William Lloyd Oakley (born February 27, 1966) is an American television writer and producer, known for his work on the animated comedy series The Simpsons.

Oakley and Weinstein eventually penned a spec script for Seinfeld, after which they wrote "Marge Gets a Job", an episode of The Simpsons.

After they wrote episodes such as "$pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)", "Bart vs. Australia" and "Who Shot Mr.

[4] An editor of Spy was hired by NBC to run the variety show Sunday Best, and took Oakley and Weinstein to Los Angeles with him in 1991.

There were no openings on the staff at the time, but Oakley and Weinstein were hired to write the episode "Marge Gets a Job", based on an idea by Conan O'Brien.

Before they accepted this job, they were told that Jay Kogen and Wallace Wolodarsky were leaving The Simpsons, and then joined the writing staff on a permanent basis in 1992, in the third season of that show.

[12] They were initially quiet and felt "intimidated", being in the same room as "10 of the greatest minds in comedy", but eventually started pitching jokes with confidence.

[11] Oakley and Weinstein wrote several episodes for season five, penning the "Terror at 5½ Feet" segment of "Treehouse of Horror IV",[14] "$pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)",[15] "Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy",[16] the show's 100th episode "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song"[17] and "Lady Bouvier's Lover".

[8] When they took over the series, they wanted many of the episodes to be realistic ones that focused more on the five members of the Simpson family and explored their feelings and emotions towards each other.

Dimwitted, loving, hyper-enthusiastic, creatively goofy, parody of the American father – drawn with real emotions, though admittedly amplified.

[36] The result was the character of Frank Grimes, a man who has had to work hard all his life with nothing to show for it and is dismayed and embittered by Homer's success and comfort in spite of his inherent laziness and ignorance.

In the episode, Homer is portrayed as an everyman and the embodiment of the American spirit; in some scenes, his negative characteristics and silliness are prominently highlighted.

[36][37] By the close of the episode, Grimes, a hard working and persevering "real American hero,"[37] is relegated to the role of antagonist; the viewer is intended to be pleased that Homer has emerged victorious.

[38] On the DVD commentary, Weinstein considers this episode one of the most controversial of the seasons he ran, as it involves sharp observational humor which many fans "didn't get.

"[36] Weinstein talks about a "generation gap"—the episode was originally panned by viewers, but has since become a favorite among fans who grew up with the show.

Even the crazy high-concept ones like 'Two Bad Neighbors' and 'Homer's Enemy' we managed to put on the air because honestly there were no network execs there to stop us.

"[8] Such was the network's limited input that, when an executive suggested the staff introduce a new character to live with the Simpsons so as to "liven up the show",[42] the staff rejected the idea and instead created the episode "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show", inserting the one-time character Roy, with no explanation as to who he was, or why he was living with the family, as a reference to the executive's proposal.

They surmise that the negative reception was partly due to the fact that it was not immediately apparent to viewers that this was such an episode (as opposed to, for example, "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase").

The duo wanted to end on a good note—Weinstein stated that the episode "was meant to embody the humor, depth, and emotions of The Simpsons,"—and they were pleased with the result.

[57] A. O. Scott described their era as "reach[ing] a pinnacle of zany self-reference with "22 Short Films About Springfield" and "Simpsons Spin-off Showcase".

[8][34] After Oakley and Weinstein left The Simpsons, they created Mission Hill in 1997, a show about a hip, lazy, 24-year-old cartoonist named Andy French, and sold it to The WB for a fall 1999 debut.

A badly edited two-minute promotional video for the show, sent to advertisers in April 1999 for the annual upfronts, was poorly received.

Subsequently, as Weinstein commented to The Washington Post, "for seven months, the only impression people had of the show was based on a two-minute tape that looked terrible.

The pilot garnered largely negative reviews from publications such as The Deseret News; and earned a positive write-up in Variety.

[9][59] Oakley concluded that the pair had been "very naive" with regard to producing the show,[1] and that it "would've been better on cable anyway because it would never have appealed to a broad enough audience due to the subject matter.

"[9] The 13 completed episodes were later aired on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block and the show garnered a worldwide cult following.

[8][61][62] They have written two feature film screenplays: The Optimist for New Line Cinema, in which Seann William Scott was slated to star as a man born with no unhappiness gene,[63] and Ruprecht, a Santa Claus-related comedy for Disney.

He became a co-executive producer from the show's third season, co-writing every episode with Fred Armisen, Carrie Brownstein and Jonathan Krisel.

[74] Since 2018, Oakley has regularly produced short reviews of various fast food items from restaurants across the US, uploading them to his Instagram channel.

[76] In 2022, Audible released Oakley's original sci-fi comedy Space: 1969, starring Natasha Lyonne and a full cast.