass card from the funeral [there],” Nangle said. “So, they put that image instead, which took my breath away.”

It was a hectic process, but Selman and Nangle are grateful they could honor McQuade in their own unique way. They hope this episode can provide some joy to his loved ones, when they’re missing their Simpsons-loving friend.

“Having this job gives you magic Santa Claus powers to bring joy to people,” Selman said. “And you can’t use your Santa Claus powers all the time, to bring joy to everybody.

“But occasionally, you can go full Santa Claus.”