After a duet with monster-entertainer Elmo was cut from Sesame Street for being too hot for educational TV, singer-songwriter Katy Perry has rebounded with puppet versions of Simpsons characters for some sort of gimmicky Christmas episode. Little known fact: Katy Perry is half-muppet on her father’s side. [Entertainment Weekly]
COMING ATTRACTIONS
Simpsons Take Bold Stand Against Cancer
The Simpsons – assuming they mean the the Simpsons and not, like, Jessica and Ashlee Simpson – will be appearing in some multi-network anti-cancer telethon thing (can we safely assume any celebrity not appearing supports cancer?) that will air September 10th. The last time The Simpsons did this, Homer got a colonoscopy, so that’s where the bar is set. [TVbytheNumbers.com]
Facebook Guy To Be On Simpsons As Part of Media Saturation Tour
Hey, you! Do you know who Mark Zuckerburg is? If not, you soon will, because 2010 is the Year of Zuck! He’s the cat who made the popular Friendster clone Facebook, which is currently in “hot water” for selling all of its users’ personal information to the Taliban in exchange for drugs. The outrage is so widespread that it even made the cover of Time Magazine, which is apparently considered a big deal!
As the face of Facebook (I hope you enjoyed this phrase!!! I stayed up all night writing it!!!), you can expect to see the Zuckster’s mug – which by the way used to be in the goddamn logo seriously what kind of weird egomaniac does that – all over the place in news story after news story as this privacy brouhaha continues into the summer. If we’re lucky, we might even see him look remorseful and say he’s really sorry, just like the CEOs of Goldman Sachs, Toyota, and BP!
Then, in the fall, an unflattering movie based on an unflattering book about Zuckerburg, his creepy mentor The Napster Guy, and the creation of Facebook will hit theaters, bringing his extreme jerkiness and unethical behavior to the attention of general audiences. And it’s in 3-D! Even if you don’t plan on seeing it, Hollywood’s relentless marketing juggernaut will ensure you’ll see fake-Zuckerburg’s face everywhere (except maybe on Facebook?).
Finally, if that wasn’t enough, Zuckerburg will guest star as himself (!) on The Simpsons (possibly to soften his image after public perception of him takes a beating?). This is surprisingly timely for a show that took seven years to do an episode about 9/11! For once, The Simpsons is actually jumping on a trend while it’s still sort of hot; it’s pretty amazing they didn’t go with Tom from MySpace. Could The Simpsons become culturally relevant again…? (Haha, no. They just did an episode about the Patriot Act, so I suspect it’s only a matter of time before Bart joins a flash mob.)
Anyway, shortly thereafter The Year of Zuck will conclude with Zuckerburg being thrown into a volcano after America grows sick of him, the end.
Simpsons Forced To Include Musical Number
In a stunt that puts NBC’s “Green Week” initiative to shame, Fox has apparently ordered several of its shows to include a musical number as part of a week-long campaign dubbed “Fox Rocks,” presumably to promote the network’s two most unpopular shows, American Idol and Glee. The Simpsons is participating by having “Homer, Marge and the gang” “rock out” to the song “TiK ToK” by Ke$ha in a couch gag.
When The Simpsons started, executive producer James L. Brooks had enough clout to mandate no network interference, which helped make the show great.
What happened? [The Wrap]
These Are All Actual Episode Titles
The Greatest Story Ever D’ohed
American History X-cellent
Moe Letter Blues
The Bob Next Door
The Squirt and the Whale
MoneyBart
Donnie Fatso [No Homers Club]
IN 3-D ON ICE
The guy who made a whole movie about how eating a lot of mcdonalds food is bad for you is going to direct a documentary about the simpsons, who gives a shit. The real news is that it’s gonna be called “THE SIMPSONS 20th ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL IN 3-D ON ICE,” which is the best name for a thing ever. [ComingSoon.net]
The Simpsons Will Go On Forever
This isn’t really news or anything, I just wanted to throw that out there [New York Post]
Homer Votes For Change, Al Jean Becomes Showrunner-For-Life
In the opening of the upcoming annual “Treehouse of Horror” episode, Homer attempts to vote for Barack Obama, remarking that “it’s time for change,” but his EVIL ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINE marks it as a vote for John McCain. A scuffle ensues, and the machine ends up killing him. (SPOILER ALERT: The previous two sentences may have contained spoilers).
In an eerie parallel, Al Jean has entered his eighth consecutive season of running the show, more than any other showrunner’s “term of office” in the show’s history. If his two years co-running the show with Mike Reiss during seasons 3 and 4 are taken into account, Jean will have been a showrunner for half the show’s run by the end of this season. Is it time for change? Even Homer thinks so. [Wonkette]
Jodie Foster To Play Maggie In Upcoming Episode
In an episode that’s sure to be controversial, The One-Eyebrowed Baby attempts to assassinate the president in order to win Maggie’s affections. [Entertainment Weekly]
Homer To Get Colonoscopy
According to The New York Post, Homer is going to undergo a colonoscopy this season. Actually, it’s not going to be part of the long-running FOX show, it’s going to be part of the multi-network cancer benefit on September 5 titled Stand Up To Cancer. The Post even quotes a line from the segment that already has me laughing, from Marge: “There’s his wedding band! He told me he was having it polished!”
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN
THE SIMPSONS
[TV Squad]