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The Simpsons writer Matt Selman revealed the one celebrity guest star the show still wants to book after almost 4 decades in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE
Selman serves as the current showrunner of the FOX series
The Simpsons will air its 800th episode on Sunday, Feb. 15
The SimpsonswriterMatt Selmansays there is one celebrity he's still trying to get as a guest star on the long-running animated series.
Selman, 54, who also serves as the current showrunner ofThe Simpsons,spoke with PEOPLE exclusively at the show's 800th episode party in Los Angeles on Feb. 6.
When asked who his most sought-after guest star for the show remains, Selman responded, "Will Ferrell."
"Come on, Will. We keep writing great stuff for you," he added, speaking directly to the 58-year-old actor.
The Simpsonshas landed high-profile guest stars since it premiered on FOX in 1989.
Some notable cameos over the years have includedLady Gaga,Meryl StreepandPaul McCartney, to name a few.
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During his chat with PEOPLE, Selman also spoke about the show's unique reputation for writing storylines that seeminglypredict the future.
"The more you try to predict or not predict, it screws up the predictions. So you just got to go in pure and just let them happen or not," he said of the series' writing process.
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Selman added, "People want magic to be real. That's what the insight is. People want to believe in magic. And is magic real? Well, it's real in people's minds. So maybe it is real. But I don't think it's really real. But whatever — coincidences are real. If there were no coincidences, that would be the really unlikely thing."
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Selman also dished on the show's 800th episode, which will air on Sunday, Feb. 15, revealing how the plot for it came to be.
"Luckily, I have the best writers in the world who think of things for me, and I can just take the credit," he joked. "But they wanted to do a show, one of our funny travel shows set in Philadelphia."
"We wanted to do the show about the emotional rollercoaster of pet ownership. And they also wanted to do a show that parodied aNational Treasure-typeJerry Bruckheimeradventure movie," Selman added.
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Selman also called out one part of the milestone episode that really stands out: "The speech Marge gives at the end about the journey and the emotional toll of owning a pet."
"I think it's as good as anything that the show has ever done in the spirit of [show co-creator]James Brooks'harsh, tortured, real view of what it's like to be a modern, emotional person in modern times," Selman explained. "So, as funny and silly as the speech at the end is, it's [also] a love letter to [James]. It's a love letter to the show. It's a love letter to pets. It's a love letter to Marge. I'm so proud of it."
The Simpsonsairs on FOX.
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