WAGON TRAIN

Here in Canada, on a Canadian channel called NewsWorld, [writer] Joel Cohen appeared live via satelitte to discuss the current strike. In it, he said there’s only enough new episodes lined up for the rest of the year, after that, that’s it.

He also said that when the writers do eventually return, there will be such a backlog that there won’t be any new episodes until this time next year which is November 2008.

What will become of ANIMATION DOMINATION??? [Some Guy On A Message Board]

COMING ATTRACTIONS, MY TWO CENTS, PANEL PIECES

Despite reports to the contrary, the next season is looking to be a continuation of the death spiral that was the past two seasons, if the Simpsons panel at Comic-Con is any indication. A look at what’s to come:

  • Yet another Nelson episode: Really? Again? Who could have imagined that there would be so many goddamn episodes exploring the emotional life of the kid who says “haw haw?”
  • Another slam at the on-screen FOX advertising bugs:

    The panel was brought to a close with a clip from the upcoming season’s Halloween episode. In it, Marge is decorating cupcakes that look like jack-o’-lanterns. She pokes fun at the fact that Halloween “was last week,” but at the Simpsons’ house they’re still celebrating (a nod to the fact that the Halloween episodes never air on Halloween). While she’s speaking, the American Idol “bug” pops up on screen. Marge is upset by this, grabs her Dust Buster and sucks the logo up. She tries to start speaking again, but the Fox Sports “bug” pops up and a bunch of mini-football players run out. Marge kills them with bug spray. Next, 24 (along with a mini-Jack Bauer), Family Guy (with mini-Peter Griffin) and House bugs (with mini-Dr. House) appear. Marge grabs Jack and sticks him to the fridge with a magnet. Next, she “blends” Peter to death with a cappuccino frother. Lastly, she grabs Dr. House, sticks him in the microwave, and blows him up. Cut to the family sitting at the dining room table and Marge walking in with fresh baked bread. “Dinner is served,” says Marge. She slices off a piece of bread to reveal the various body parts of all these guys spelling out “Treehouse of Terror XVII.”

    OK, it was kinda funny when Homer ate Joe Millionaire, but this is comedy cancer.

  • More character returns: This time it’s Lurleen Lumpkin, the country singer Homer managed, and Sideshow Bob’s brother Cecil, following in the footsteps of such other pointless Jean-era returning characters as Homer’s Mother, Bob the RV salesman, Artie Ziff, and The Guy Who Originally Owned The Dog.
  • Al Jean is going to remain showrunner forever: Says No Homers Club poster elephant6rawk, who was there and asked them if they plan on replacing Jean as guy in charge of the show any time soon. There is no hope for The Simpsons.

[IGN]

VOICE BOX

“Voice acting god” and Simpsons recurring voice actor Frank Welker revealed in an e-mail to Simpsons fan Kenneth White why he hasn’t appeared in The Simpsons since Season 13:

A few years back Dan “C” did Santa’s Little Helper in a rehearsal and unfortunately for me … did it a little too good. The producers thought … “Hmmm, Dan barks pretty good, and we are already paying him and he seems to like doing the dog thing … why do we need to pay Welker who comes in here, spends less than an hour, eats all the doughnuts, refuses to come to rehearsals … let’s just give the damn dog to Dan!” Bingo … I’m out. I did do lots of shows that needed sound effects and weird sounds, but Santa is without this little helper.

I wanted a raise … most of what they asked me to do was wild and wacky, but it also almost always hurt my throat. So, I asked for a raise … that is why you haven’t seen me. They are really great people over there, but they have a rule about “top of the show” for guest performers and I fell under that consideration.

Welker has played Santa’s Little Helper, Snowball II, She’s The Fastest, Fred from Scooby Doo, Megatron, Milhouse’s monkey, Burns’ canine executive vice president, Africa’s wildlife, Lisa’s pony, and a dozen zoos’ worth of other animals. Life is ruff! [No Homers Club]

SPRINGFIELD SHOPPER

Matt Groening:

“The scripts evolved incredibly. Characters have come and gone, story twists have changed, huge sequences have been storyboarded and then deleted. One of our favourite new characters is totally out, just to streamline the story. Nothing’s sacred. As good as the film is going to be, the DVD, with all our deleted scenes, is going to be a hell of a bonus package.”

[Empire via No Homers Club]