Oscar-winning writer/director James L. Brooks’s latest film, Ella McCay is being released soon, and he’s enlisted some old friends to help him market it: the Simpsons.

As of this posting, The Simpsons‘s social media accounts have posted about the film three times. One post has a video with Julie Kavner, the voice of Marge who also has a role in the film, introducing a trailer. In the video, James L. Brooks is identified as “co-creator” of The Simpsons, which is a little eyebrow-raising, given Matt Groening is the sole credited creator. OK, maybe “co-creator” is a little more descriptive to the average person than the nebulous title of “executive producer,” and Brooks did develop the show alongside Groening and the late Sam Simon, so maybe all three should be considered creators. Nevertheless, it’s not a great look for a multi-millionaire Hollywood legend to be grabbing a little more credit for himself decades later. Or are they soft-launching Brooks as the true visionary behind the show in the event Groening suddenly has to withdraw from public appearances…?

Another post features a poster for the film with the cast drawn in Simpsons style, with the caption “They’re not from Springfield, but they’d fit right in.” Would they? Seems like kind of a reach.

The latest post features a particularly shameless animated promo where Lisa and Marge exit a theater gushing about how great the film was. “It’s a very terrific movie,” Marge opines, while Lisa is ecstatic that “finally a movie gets me.” It’s reminiscent of the Riverdale episode where characters go see Love, Simon, a film coincidentally directed by the show’s executive producer.

Both The Simpsons and Ella McCay are produced by Brooks’s company Gracie Films, and the film is being distributed by Disney under the 20th Century Studios label, so maybe a little corporate synergy is to be expected. The Simpsons is, of course, no stranger to promotion – Bart was hawking Butterfingers before the series even premiered – but it’s intensified since Disney acquired 20th Century Fox. The show started pumping out promotional shorts for Balenciaga, Bad Bunny, opera superstar Andrea Bocelli and more, for which they’ve won multiple advertising industry awards. Last month, there were even two couch gags involving Fortnite in the show itself, promoting the Simpsons-themed Fortnite season.

Nor is this the first time Brooks has used the show to push his other projects. A couple years ago, Marge was featured in a promo for the Gracie-produced adaptation of Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret. And perhaps the Ella McCay campaign is not as egregious as the time Brooks insisted on doing a crossover with The Critic, another Gracie-produced animated sitcom, over objections from the staff (including Groening, who ultimately had his credit removed from the episode, for which Brooks publicly called him an ingrate).

Nevertheless, the Ella McCay cross-promotion still seems a little brazen, even considering everything. There was never an episode where Homer convinces Marge to see Spanglish. Ultimately, Brooks is the boss, and he gets what he wants. Maybe he’ll get the stars of Ella McCay to return the favor and promote the next Simpsons movie, which has just been pushed back to September 2027.

They’ve have been to Australia, Japan, Africa, Brazil, England, China, Antarctica, and even Canada. Now the Simpsons are going to Fortnite Island, where you can finally achieve what Sideshow Bob has only dreamed of: kill Bart Simpson.*

After years of rumors, The Simpsons has been absorbed into the massively popular video game Fortnite in a major collaboration. Starting today, a month-long Simpsons-themed season will have players battle it out on an island map based on Springfield. Marge, Homer, and Ned Flanders are available as rewards with the purchase of a Battle Pass, while other characters (Lisa, Bart, Moe, Krusty, and Scratchy) are or will be available to purchase separately.

Among other stuff, a blog post announced there will be weekly fully-animated cutscenes shorts that will also be released on Disney+ about Homer gaining godlike powers from a shard of primordial energy so even non-gamers can enjoy inscrutable references to Fortnite lore (the first short, “Apocalypse D’oh,” is already up). So far there is voice acting from Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, and Hank Azaria. We hear some laughs from Nancy Cartwright-voiced characters Bart and Nelson in other footage, but no dialogue yet, and Harry Shearer’s characters Kang and Ned Flanders are conspicuously silent (Shearer usually doesn’t participate in these things, like The Simpsons Ride or that Family Guy crossover, so that’s to be expected). It’s a far cry from Lego Dimensions, which only had archival recordings of Castellaneta, or that time when Peter Griffin appeared in a Fortnite short but didn’t speak. Also, Matt Groening’s signature is everywhere, unlike the Futurama collaboration.

The success of Simpsons in Fortnite could prove there is demand for a new Simpsons game. Not counting the freemium mobile game Tapped Out, which shut down earlier this year, there hasn’t been a “true” new Simpsons game since 2007’s The Simpsons Game. Could this herald a new era of Simpsons gaming?

*OK technically they’re not going anywhere because the Simpsons reality merged with the current Fortnite island, Oninoshima. And characters don’t really “die,” they are bloodlessly “eliminated.”

Last month, Disney shocked the world by announcing the long-awaited follow-up to 2007’s The Simpsons Movie by unceremoniously dumping a teaser image on Instagram. In this modern computer age, the sheer tonnage of information being blasted at you like a shotgun can be overwhelming, making it pretty difficult to keep up. So, as a service to you, here’s a list of everything we currently know about the upcoming sequel:

• The release date (July 23, 2027)

Now here’s a list of things that have not yet been officially confirmed:

• The title
• The cast
• Who’s directing it
• Who’s writing it
• Who’s producing it
• Who’s scoring it
• What it will look like (2D? 3D? Live action??)

When the theatrical Bluey movie was announced last year, they put out a press release with all kinds of information about the film, creative team, and plans for its release, peppered with quotes from executives and creatives. It seems odd that Disney has yet to do the same for this upcoming Simpsons movie, which is being released two weeks earlier. Should fans be concerned about the lack of information? Is this movie being rushed and everything’s in flux? Could they be pulling a switcheroo on us? Has the unproduced live-action Krusty sitcom from the 90s been turned into a movie??? Be sure to keep checking IN THE NEWS to stay up to date with the latest news as it’s tortured out of the writers.

In last night’s episode, the skeletal corpse of Apu Nahasapeemapetilon was seen in a long-abandoned Kwik-E-Mart, implied to have engaged in a gun battle with his frequent adversary Snake Jailbird. It’s a sad fate for this father of eight.

There had been a lot of controversy about the character in the past decade, leading voice actor Hank Azaria to step down from the role, but the show refrained from recasting the character or writing him off the show… until now.

It is unclear if Apu’s death will be a permanent part of the show moving forward, or if fan outcry will force the writers to bring him back to life in the next episode, like they did with Marge in the season premiere.

IN THE NEWS was able to obtain a teaser trailer:

@springfieldfiles

The Simpsons Predicted Trump’s Fall, Vance’s Resignation, and Kamala’s Rise – Shocking 2025 Parallels

♬ Shadows of Suspense – Adauto Assis

Looks like exciting stuff! Can’t wait to see it on the big screen in 2027!

Earlier today at San Diego Comic-Con, Simpsons producers announced the opening segment of this Halloween’s annual “Treehouse of Horror” episode will be guest animated by The Onion‘s legendary editorial cartoonist Stan Kelly.

A recent South Park episode making fun of President Trump caused a quite a stir, so it’s no surprise to see The Simpsons jumping on the bandwagon and “getting political.” And there’s nobody better to tackle the subject than Kelly, whose name is synonymous with political cartoons. A fixture in the pages of America’s finest news source, Kelly has been using his scathing wit to lambast anti-American elitists, scheming foreigners, selfish hussies, today’s no-good teens, and beeping gizmos since 1966. In recent years, “Sickos Guy,” a character originally from this cartoon, has “gone viral” as a “meme,”* perhaps due to his personification of today’s sick, modern times.

*Latest fad.

It is unclear if Simpsons producers were aware of Kelly’s clear distaste for the show, as expressed in this 2015 comic. Nevertheless, Kelly will soon join an illustrious group of cartoonists and animators who have been featured on the show, including Gary Larson, Roz Chast, Art Spiegelman, Eric Goldberg, Don Hertzfeldt, Alison Bechdel, Daniel Clowes, Bill Plympton, and Matt Groening. [Variety]

After 36 seasons, a beloved television staple is leaving its longtime network.

Inside the NBA, the popular sports analysis show, is moving from TNT to the Disney-owned channel ESPN starting with the 2025-2026 season. TNT’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, lost the NBA rights in a major bag fumble. The show will continue to be independently produced by TNT Sports at its Atlanta-based studio.

The show, which premiered in autumn 1989, ended its run on TNT last night with co-host Shaquille O’Neal giving a profane sign-off: “We’re a family. I’m glad we’re sticking together. And like I said, even though the name changes, the engine is still the same. And to that network we coming to, we not coming to eff around. Since this is the last show, I’m going to say it- we not coming to fuck around. We kicking ass, we taking names and we taking over.” [Yahoo Sports]

Alf Clausen, the composer of The Simpsons for nearly 27 years, has died following a struggle with Parkinson’s disease. He was 84.

Raised in Jamestown, North Dakota, Clausen’s big break was arranging music for the Donny & Marie variety show in 1976. He would go on to be the composer for the dramedy series Moonlighting and sitcom ALF, and worked on a number of films including Splash, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and The Naked Gun. He joined The Simpsons in fall 1990, having been recommended by writer/producer Jay Kogen, whose musician uncle had worked alongside him numerous times. The first season had been scored by Richard Gibbs, but the producers were trying out new composers for Season 2. Clausen was hesitant about the job, as he recounted in a 2007 interview:

I had no interest in doing animation; I wanted to be a drama composer. And [creator] Matt Groening said his favorite comment to me: “We don’t look upon this as being a cartoon but a drama where the characters are drawn, and we would like it scored that way. Can you do that?” And I went, “Bingo, I can do that. I have technology to do that.”

His debut episode was “Treehouse of Horror,” the first installment of what would become an annual Halloween tradition, which earned him the position of permanent composer. He would go on to score over 600 episodes over 27 seasons. He racked up many Emmy nominations – per Variety, he is “believed to be the most-nominated composer in Emmy history” – with his first win in 1997 for “We Put the Spring in Springfield.”

The late Chris Ledesma, the show’s longtime music editor who’d worked closely with Clausen, sang his praises in a 2011 blog post:

Picking Alf as composer for THE SIMPSONS was the best choice the producers could have ever made. His ability to write in virtually any musical expression or ethnicity has served the show brilliantly. I can’t think of any other TV show in history that has had scores with influences from so many eras in history, locales around (and above and below) the world, and numerous styles from country to pop to acid rock to Broadway and more. More than 470 episodes in, he still continues to amaze and deliver.

In a 2014 interview with the Television Academy Foundation, Clausen talked about the long hours of the job, and confessed it was “very difficult” working with the show’s iconic theme song, which he’d inherited from Danny Elfman. Asked to name his biggest contribution to the show, he replied “I give it a certain special touch that nobody else has.”

Clausen had a particular talent for close-but-legally-distinct musical parodies. Voice actress Nancy Cartwright highlighted this skill in her book My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy:

Part of the challenge Alf faces is how to make the parodies sound like the songs they emulate. This is the genius of Alf. In “Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala-d’oh-cious,” he had the task of creating a sound that felt like and reminded you of the popular Mary Poppins hit, but was just tongue-in-cheek enough so that it didn’t get us sued. He goes to great lengths to figure out the original songs’ harmonies, melodies, rhythms and orchestrations so that he can then “tweak” this and “sweeten” that and otherwise shift it enough so that this new song reminds the listener, but is still unique.

Some of these pieces were included in a tribute to Clausen during 2014’s “Simpsons Take the Bowl” event at the Hollywood Bowl, including Sideshow Bob’s theme, a takeoff on Bernard Herrmann’s Cape Fear score.

Although Clausen had desired to do longform, feature film work, 2007’s The Simpsons Movie was scored by Hans Zimmer, the acclaimed film composer who’d previously scored several of executive producer James L. Brooks’s films. He seemed unhappy about the decision, commenting obliquely “Sometimes you’re the windshield, sometimes you’re the bug.”

In 2017, Clausen was unceremoniously fired from the show via e-mail. After the news broke, Simpsons producers issued a statement, claiming he would “continue to have an ongoing role in the show” and they remained “committed to the finest in music for the Simpsons, absolutely including orchestral.” The 35-piece orchestra was dropped, and Clausen was replaced by Hans Zimmer….’s music production company Bleeding Fingers Music. He would continue to be credited with the title “composer emeritus” for the next two seasons.

Clausen filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the show in 2019, alleging he’d been fired due to age discrimination. Simpsons producers countered that he’d been let go “because they didn’t think the classical- and jazz-inclined Clausen was up to the challenges of more contemporary tunes,” and claimed he’d been secretly delegating his work to his son Scott, a fellow composer. A particular point of contention was the two-parter episode “The Great Phatsby,” a hip-hop themed parody of the Fox series Empire. The lawsuit was eventually dropped.

In addition to The Simpsons, Clausen worked on the animated series The Critic, the Bette Midler sitcom Bette, and the film Half Baked. He also released a jazz album in 2005.

Following news of Clausen’s death, Matt Groening paid tribute:

Alf was the Man of a Thousand Music Cues — actually probably more than 10,000 — during his decades on The Simpsons. He was tireless, inspired, and always up for the musical challenges we threw at him. I called him our secret weapon.

Over the years, The Simpsons has had a bit of a rivalry with Fox News, its former corporate sibling and farm team for the Trump Administration. In 2003, creator Matt Groening claimed the arch-conservative cable news channel threatened to sue the show over a parody involving its news crawl. Seven years later, disgraced pundit Bill O’Reilly took exception to a gag written on a helicopter, which naturally led Simpsons producers to do it again and again. So it might come as a bit of a surprise that these two American institutions are joining forces to fight a common enemy: cord-cutting.

Fox Corporation recently unveiled its upcoming streaming platform, Fox One, which will give subscribers access to “the full portfolio of FOX brands,” including Fox News, Fox’s sports channels, and the Fox network, which broadcasts The Simpsons. Vulture raises some questions about the service, but for the moment it’s looking like you’ll be able to watch The Simpsons on Fox and then switch over to Sean Hannity on Fox News without ever leaving the app, for the low, low price of “yet to be determined.” Will such wonders never cease?

The Simpsons has had a home at Fox for nearly four decades. Now it looks like our favorite family could be leaving forever.

Los Angeles Times:

Walt Disney Co. acknowledged Tuesday that it will be vacating the storied Fox Studio Lot, where it has been the primary occupant since Disney bought most of Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox’s entertainment assets in 2019. The $71.3-billion deal did not include the studio real estate. However, it featured a provision that Disney would move in as a tenant for at least seven years.

James L. Brooks’s production company Gracie Films, which produces the show, has had offices on the lot since the mid-1980s as a result of his 1984 production deal with Fox. It hasn’t been publicly confirmed if Gracie will be relocating to Disney’s lot in Burbank. However, by comparing a 2014 map of the lot with Fox’s future concept plans, it looks like Fox intends to replace the writers’ building (which has a fountain in front) with new production offices (indicated in blue). Here’s a comparison I whipped up:

Recently, executive producer Al Jean, perhaps feeling nostalgic, has been posting photos of the offices on social media:

Yesterday and today @TheSimpsons pic.twitter.com/g2fA0iAsx0

— Al Jean (@AlJean) January 18, 2025

Same bg today… pic.twitter.com/EviuEa0vxM

— Al Jean (@AlJean) March 15, 2025

That building has borne witness to some historic moments in television history, like the time Conan O’Brien and the other writers stuck a huge glob of caramel to the ceiling, and where somebody punched a box. The writers’ room was used as the model for the Itchy & Scratchy writers’ room in the season 4 episode “The Front,” and a cartoon version of the exterior was included in the mobile game Tapped Out.

The Fox lot is also home to the Marge Simpson ADR Stage, where the dialogue is recorded. A big Simpsons mural is on the exterior of Stage 20, and there’s a cafe themed after Moe.

In other news, Fox has renewed The Simpsons for four more seasons, ensuring the show will still have a home on the network until at least 2029.

In the wake of the box office success of Snow White, a live-action remake of the 1937 animated classic, Disney is moving forward with another live-action remake of a beloved property that will certainly excite fans. This property just so happens to be a comedy produced by Gracie Films centered around a certain dysfunctional family that premiered in 1989 and features the voice of Dan Castellaneta…

That’s right, The War of the Roses! Based on the 1981 Warren Adler novel of the same name, the film was directed by Danny DeVito and starred Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner as Oliver and Barbara Rose, bickering spouses whose marriage is falling apart. It was 20th Century Fox’s highest-grossing film that year. Incidentally, it was presented with a Simpsons short from The Tracey Ullman Show, “Family Therapy.”

Now, Disney’s arthouse subsidiary Searchlight Pictures is releasing The Roses, a remake starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman. Although Gracie Films isn’t involved with this one, I think it would be a great treat for movie buffs if it premiered with a new Simpsons short, as a “tip of the hat” to the original. The Roses debuts in theaters on August 29, 2025. [The Hollywood Reporter]

Disney+ has finally added a live, 24/7, commercial-free Simpsons channel – excuse me, “Stream” with a capital S – freeing users from the tyranny of having to select a specific episode, a brilliant innovation that FXX’s Simpsons World service had over a decade ago.

From the press release:

Beginning today, Disney+ will add a new 24/7 always-on Stream for THE SIMPSONS with 767 episodes across seasons 1-35 programmed in chronological order at launch. This means a total of nearly 300 continuous hours with the Simpsons family.

“From day one, the fans have asked for a Stream of THE SIMPSONS, and we’re happy to oblige,” said Gabe Lewis, SVP of Programming & Content Curation, Disney+. “Streams on Disney+ have been a fantastic go-to experience for subscribers looking to sit back and relax with their favorite shows and movies, and we look forward to evolving the user experience and expanding the offering with more Streams, to more subscribers, later this year.”

“THE SIMPSONS Stream will deliver a SIMPSONS marathon all day, every day — no matter when you tune in, this ultimate SIMPSONS binge will be there,” added Matt Selman, THE SIMPSONS Show-runner and Binge-watcher.

As a pedant I appreciate that they specifically say 767 episodes and never claim to have “every episode,” as “Stark Raving Dad” remains out of circulation. Though this seemingly implies the two Disney+ exclusive episodes (“O C’mon All Ye Faithful” and “The Past and the Furious”) don’t count.

“The Simpsons Stream,” which I guess is its official name, appears to have gone live at noon Eastern time, and is currently airing episodes in sequential order. The press release also says the programming will be “refreshed monthly” so maybe once it completes Season 35 it will become more random. Amazingly, the pre-HD episodes are in the proper 4:3 aspect ratio, even if you have selected otherwise. Currently it is limited to Disney+ users on the premium (ad-free) plan in the United States.

Back in 2014, the Internet went crazy for FXX’s “Every. Simpsons. Ever.” marathon, where everybody could watch and post about the currently-airing episode live. Could history repeat itself? Sure, this simple livestream was like created to boost viewership metrics ahead of Disney’s Q2 earnings report in May. But maybe, just maybe, it could unite and heal a divided nation.

Yee-haw, pard’ners, it’s a special all-Animation Domination edition of News Roundup, where we wrangle up minor news items from all over yonder.

• Everything’s coming up King of the Hill! Alamo Beer is becoming a reality, Daily Show correspondent Ronny Chieng is taking over the role of Kahn in the upcoming revival, and Hank Hill is rumored to be an upcoming skin in Fortnite.
• Former Bob’s Burgers voice actor Jay Johnston has been pardoned by President Trump for his actions in the January 6, 2021 fun run, per his fiancée.
• The Cleveland Show voice actor David Lynch has died.
• Seth MacFarlane’s doodle of Brian to thank the firefighters battling the devastating Los Angeles wildfires: charming, cute, inspiring. The Simpsons version put out a week later: maudlin, stiff, indistinguishable from DeviantArt.

In a surprising move, it was announced that voice actress Pamela Hayden has decided to retire from The Simpsons after 35 years “to pursue other creative outlets.” Hayden had voiced the character of Bart Simpson’s dorky pal Milhouse Van Houten since a 1988 Butterfinger commercial that predates the series. Other roles she performed on the show include bully Jimbo Jones, Lisa’s fair-weather friend Janey, Chief Wiggum’s wife Sarah, Todd Flanders, Patches the orphan, Lisa from “The Simpson Family Smile-Time Variety Hour,” Malibu Stacy, Stephanie the Weather Lady, Krusty’s assistant Lois Pennycandy, babysitter Ashley Grant, Australian boy Tobias Dundridge, and numerous other incidental characters.

Official Simpsons social media accounts claimed this Sunday’s episode, “Treehouse of Horror Presents: Simpsons Wicked This Way Comes,” will be her last performance. However, producer Carolyn Omine clarified on Threads that Hayden will appear in three upcoming episodes exclusive to Disney+, with the last one she recorded being the double-length Christmas special “O C’mon All Ye Faithful,” the final episode of production season 35. No recasting announcements have been made, but entertainment observers are standing by, watching Gracie Films carefully to see if the chimney will emit blue smoke, the sign of a new Milhouse.

Hayden is the subject of the recent documentary Jailhouse to Milhouse, in which she opens up about her troubled youth. [Deadline]

INACCURATE:

Woman in purple suit wins election (“Bart to the Future,” 2000)

There was this flimsy “prediction” spread by many (and endorsed by executive producer Al Jean) that Kamala Harris would win the election because one time she wore a purple suit, and Lisa wore a purple suit in the episode where she becomes president. This… did not happen.

Electoral map (“Grampy Can Ya Hear Me,” 2017)

A number of news sources have said that the show predicted the 2024 electoral map with “eerie accuracy.” Except on the Simpsons map, Virginia is red??? Which means it’s NOT accurate??? You fucking idiots???

ACCURATE:

Famous squirrel killed (“Radio Bart,” 1992)

If you weren’t on Twitter in the days before the election, you might have missed the hubbub over the death of a squirrel named Peanut. Here’s a summary from user @purplechrain: “An OnlyFans model called Squirrel Daddy illegally owned an instagram famous pet squirrel, then the squirrel bit a cop & got euthanized to test for rabies, so Elon & online MAGA Twitter made AI tributes & think it will help Trump win the election b/c it happened in a blue state.”

Convicted felon with weird hair wins executive office (“Sideshow Bob Roberts,” 1994)

As Lisa says in the episode, “I can’t believe a convicted felon would get so many votes and another convicted felon would get so few.”

Trump elected in 2024 (“Bart to the Future,” 2000)

Yeah, yeah, we went through this in 2016, but it might actually be even more accurate now. “Bart to the Future” doesn’t give an exact year in the finished episode, but a draft of the script says Lisa won the presidential election in 2028:

(via ThatGuy3002)

There’s some wiggle room, as the episode doesn’t specifically say Trump was Lisa’s immediate predecessor from whom she inherited “quite the budget crunch,” which would mean he won the 2024 election (I think the implication was that he would win in 2000)… but it also doesn’t say he wasn’t. Furthermore, for Lisa to be the 47th president, the writer(s) would have to assume that from 2000 to 2024 three presidents would win two terms of office and one would be a one-termer… which would end up being accurate to reality, but Trump’s two terms being non-consecutive messes up the numbering.

Honorable mention: Democrats run as Republicans (Life in Hell, 1996)

(via Nina Matsumoto)

This one is pretty evergreen.

YET TO BE DETERMINED:

Elderly rich guy hires Elon Musk and later attempts to have him assassinated (“The Musk Who Fell to Earth,” 2015)

We’ll see!

Although the Simpsons franchise has been spread across every conceivable medium in 2024, it was the episode guides that first truly captured the hearts and minds of Simpsons nerds. Many of us older fans have fond memories of waiting in line at Border’s for the midnight release of the next guide in the series.

After reading this IGN article, it occurred to me that for someone who’s completely new to Simpsons fandom, things can be a little daunting. For those of us who grew up reading the episode guides and watching the TV show, the reading order likely seems fairly obvious. But if you just happened to have a used copy of one or two of the episode guides, you may have no idea where to begin. To help you figure out where to start, I’ve put together this quick primer on reading the Simpsons episode guides in order below.

1. The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family

Published in 1997, this episode guide kicked off the series. It covers seasons 1 through 8, and even includes a small guide to the Ullman shorts written by creator Matt Groening himself. Some fans argue this is the only episode guide you need, but the choice is up to you.

2. The Simpsons Forever!: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family …Continued

This was the follow-up to the first episode guide. It’s much smaller, as it only covers two seasons, 9 and 10. Think of it as an addendum to the first guide. This would set the standard for the next four years.

3. The Simpsons Beyond Forever!: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family …Still Continued

The third episode guide in the series, this one covers seasons 11 & 12.

4. The Simpsons One Step Beyond Forever!: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family …Continued Yet Again

Covering seasons 13 & 14, this is the last of the traditional episode guides. I kinda wish they had continued this pattern of titles, just to see how convoluted they’d become (Twelve Steps Beyond Infinity…?) but maybe it’s for the best that they went in a different direction for the next one.

5. Simpsons World: The Ultimate Episode Guide: Seasons 1–20

This hefty tome covers every episode from season 1 through 20, so you basically don’t even need the previous episode guides. It reprints material from the previous episode guides, but it expands on that material by dedicating at least 2 pages for every episode, and adds new artwork. The book is pretty bulky and not very portable, so you might want to just stick with the previous episode guides. But seasons 15-20 is completely all-new material, so it’s worth buying if you’re a completionist.

As of this writing, seasons 21 through 36 have yet to be collected in the form of a physical episode guide, so it seems that – for now – the series has come to an end.

For years, football has postponed The Simpsons, but soon you’ll be able to watch both at the same time! In what will surely be a terrible strain on the animators’ wrists, Monday Night Football is heading to Springfield where a live NFL game will be animated and brought into the Simpsons world using advanced VTuber technology.

An ESPN press release has all the details on this grotesque display of corporate synergy:

ESPN, Disney, the Simpsons and the National Football League will premiere The Simpsons Funday Football on Monday, Dec. 9, an animated Monday Night Football game transformed in real-time into the iconic Simpsons world using Sony’s Beyond Sports Technology. Atoms Stadium in Springfield will host the fully immersive fan viewing experience featuring the Cincinnati Bengals at the Dallas Cowboys, ESPN’s Monday Night Football game that evening.

The Simpsons Funday Football alternate viewing presentation will stream on Disney+ and ESPN+, and, on mobile, with NFL+. The traditional Monday Night Football telecast will be available on ESPN, ABC and ESPN Deportes with Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli on ESPN2. Both the traditional telecast and Peyton and Eli will also be on ESPN+, making each distinct presentation available in the ESPN App. All telecasts will begin at 8 p.m. ET.

Nickeloden and CBS Sports pioneered this style of alternate broadcast in 2021 with NFL on Nickelodeon, which adds wacky graphics to an actual game, culminating in a SpongeBob-themed version of the Super Bowl earlier this year. Not to be outdone, Disney took this a step further by using motion capture to make the players appear as animated characters, first in a Big City Greens-themed hockey game and again in last year’s Toy Story Funday Football. Personally I thought the technology was pretty wonky, with the animated players awkwardly poofing away and disappearing once the actual player leaves the field of view. Also one of the commentators for the latter said it was all taking place in Andy’s imagination, which is an egregious misunderstanding of Toy Story lore, so I hope they brush up on their Simpsons knowledge.

With Springfield’s Atoms Stadium as the setting, The Simpsons Funday Football will be a true family affair as Bart Simpson sides with Joe Burrow and the Bengals while Homer aligns with Dak Prescott and the Cowboys. For most of the game, Bart and Homer will let their new Bengals and Cowboys teammates manage the action, but the iconic father and son duo won’t sit on the sidelines for the entire game. Each will select key opportunities to play offense and/or defense, replacing a player and joining his other 10 teammates on the field.

Homer’s dream from “Cape Feare” is coming true!

Surrounding the gameplay, Marge and Lisa will interview players during the game and Maggie will fly the SkyCam, while popular characters, show references and aesthetics will bring a real Sunday-night-with-the-Simpsons feel to Monday Night Football.

MAGGIE IS A BABY. THIS IS NOT A GOOD IDEA.

Authentic Simpsons Voices: Hank Azaria, Nancy Cartwright, Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner and Yeardley Smith will voice several of their characters in prerecorded bits and skits.

Picking Sides: Homer and Bart will rally their supporters who will join them on their respective sidelines throughout the matchup. Lisa, Krusty, Nelson, Milhouse and Ralph will be with Bart (Bengals); while Carl, Barney, Lenny and Moe will be with Homer (Cowboys).

Unsurprisingly, Harry Shearer is not participating, but his character Lenny is listed, so I guess he’ll just be sitting in silence the whole time. Also, it’s pretty rude Homer didn’t invite noted Cowboys fan Hank Hill.

The Simpsons Music: The timeless theme song and more jingles from the show will be employed.

Not sure what music from the show would constitute a jingle. Will they play the Itchy & Scratchy theme if the players start fighting?

The Simpsons and ESPN: Animated segments incorporating Stephen A. Smith, Peyton and Eli Manning and more will appear in the telecast, with their segments written by the Simpsons creators.

I googled to see if Stephen A. Smith had been on the show before and it turns out he has a Simpsons doppelganger that’s been in half a dozen episodes. Who knew? And speaking of Simpsons creators, Matt Groening’s signature is nowhere to be found on any of the art assets…

This is what the players will look like, which isn’t very Simpsons-y. It appears they’re reusing the models from the Toy Story one.

Will The Simpsons Funday Football live up to this NFL on Fox promo from 1995?

I guess we’ll find out on December 9.