Reiss went to Harvard, writing for the Harvard Lampoon, before going out to California. He got a job as a writer for The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Following that, he wrote for ALF, before working on It's Garry Shandling's Show as a writer and producer. Next, he became a writer/producer for The Simpsons, where he's been since.

Reiss also co-created The Critic, and has worked on other animated comedies such as The PJs.

In addition, Reiss has created a number of online comics for the Icebox, including Queer Duck and Hard Drinkin' Lincoln (a comic strip about a drunk Abraham Lincoln).

Reiss often speaks at colleges nationwide (and I saw him tonight at University of Florida, prompting this node) and gives a quite entertaining talk, complete with some behind-the-scenes info and clips. For example, in the episode where Lisa Simpson has a crush on her substitute teacher, the teacher's based on a teacher Reiss once had. This teacher had a deformity, so Reiss asked that the character have one as well...so the substitute teacher's "deformity" is that he looks like Reiss! (a clip he showed confirms that...)

He's surprisingly off-color, and his jokes are quite un-PC, which makes his talk even funnier. I highly recommend seeing him if he speaks in your area, unless you're easily offended.