Apr. 15th, 2009
Alanis will play in "Sit Down, Shut Up", which premieres Sunday, April 19 at 8:30 p.m. as part of FOX's Animation Domination block. From a recent interview with Josh Weinstein (whose credits include The Simpsons, Futurama, Mission Hill and The Mullets), answering the question "Got any good production stories?" he said:

One of my favorite anecdotes from the show involves a guest star. We had a story were we learn that Helen [the librarian, played by Cheri Oteri] and Sue [the principal played by Kenan Thompson], who are sort of enemies, attended Knob Haven High together 20 years ago and were part of a late 80's style rap group.

In their group was also their DJ, who never sang, just spun records—a DJ they always dumped on. But now it's time for their 20th High School Reunion and we learn this DJ is now a world famous singer. Everyone wants the group to reunite, and they get the DJ back and we learn she was the one who had sown so much of the trouble in the first place.

She was the one who intentionally caused all this animosity between Helen and Sue, in part because she had a secret crush on Willard [played by Henry Winkler], who was the "hip" teacher back then. And to play this part, we got Alanis Morisette! Playing herself! She was our first choice and we couldn't believe our luck in getting her. Alanis is not only a great singer, but has an incredible sense of humor. She totally got into playing the villain in our story and was so incredibly good in her role that I'd like to think she'll become the Sideshow Bob of Knob Haven—coming back once a season to wreak some new form of havoc on the school.