The Simpsons will clamber yet again into its annual “Treehouse Of Horrors” this Sunday for spoofs on Jurassic Park, Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, and, intriguingly, The Three Faces of Eve. But it’s next year’s edition that’s bound to make Homer something something, as showrunner Al Jean reveals it will be the show’s…
Here’s everything The A.V. Club reviewed this weekend, from the Charmed reboot to The Walking Dead. Read more recaps on our TV reviews page.
We’ve met God before, of course. He of the four fingers, and the booming voice, and the seriously requited love for Ned Flanders (except when he let Ned’s house get wrecked by a hurricane that one time). In The Simpsons’ universe, there is, objectively, a God. Specifically the Judeo-Christian variety, as worshipped…
Last night, South Park aired “The Problem With A Poo,” which which tried to tackle a whole host of issues but, as our review noted, lacked a “coherent message.” The episode concluded with an unusually pointed call to cancel The Simpsons, which was maybe serious ... or maybe sarcastic ... or ... who knows?
Please stop having Marge say “noob.”
“Like most of America, I think I know the movie business.”
Hank Azaria is one of the most versatile voice actors working today, having leant his voice to Eddie Brock from the ’90s Spider-Man cartoon, Zoidberg’s uncle from Futurama, and, of course, dozens of characters (most controversially, Apu) from The Simpsons. With the show entering its 30th season this weekend, we asked…
Nothing reeks of 90s nostalgia like a bootleg Simpsons t-shirt. These crudely drawn knock-offs were must-have items for any fan of the show who did all their clothes shopping at flea markets and second-hand stores. Nowadays, bootleg Simpsons-wear is a little harder to come by, either because styles have changed or…
Comparing pop culture figures to the cretins in President Donald Trump’s circle is nothing new, but, Jesus Christ, a writer named Alessandro King has definitively conquered this particular brand of meme. When he promised on Twitter to discover the “Simpsons analog” of “everyone in Trump’s orbit” he wasn’t kidding, and…
“And Maggie Makes Three” is a lovely episode of The Simpsons, serving as a hilarious, heartfelt origin story for the animated clan’s youngest member. It also contains what might be the most glaring error in the history of a show that’s more or less managed to cleverly sidestep continuity questions throughout its 29…
The TV of 1998 feels more like the end of something than the beginning. Dawson’s Creek and Will & Grace were pointing to a new direction for their respective networks, but pioneering comedies like Seinfeld, The Larry Sanders Show, Living Single, and Mr. Show were closing down. Jimmy Smits was making his NYPD Blue…
Over decades of TV episodes, Homer Simpson has earned an important place in pop culture. A picture of his lightbulb head immediately creates a warm, pleasant sensation: he is a generation’s ur-Dad, he is charmingly stupid, and he’s reassuring in his familiarity. Regardless of The Simpsons’ recent quality, his cartoon…
The Simpsons transcends geography. The story of a fledgling family presided over by an oafish numbskull and his patient wife is pretty much the Platonic ideal of popular television. That said, the jokes written in a Los Angeles writers’ room staffed by twentysomething Harvard grads are decidedly less so, which means…
We’re rapidly approaching a reality in which the company that made The Little Mermaid might also own The Simpsons, a mind-boggling proposition for anyone looking back on the state of animation way back in 1989. But while Disney’s soon-to-be-completed acquisition of 20th Century Fox’s film and TV assets—including the…
It’s one thing to build a real-life Simpsons house as a publicity gimmick. It’s another to figure out what to actually do with it afterwards. Mental Floss published a fantastically detailed history all about the infamous “real-life Simpsons house,” a perfect replica of 742 Evergreen Terrace that was built for a 1997…
The Simpsons will never end, even if a super-intelligent computer has to keep generating episodes long after humanity has been eradicated, but showrunner Al Jean has an ending in mind anyway. Speaking with Geek Tyrant, Jean reiterated an idea he first pitched on Twitter back in 2014, suggesting that the final episode…
Welcome back to Trailer Happy Hour, where not all trailers are created equal. But even if not every promo or teaser—especially for TV—has the clout to make it at Comic-Con’s big Hall H, we still love them all, and pledge to gather them together in one safe place for you to conveniently devour. (That metaphor got away…
The Simpsons creator Matt Groening is taking another shot at addressing the debate around Apu Nahasapeemapetilon. In an interview with The New York Times, Groening says he loves the character, and claims to “politically” agree with critics like comedian Hari Kondabolu, who brought concerns about how Apu’s…
Some would say the internet is not in dire need of new Simpsons content. From the plethora of dank memes to the endless cavalcade of steamed hams, nearly every great Simpsons moment has been chopped and screwed for someone’s entertainment. Plus, the damn show is still on the air. We’ve got enough Simpsons to last us a…
The Simpsons has a storied history of predicting (or at least appearing to predict) various future events over the course of its run. There’s a debate in some circles as to whether this is a “monkeys with typewriters”-type phenomenon or if Matt Groening and crew are truly soothsayers. These “predictions” have become…
