Matt Groening Blasts Fred Armisen’s Bootleg ‘Simpsons’ Shirt on ‘Portlandia’
Spyke, the cantankerous bike messenger played by Fred Armisen on Portlandia is forced to eat the shorts of justice when Simpsons creator, and Portland native, Matt Groening takes him to court over bootleg Bart Simpson T-shirts in a new clip taken from an episode of the IFC show airing Thursday night at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
The knock-off dud in question boasts the wonderfully awful ska pun “Bart Ska-mpson” along with a crude drawing of Bart skanking and proclaiming, “I’m a rudeboy!” After some confusion over the pronunciation of “Ska-mpson” — “I thought it was just ‘scamp’ misspelled,” the judge says — Groening steps in to note he has no problem with bootleg Simpsons merch, but this shirt is so terrible, he cannot abide.
“Your Honor, there are no damages really, I would just like him to stop,” Groening says at the end of the clip. Of course, Spyke retorts the only way he knows how: “I will never stop!”
Along with Groening, tonight’s episode of Portlandia also features cameos from Ed Begley Jr., Parker Posey, Kumail Nanjiani and Sesame Street‘s Oscar the Grouch. Portlandia is currently in the midst of its fifth season, which began in January.
While the show rolls on, Armisen’s co-star, Carrie Brownstein, has been busy with the reunion of her beloved Nineties punk outfit Sleater-Kinney. The group released their first album in 10 years, No Cities to Love, last month and is on the road in support of the new LP. Rolling Stone captured the moments leading up to their kick-off concert — and first live date since 2006 — in Spokane, Washington earlier this week.