According to "Simpsons" creator Matt Groening, Swartzwelder wrote "Simpsons" episodes sitting in a booth at a coffee shop "drinking copious amounts of coffee and smoking endless cigarettes". When California passed an anti-smoking law, Swartzwelder bought the booth and installed it in his house, allowing him to continue his process in peace. With the exception of his contributions to "The Simpsons Movie", released in 2007, Swartzwelder has been absent from "The Simpsons" writing staff since the fifteenth season (2003–04), with his last airing episode ("The Regina Monologues") actually being a "holdover" written for the fourteenth (2002–03) season. At 59 episodes, Swartzwelder has written more episodes than anybody else.