Matt Groening doesn't want The Simpsons to be overly political

Matt told Entertainment Weekly: "Well, when you write a show that doesn't come out until 10 months after you write it, it kind of takes the pressure off, because who knows what the f*** we're gonna be looking at in 10 months.

"So like South Park, they make their show in a week, and even they can't stay up to date on things. More crazy s*** goes down faster than even they can do it.

"And you know, Jimmy Kimmel's great, and I'm glad he's back on TV. Censorship sucks. What can I say? Censorship sucks."

Groening added: "But it's not in our mission statement to respond to the crisis of the moment. It's more about a town of good-natured dum-dums dealing with a changing world, yet our characters never really change. The world changes around them."

Matt insists that the animators on the show - which follows the adventures of the Simpson family and their fellow Springfield residents - don't feel any pressure to include either more or less political content despite Donald Trump's presence in the White House.

The 71-year-old cartoonist said: "We're not gonna do a big show where the president comes to town. We did do that, but he was George Bush and he'd been out of office for quite some time.

"And, you know, we just don't do big topical things, 'cause the topical is so chaotic and nuts. So we have to look at the bigger trends.

"Ideally, I would like to think that people on both sides of our divided nation can watch The Simpsons and feel that, like America, Springfield is a town of people who are good, but easily misled. Whatever your definition of misled is, you can apply that to the show."

The Simpsons will air its 800th episode next year but Matt is staying tight-lipped about the milestone.

He said: "It's in February. That I can tease. I probably shouldn't tease anything. I don't think they want me talking about the 800th yet.

"I'll say this: It involves the dog. That's a big tease. How about this, I'll give you a little more: The dog gets fat."