FOX NEWS, NEWS CORP. NEWS

An image of Rupert Murdoch at Moe's Tavern sitting next to Homer and Marge.

Media mogul and two-time Simpsons voice actor Rupert Murdoch has stepped down as chairman of both Fox Corporation, which owns the Fox broadcast network, and News Corporation.

The 92-year old billionaire launched a media empire in Australia, which expanded to the UK and the US. His company, News Corporation, acquired 20th Century Fox in 1985, and launched the Fox network the following year. He played a small role in getting The Simpsons on the air, or at least that’s what he told Vanity Fair in 2007:

I was at a program meeting with [Fox CEO] Barry Diller and the people at Fox Network, and afterwards Barry said, “Come into my room, I want to show you something.” And he had a tape there, of about 20 minutes in length, of all the little 30-second bits that had been through The Tracey Ullman Show. And he played it, and I just thought it was hilarious. I said, “You’ve gotta buy this tonight.” He said, “No. It’s more complicated than that.” So we went forward from there.

Sidenote: Bob Iger, who was then the head of ABC, expressed interest in buying the show, which may have tipped the scales in convincing Diller to greenlight a 13-episode season for the Fox network. Iger would later become CEO of Disney and acquire Fox’s film and television studios, which included The Simpsons.

It was Murdoch’s idea to move The Simpsons from Sunday nights to Thursday for its second season, putting it up against ratings juggernaut The Cosby Show, which was a big deal at the time. Executive producers James L. Brooks and Sam Simon thought it was a stupid move that could potentially kill the show, but it held its own and managed to beat Cosby at Thanksgiving, proving the upstart Fox network could compete with the Big 3.

Over the years, Murdoch’s reign has been beset by numerous scandals, including the phone-hacking scandal, the Dominion lawsuit, and multiple sexual harassment allegations at Fox News, to name a few.

Murdoch and his properties were a frequent target on The Simpsons. One episode depicted him as a fellow prison inmate of Sideshow Bob, and he would later voice himself in the episodes “Sunday, Cruddy Sunday” (in which he refers to himself as a billionaire tyrant) and “Judge Me Tender.” He remained a fan of the show over the years (or at least claimed to be), even tweeting in 2014 to praise a YouTube short the show had put out. Sadly, I could only find one photo of him posing with the yellow family that made him millions.

DIS INFORMATION

An image of the Simpsons and Apu from one of the video games running in the speedforce.

Remember when you watched The Simpsons in syndication and you could just enjoy a random episode, without the burden of having to consciously pick one? What if instead of being limited to one episode per evening (or perhaps two or even three depending on your TV market), the show was constantly airing 24/7? Well, that could become a reality sooner rather than later if streaming analysts’ predictions hold true.

Now that the streaming business model has imploded, the studios have realized that the linear TV model it disrupted wasn’t so bad after all and are eager to recoup their lost revenue by getting into FAST (free, ad-supported television) channels, which are essentially fake TV channels with commercials you can stream, many of which are dedicated to one show. Some even have their own services featuring these channels: Paramount has Pluto TV and Paramount+, Fox Corporation has Tubi, NBC Universal has Peacock, and Amazon has Freevee. Warner Bros. Discovery is launching their own service later this year. Even Netflix has hinted at getting in the game.

Disney has had an ABC News Live channel for years, and in May they added a few FAST channels on the ABC app, but so far they haven’t made any major waves in that space. Streaming analysts have mused on the viability of Disney embracing the FAST market and posit that a Simpsons channel would be a no-brainer.

Next TV:

The real question around Disney’s decision to launch an ad-supported Disney Plus offering isn’t whether it’s a good move. Rather, it’s when are they going to take the next step and launch a free ad-supported streaming TV service (FAST) that can compete with Paramount’s Pluto TV, NBCU’s Peacock and Fox’s Tubi?

Vulture:

Of course, the other possibility here is that rather than go for a quick buck now and sell to outside ad-supported platforms, Disney could just launch its own FAST service, as Warner Bros. Discovery is exploring. I don’t think it would make much sense to put anything too obviously Disney on such a platform as it might cheapen the brand. But a service which leaned heavily on the 20th titles, as well as content from ABC (including ABC News), could be a winner.

MarketWatch:
Additionally, internal FAST channels from other streaming companies — such as a “Simpsons” or Marvel channel for Disney+, or a teen-drama channel for Netflix — could be coming sooner than you think.

The Streamable:

The first 10 seasons are widely regarded to be the show’s best and would make perfect fodder for a dedicated single-series FAST channel. Disney+ could keep newer seasons behind a paywall, and still have plenty of content for such a channel.

What’s interesting about The Simpsons in particular is that they already were on FAST-like channels, as FX president John Landgraf mentioned in an interview:

When we bought The Simpsons, we built an app called Simpsons World that had every episode ever made in a perfectly searchable system. Then it had so-called channels, which were linear streams of Simpsons episodes. Eighty percent of the consumption was from the linear playlists, and 20 percent was on demand.

Here’s a screenshot of what those channels looked like, via Fast Company.

The Simpsons is already the most popular show on Disney+. Imagine what those viewership numbers would be if they added a channel that allowed you to drop in and just watch a random episode, freeing you from the tyranny of choice.

GROEN DRAIN

An image of Jonesy from Fortnite looking surprised at Futurama characters. Behind him is an image of Matt Groening's head in a jar, surrounded by question marks.

Fortnite recently announced a collaboration with Futurama: Fry, Leela, and Bender are purchasable characters, with other stuff inspired by the show also available in the game. However, there’s one thing missing: creator Matt Groening’s signature. It’s not present in Fortnite’s announcement post, the in-game item shop, or any of the advertising posted on social media. So what’s the deal?

The exact language is not publicly known, but it appears safe to say that Groening’s signature is contractually obligated to appear on merchandise and promotional art of the properties he created, which is why you see his name everywhere. This extends to the Simpsons profile pictures on Disney+, and even the NFT of Homer choking Bart.

However, in very, very rare circumstances, Groening will remove his signature or credit to implicitly indicate his disapproval. I know of only two instances: the 1995 Simpsons episode “A Star is Burns” because he was opposed to doing a crossover with The Critic, and the 2001 video game Simpsons Wrestling. It may seem a little silly considering the ubiquity of Simpsons merchandise, but Groening appears to take his endorsement seriously. Talking to a trading card magazine in 1994, Groening criticized the quality of the 1990 Topps set and lamented that “my name was on every one of those cards.”

I searched similar video game collaborations to see if perhaps this was a trend. The promo art for a 2015 Simpsons Minecraft skin pack does have Groening’s signature, as does this Animation Domination card game featuring Futurama characters (near Bender’s hand), which makes its exclusion from Fortnite odder.

Was it a mere oversight? Did Groening decline to approve the collaboration because of the writers’ strike? Obviously it exists to promote the Hulu revival, but I’m not sure if a signature necessarily constitutes crossing the picket line. Is it a weird technicality because Fortnite is using their in-game models instead of drawn promo art? Or did the peacenik-minded Groening object to his characters being used to propagate violence in a video game? If that’s the case, I think it’s a little misguided: my understanding of Fortnite lore is that characters don’t “die,” they are bloodlessly “eliminated” and are stuck in an endless loop where they regenerate. Even Batman uses guns in the game, come on. Also, the characters in question are canonically war veterans.

Perhaps we’ll never know the real reason. In the meantime, I shotgunned Goku while playing as Bender. This, to me, is the essence of gaming.

BIZZFAD

An image of of people sitting in a movie theater. A woman in the foreground has a finger lifted to her mouth to shush the other moviegoers.

As Marvel fans are surely aware, post-credit scenes have become increasingly common in movies and TV shows over the past decade. These short clips, or “tags,” appear after the end credits and usually tease a future plot development or provide an extra laugh. The Simpsons is no exception to this trend, although newer viewers may need a bit of an explanation.

Continue Reading →

WAGON TRAIN

A picture of Moe from The Simpsons carrying a picket sign that says Bring Back Wagon Train.

Well, folks, after decades on the air, it looks like they finally stopped making The Simpsons…

…at least in part and only for the time being, as the writers have traded scripting pithy lines for carrying picket signs. The Writers Guild of America declared a strike after arriving at an impasse with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Here are some highlights:

  • Over at Jacobin, labor writer Alex Press has a good overview of the strike and the issues surrounding it.
  • In the lead-up to the strike, former American Dad! writer Kirk Rudell tweeted about how 20th Television screwed them out of money when the show moved to TBS:

  • The Animation Guild – which covers Simpsons animators – put up a Q&A on their website regarding the strike.
  • Simpsons writer Rob LaZebnik wrote a Twitter thread outlining what had been achieved in previous strikes:

  • Former showrunner Josh Weinstein tweeted about how “mini-rooms” deprive newer writers from the opportunities he had.
  • Deadline interviewed showrunner Al Jean on the picket line.
  • Could a prolonged strike actually benefit streaming services? Financial Times:

    Rich Greenfield, an analyst at LightShed, said a prolonged strike could even boost profits for the major streamers because they would not incur expenses for programming that had not been made — similar to the impact when the pandemic halted production.

    This could be especially helpful for entertainment groups carrying heavy debt loads, such as Warner Bros Discovery and Paramount.

    A prolonged strike “could lead to notably better than expected streaming profitability”, Greenfield said. “Multibillion-dollar operating losses could come in significantly better than expected.”

  • Disney subsidiary ABC Signature, which produces live-action shows, sent out a letter “reminding” showrunners they are required to work in their non-writing capacities, even though the WGA prohibits this.

That’s all for now. Solidarity forever!

WORD OF APU

The classic Friendship Ended With Mudasir meme modified so it's about Hari and Hank. It now reads Friendship Ended With Apu, Now Hari is my friend. Two men shake hands while images of Apu are crudely crossed out.

Indian American comedian Hari Kondabolu, whose little TV documentary about the Simpsons character Apu caused a wee bit of controversy back in 2017, finally got to have a chat with voice actor Hank Azaria in a joint interview aired on NPR Wednesday.

As you might recall, The Problem With Apu takes a critical look at the Kwik-E-Mart proprietor Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, a character Kondabolu blasts as a demeaning ethnic stereotype, and touches on the broader context of South Asian representation in Western media. The documentary is framed by his Michael Moore-like attempts to arrange an interview with Azaria, who (spoiler alert) politely declines.

Now it appears Hari and Hank are best buds. Azaria helped promote Kondabolu’s new comedy special in a video where he comes off like a captured prisoner of war, and the two sat down to discuss the Apu hullaballoo on NPR’s Code Switch.

Azaria, who last voiced Apu in 2017, reflected on the character’s legacy:

I – through my role in Apu and what I created in the Hollywood messaging – right? – which is a big deal in this country and around the world, I helped to create a pretty marginalizing, dehumanizing stereotype that makes it much easier – in fact, some moment during all this, I read a little news blurb where a guy was attacked. It was actually a Middle Eastern guy who was attacked in his store and was called Apu while he was being attacked. I think if I had any doubts at that point – there was also – there were certain key moments in that whole is-this-real question journey I was on where I got the answer. You know, Apu had become a slur, in other words. That – a lot of times I have conversations with my white friends and family or acquaintances or whoever, and that gets through.

Kondabolu shared the mixed feelings he has about the documentary:

I sometimes have thought to myself, I regret ever doing this. Like, it gets to a point where I’m like, I’m sick of this. And, you know, it’s – you get so frustrated as an artist and as a person. Like, the documentary is about how I hate being associated with this stereotype, and now I’m forever associated with it. Like, there’s a lot of, like, irony and frustration in that […] But at the same time, in the broad scheme of things, I think I did right. And I think I did right by my community even if they’re not all in agreement, by the way. It’s not universal. Definitely, I have a killjoy reputation amongst factions of my community as well.

In the wake of the 2020 George Floyd protests, The Simpsons announced it would no longer have white actors play non-white characters. While characters like Dr. Hibbert, Bumblebee Man, and Comic Book Guy’s wife Kumiko have since been recast, Apu and the rest of the Nahasapeemapetilon clan have yet to speak. In March 2021, creator Matt Groening mentioned they had ambitious plans for Apu, but whether they’ll ever come to fruition is anyone’s guess.
[NPR]

NEWS ROUNDUP

An image of Mario reporting the news.

Yee-haw, I’ve rounded up another batch of minor Simpsons news and other small findings from across the web.

  • Harry Shearer: not a fan of the Super Mario Bros. movie, apparently. [Twitter]
  • Speaking of Mario, here’s a 1991 ad where he previews Bart vs. the Space Mutants.
  • Showrunner Al Jean recently noted that the cigarette machine is now gone from Moe’s Tavern. In 2022, cigarettes were removed from a Krusty action figure prior to production. Coincidence…? smiley face in a tinfoil hat
  • Listen, if Avatar gets to be in Disney’s big celebratory anniversary commercial, then The Simpsons should get to be in the Disney racing game. [RacingGames]
  • Some Fortnite players were asked in a survey if they’ve heard about Bart Simpson and Peter Griffin, potentially leading to their inclusion in the game. Peter has been rumored for years, but I think Bart is unlikely mainly because he doesn’t fit the height requirement, unless they give him some sort of mecha suit like Morty. Homer on the other hand… [@SentinelCentral via GoNintendo]
  • Critic: The Disney+ Simpsons shorts are just commercials
    Defender: No they’re not, you’re just a hater!
    Al Jean: Hey, I just won another Clio, the advertising industry’s most coveted award! [Twitter]
OAKLEY CORRAL

A political cartoon of Bill Oakley looking at a calendar and discovering that the year is 1984.

Former Simpsons producer and fast food expert Bill Oakley was unjustly suspended from Twitter Monday, joining the legions of American patriots who have had their free speech curtailed by unaccountable Silicon Valley overlords.

Twitter CEO and Simpsons guest star Elon Musk recently announced that “legacy” blue checkmarks, a symbol that used to signify the authenticity of notable accounts (i.e. celebrities and businesses), would be removed unless they paid for a Twitter Blue subscription. Many, including LeBron James, have declined to pay the fee. Although Twitter later backtracked by exempting the 10,000 most-followed brands, Musk, who uses Prosecute/Fauci pronouns, had the checkmark removed from the New York Times‘s account after Prosecute learned from a meme that the company would not pay Fauci to keep it.

Oakley, who still had a blue check, seized the opportunity and impersonated the newspaper by changing his display name to “The New York Times” and changing his avatar to match theirs. He then posted a series of satirical tweets, including one referencing the famous “Steamed Hams” segment he wrote for a 1996 Simpsons episode:

A screenshot of a tweet by Bill Oakley posing as The New York Times. Text: A six-year Pulitzer Prize-winning NYT investigation has revealed that Seymour Skinner was not actually cooking a roast that was ruined but in fact was baking a ham.

Musk had declared “Comedy is now legal on Twitter” last October, but much like Principal Skinner’s claims that aurora borealis had manifested entirely in his kitchen, it was a lie. Musk’s goons moved swiftly to annihilate Oakley’s account, reverting his display name and removing his avatar. Oakley confirmed he had been banned using his assistant’s account. With this move, Oakley joins an ever-growing contingent of free-thinkers, including such luminaries as Rep. Lauren Boebert, Ye, and @catturd2, who have had their God-given right to post suppressed by the Big Tech regime in coordination with The Swamp and the Mainstream Media, an Orwellian hellstew of censorship not seen since the days of Joe McCarthy.

Oakley’s account is still viewable, which makes me assume it’s a temporary suspension and not a permanent ban, although who knows for sure. In the meantime, Oakley’s thoughts can be viewed on Instagram or by signing up for his Steamed Hams Society & Food Discovery Club. For now.

FOX NEWS

An image of Deep Space Nine being hit by a laser while Homer Simpson screams and Tucker Carlson looks mildly perturbed.

Red alert! Fox Corporation, the parent company of the Fox network and Fox News, is currently engaged in a $1.6 billion legal battle with Dominion Voting Systems that could potentially destroy the entertainment titan and bring an end to The Simpsons as we know it.

The Dominion suit alleges warped priorities led Fox News to amplify defamatory and highly illogical claims regarding the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election, causing “diminution of enterprise value” for the electronic voting machine manufacturer. Text messages and emails gathered from Fox News employees in discovery were recently made public, exposing management’s reluctance to reign in their defiant fleet of star anchors, including Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham, lest the network incur the wrath of conservative viewers. Rupert Murdoch, one of the founders of the news channel, privately admitted “maybe Sean and Laura went too far” in letting their impulses drive coverage.

Fox News has long been a ratings crusher and cable star dating back to its launch in 1996, but times are changeling. Data shows traditional linear television is in steady decline as more people cut the cord, and any resistance to this trend is likely futile. After the election, Fox News’s monthly ratings fell behind its longtime nemesis CNN for the first time in decades, a stunning feat suggesting the normally unphased network may need to augment its programming strategy in order to cling on to as many viewers as possible. The next generation of competitors, a pack lead by Newsmax, threatens to beam away Fox’s fracturing audience by catering to a menagerie of Q supporters and other fringe groups. Although it remans the number one news network, the primary directive for Fox News will be to try courting the pro-insurrection crowd while not alienating mainstream conservatives or advertisers, a balancing act of terrific sensitivity that could develop into a no-win scenario. Adding to the chaos, lobbying chief O’Brien departed the company earlier this month, leaving Fox without the experienced Washington voyager as it potentially enters a strange new world of tricky political terrain.

The fate of The Simpsons is greatly linked to Fox’s fortunes, as it is reliant on the network bearing the costs of its production. I’m no diviner, but if Fox News falls into darkness and Fox Corporation suddenly finds itself strapped for cash, the animated series could be headed to the great beyond. Disney purchased the motion picture studio behind The Simpsons from Fox in 2019, so under the rules of acquisition they would have the option to take it elsewhere or make it a Disney+ original series, were the Fox network to cancel the show. However, The Simpsons has enjoyed a long and prosperous life on Fox, a historical feat unlikely to be replicated, and if that day comes the crew may simply decide it’s a good day for the series to die.