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…
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.
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.
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]
Here in America, another so-called “election” has come and gone. This time the Democrats forgot to rig the voting booths, so now Donald Trump gets to be the president again, as a treat. Let’s take a look at The Simpsons‘s so-called “predictions” and see how they stacked up. And yes, they are not predictions, they are jokes and satire is dead, but let’s go along with it anyway.
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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.
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.
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.
The third episode guide in the series, this one covers seasons 11 & 12.
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.
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.
Electronic Arts has announced the mobile game The Simpsons: Tapped Out will be shut down on January 24, 2025. In-app purchases have already been disabled and the game will be delisted from app stores on October 31, 2024.
In a Facebook post, EA thanked fans for their “remarkable journey” together:
The decision to end our twelve-year journey is an emotional one. Together with our partners at The Simpsons™ and The Walt Disney company, we have delighted in bringing this game to you, the fans, and seeing how you’ve each built your own beloved versions of Springfield. It has been a remarkable journey, and we are grateful that we’ve been able to deliver 308 updates, 831 characters and including today’s final farewell 1,463 questlines.
Launched in 2012, Tapped Out is a “freemium” game that allows players to build their own version of Springfield, with storylines written by actual Simpsons writers. By playing through questlines and acquiring currency, players could obtain buildings and characters to populate their town, and/or purchase them with actual money. That last part is key: just two years after its launch, Tapped Out had generated over $130 million. While its popularity had decreased over the years, it was still making money: according to Statista, the game generated $4.38 million in the first five months of 2024. Critics have opined that such “freemium” games are more akin to video gambling than traditional video games.
While this has not been confirmed, the imminent shutdown of Tapped Out next year could be an indication that EA’s exclusive Simpsons license is expiring after 20 years. The publisher had signed a “long-term, exclusive deal” for the rights back in 2005. It released The Simpsons Game for multiple platforms in 2007, and… that’s been it for The Simpsons on consoles, outside of collaborations with Minecraft and LEGO. A writer for Screen Rant theorized that “considering the success of Tapped Out and the relatively mixed reviews previous Simpsons games received, EA may believe that it doesn’t need to make a new AAA video game based on the license.”
Earlier this year, it was announced that Disney and Epic Games will collaborate on an “all-new games and entertainment universe” featuring “content, characters and stories from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Avatar and more.” Whether The Simpsons will be a part of that universe remains to be seen.
James Earl Jones, the voice of Maggie Simpson, died yesterday at the age of 93.
Jones was a titan of the stage and screen whose prolific acting career spanned decades, including such films as Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, The Hunt for Red October, Coming to America, and Field of Dreams, television work including Sesame Street, Gabriel’s Fire, the miniseries Roots: The Next Generations, and the television movie The Man, as well as the plays Fences and The Great White Hope. His trademark commanding baritone made him a natural for voiceover work, including his best-known roles as Darth Vader in the Star Wars franchise, Mufasa in The Lion King, and the guy who says “This… is CNN.” Jones received many awards and accolades over the years, including three Tony Awards, two Emmys, a Grammy, a lifetime achievement Oscar, and a Disney Legends award.
Jones voiced the iconic role of Maggie Simpson in the “Time and Punishment” segment of “Treehouse of Horror V.” [CNN]
The Walt Disney Company recently held its biennial D23 convention celebrating Disney and its various properties, which thanks to corporate consolidation and a lack of antitrust enforcement also includes The Simpsons! Here’s a roundup of all the Simpsons-related stuff.