David Samuel Cohen (born July 13, 1966), better known as
David X. Cohen, is an
American television writer. He has written for
The Simpsons, and he is the
head writer and
executive producer of
Futurama.
Early life
Cohen was born and known pre-
Futurama as
David S. Cohen. Both of his parents being biologists, David always planned to be a scientist, but he also enjoyed writing and drawing cartoons.
Education
David Cohen graduated from
Dwight Morrow High School in
Englewood, New Jersey, where he wrote the humor column for the high school paper and was a member of the school's state champion mathematics team. From there, Cohen went on to attend both
Harvard University, graduating with a
B.A. in physics, and the
University of California, Berkeley, with an
M.S. in computer science. While at Harvard, he wrote for and served as President of the
Harvard Lampoon, and was classmates in the Harvard physics department with
Cats & Dogs and
Antz director
Lawrence Guterman. Both studied under physicist
Sidney Coleman and
Nobel Prize winner
Norman F. Ramsey, as well as
Fields Medal winner
David Mumford.
Cohen's most notable academic publication concerned the theoretical computer science problem of
pancake sorting, which was also the subject of an academic publication by
Bill Gates. In addition, Cohen is credited as a co-author on several papers by
computer vision researcher
Alan Yuille.
Writing career
After three years of graduate school, Cohen took a leave of absence and started writing sample TV scripts. In 1992, this landed him a job writing two of the earliest
Beavis and Butthead episodes. In 1993, Cohen began working on
The Simpsons, writing or co-writing thirteen episodes. Nearly five years later, Cohen would team with
Matt Groening to develop
Futurama, where he would serve as writer or co-writer of six episodes and
executive producer and head writer of the series' entire run.
Writing credits
Cohen is credited with writing or co-writing the following episodes:
- The Simpsons: "Treehouse of Horror V" ("Nightmare Cafeteria"), "Lisa the Vegetarian", "Treehouse of Horror VI" ("Homer3"), "22 Short Films About Springfield" (co-contributor), "Much Apu About Nothing", "Treehouse of Horror VII" ("Citizen Kang"), "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show", "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase" ("Chief Wiggum, P.I."), "Treehouse of Horror VIII" ("Fly vs. Fly"), "Lisa the Skeptic", "Das Bus", "Bart the Mother" and "Treehouse of Horror IX" ("Starship Poopers").
- Is credited with inventing the word cromulent, meaning 'valid' or 'acceptable', which has entered wide use following its usage in The Simpsons episode "Lisa the Iconoclast".
Name change
When the primetime animated shows unionized in 1998, David was forced to change his name as there was already another
David S. Cohen and the
Writers Guild of America, west does not allow members to have the same name. He chose X because it sounded "
sci-fi-ish", and has jokingly said that the X would make him "the David Cohen people would remember" (mentioned in a Futurama Commentary for the episode "
My Three Suns"). The "X" does not stand for anything, but Cohen included a period "so people don't think it's some mathematical formula: 'David times Cohen' or something."
Futurama
thumb|300px|Cohen with Comic-Con 2009./" class="wiki">Matt Groening at the
Futurama panel of
Comic-Con 2009.
Cohen was the co-developer of
Futurama along with
The Simpsons creator
Matt Groening. Cohen served as head writer, executive producer, and voice director of the series. He was also the voice director of the
Futurama video game.
In addition, he designed one of the robots in the robot strip club which he said was "his one artistic contribution to the show". The robot's waist gyrated sexily using a
planetary gear. In an episode's commentary, this artistic contribution is discussed by
Futurama co-creator Matt Groening, who describes Cohen as being very particular about how the animators used his design, and that Cohen's original drawing is still framed in his office.
He makes two brief cameo appearances in cartoon form, first in the
Futurama episode "
A Bicyclops Built for Two", along with several other people who worked on the show, and second on "
I Dated a Robot" as a member of the
eBay audience. Both appearances are pointed out during DVD commentaries. Also both appearances take place in the internet. (He also appears in animated form in the
Simpsons episode "
The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show" wearing the squid shirt.)
On April 26, 2006, Matt Groening announced that there were four planned
Futurama straight-to-DVD movies, and confirmed that Cohen would be participating.
On June 22, 2006, it was announced that
Comedy Central had purchased the syndication rights to
Futurama and were going to produce at least 13 new episodes. According to Groening the episodes will be edited portions of the movies with new material added. Cohen gave an interview in December, 2006, saying that at that point they were half-way through writing the season and were beginning to animate.
The first of four straight-to-DVD movies,
Futurama: Bender's Big Score, was released on November 27, 2007.
Personal taste
Cohen's favorite movie is
Dr. Strangelove. He is a fan of
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,
The Sopranos,
Curb Your Enthusiasm,
South Park, and
King of the Hill. Music-wise, he is a fan of
Cypress Hill (which is why Cypress Hill appeared in
The Simpsons episode "
Homerpalooza"),
The Beastie Boys (who appeared in the
Futurama episode "
Hell Is Other Robots"), and
Led Zeppelin, as expressed on numerous Simpsons DVD commentaries. According to a bonus feature on the
Bender's Game DVD, he is an avid fan and collector of
dodecahedrons.
