Homer Simpson is going to the Super Bowl on Sunday. He will headline a 30-second MasterCard ad - one of several funky spots airing during Sunday's Big Game. The Homer spot, part of MasterCard's ongoing "Priceless" campaign, is titled "The Simpsons" and highlights a typical day for Homer, who runs some errands so he'll be able to spend more time with Marge and the kids. Homer's first stop is the Kwik-E-Mart, where he grabs a six-pack of Duff, a hot dog, potato chips and some doughnuts as the voiceover intones "Diapers, milk and laundry detergent ... $25". And so it goes, with Homer getting his oil changed, visiting his barber and ending up at Moe's Tavern - where he's served a beer and toasts the voiceover. "Getting your errands done quicker to spend more time with your family ... Priceless," says the voiceover, before repeating itself more sternly a second time. "Yeah, yeah, I heard you the first time," Homer replies. "Stupid voiceover." Read More >>>

"Return of the King" and "Lost in Translation" were the big winners at Sunday night's Golden Globes and helped turn NBC into the night's big ratings winner. Overall, NBC averaged a 14.8 rating/22 share, beating the night's regular winner CBS, which had an 8.5/13. FOX was a distant third with a 4.4/7. Among adults 18-49, NBC held onto its large margin of victory with an 8.5 rating in the coveted demographic. CBS was well back in second with a 3.5 rating, with FOX's 3.4 good enough for a tight third. At 8 p.m., NBC zipped into first with the 16.0/23 for the first hour of the Globes. CBS dropped to second with the still-solid 9.7/14 for "Cold Case." FOX finished third with "The Simpsons" new episode "Diatribe Of A Mad Housewife" (5.9/9) and "The Bernie Mac Show" (4.6/7), taking out ABC's "10-8" and The WB's "Charmed."

A new Marge-themed episode airs in North America tonight, titled "Diatribe Of A Mad Housewife". A description follows. "Marge begins writing a novel set on Nantucket Island in the mid-1800s. Although the story takes place two centuries ago, Marge bases the characters on people in her real life, telling the tale of a woman who is married to a brute and fancies her neighbor. Marge sends the manuscript off to Delacroix, who likes it so much she forwards it to authors Tom Clancy and Thomas Pynchon (guest-starring as themselves) for endorsement. Marge’s novel, "The Harpooned Heart," soon hits bookstores and has the town of Springfield recognizing Homer and Ned Flanders as her leading men. Homer, too lazy to actually read the book, buys a books-on-tape version that is read by guest-stars Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. Furious at the outcome of the story, Homer turns to Flanders to show him how to be a better husband." Don't miss it!

Homer boxing, Bart and his skateboard, Marge's gambling, Lisa the goalie, Maggie bowling a perfect game, and even Santa's Little Helper at the dog track -- "The Simpsons" regularly packs more memorable sports moments into its episodes than some MLB teams do in a season. Trimming the 14-plus seasons worth of moments down to a Top 100 was a painstaking process that involved viewing dozens of episodes, along with more time on the Internet reading about a cartoon than any grown man has the right to spend. The parameters were broad, and to keep from using only a few episodes for all 100 moments (because "Homer at the Bat" has at least 25 "moments"), all elements from a sports-themed episode were included in one entry. The only other rule was, if it's shown on ESPN, it counts as a sport. Today, moments 100-75 have been revealed. ESPNs Page 3 will count down 25 more moments each day until the No. 1 choice is revealled on Friday. Read More >>>

The Simpsons still have the funniest scripts on US TV, according to an award jury who revealed their nominations on Monday. The show was today nominated for three prestigious Writers Guild of America awards - more than any other comedy show. Malcolm in the Middle is up for two awards, with Frasier and Sex and the City among those with one nomination. Law and Order leads the way in the drama category, with three nominations. The Writers Guild of America gives its awards for the best scriptwriting in TV, radio and film. The Simpsons got its nominations in the TV animation category, for three episodes by three different writers shown in the US in 2003. They were "The Dad Who Knew Too Little", written by Matt Selman, "Moe Baby Blues" by J Stewart Burns, and "My Mother the Carjacker" by Michael Price.

Vivendi Universal are giving you the chance to win a huge Simpsons prize pack, as well as some great prizes for 14 runners up. The main prize pack includes The Simpsons Hit & Run game, Simpsons Season 3 DVD, Console of your choice (PS2, XBox, GameCube), various playmates figurines and environments, Simpsons trading card game, collectors edition Hit & Run box, t-shirt, baseball cap, air freshener, and antenna topper. The competition is open to residents of the United States (excl. Florida & Rhode Island) who are aged 18 or over. Entries close March 8th. Visit the website. Good luck!

The new top executive of Fox television has announced the struggling network is moving to a year-round programming cycle, marking a break from the traditional September-to-May TV season. "When May is over, our new season will begin in June," Fox Entertainment's Gail Berman said during a presentation to critics. "We are not seasonal programmers. We are 12-month-a-year programmers." The move is driven by Fox's own coverage of major league baseball in the fall, a fact of life that has made it hard for the network to stick with a conventional timetable for season premieres. Starting this year, Fox will roll out scripted new shows including The O.C. as early as June. What does this mean for our beloved Simpsons? Before you jump to any conclusions, Berman said veteran Fox comedies and dramas such as The Simpsons, 24, and That 70s Show will probably continue to make their returns after baseball in late autumn. But it does give us hope for the future. Read More >>>

Remember that scene in the classic 1979 film "Breaking Away" when the main character - Dave, the naïve young cyclist - was out on a training ride and ran into the Italian Cinzano squad he so admired? Remember how Dave was thrilled to be riding with them, even challenging them, until one of the Italians put a frame pump through Dave's wheel and the young blond-headed kid ended up in a ditch while the darker-haired "pros" rode away laughing? Well anyone who knows that scene well and also watched "The Simpsons" on Sunday night probably recognized a quick parody of "Breaking Away" featuring Bart and the neighborhood bullies. Although it was only the first five minutes of the half-hour program, it was great to see the show's writers give a nod to both to an Academy Award-winning film and the all-important neighborhood street sprints that bike riders across the world grew up with. Read More >>>

The Simpsons had a stellar night on Sunday, boosted by the NFC championships which aired before it, the episode "I, D'oh-bot" ranked #13 for the week with 16.30 million viewers nationwide. The event helped the episode become the most-watched this season; a trend that continued with The Bernie Mac Show afterwards (ranked #40, 11.39 million viewers).

This helped FOX become the most watched network for the night, for the first time in quite a while. FOX averaged a 14.3 rating/21 share for the night, well in front of CBS' 9.0/14. NBC was a distant third at 6.9/11. Among adults 18-49, FOX held strong with a 10.3 rating in the coveted demographic, with NBC coming in second. The Simpsons outrated CBS's Cold Case, one of their biggest successes of the year.

On Friday night Sky One broadcast the UK TV premiere of the much-hyped Simpsons episode featuring Tony Blair, complete with a voice provided by the British prime minister himself. The Simpsons: the Regina Monologues, featured Homer and the gang on a visit to London, during which they are welcomed to Britain by Mr Blair at the airport and also run into JK Rowling and Sir Ian McKellen. Sky One was watched by 1.1 million viewers and attracted an 8% share of the multichannel audience between 8pm and 8.30pm on Friday, when the new Simpsons episode was on air. This was well below the highest ever rating Simpsons on Sky One, which was 1.65 million for an episode broadcast in February 2001. However, The Regina Monologues proved more popular in multichannel homes than BBC2's Hidden Gardens, a Friends repeat on Channel 4 and Channel Five's Moving to Mars.

Don't miss tonights all new Simpsons titled "I, D'oh-Bot". There wont be an episode next week so make the most of this one. Here's a description thanks to snpp.com. "Homer and Bart build a Robot Wars-style robot, but when they discover they don't know as much about building killer robots as they thought, Homer decides to get inside of it. Meanwhile, Marge and Lisa are under the impression that Snowball II "went to kitty heaven". This episode may start late and/or be "already in progress" in the Eastern and Central time zones because of an NFC Divisional Playoff. If the game runs until 8:30, the episode may be pre-empted.

In what will probably be the first of many articles hounding tonights airing of The Regina Monologues in the UK, the Telegraph has posted their thoughts. "The Prime Minister might have been trying to impress his children. But if he wanted to win fans, he should have played it more for laughs, reports Tom Cox. Mr Blair's appearance - the subject of eight months of negotiations between Alastair Campbell and the show's producers, lasted well under a minute. Were it not for Homer's comment of "I can't believe we met Mr Bean!", it could almost have been scripted by Mr Campbell. The episode did nothing to dissuade you from the impression that America thinks of Britain as a nation of top-hat wearing, mini-driving, well-spoken wimps who make films about running to pop music and cling to a defunct monarchy; nor, if you had any kind of sense of humour, would you have wanted it to." Read More >>>

It's that time of the year again, when The Simpsons blitzes the low-key 'Annie Awards' nominations and often comes home with the goods. This year's awards ceremony takes place on Febuary 7th at the Alex Theatre in Glendale. The Simpsons is nominated in the following categories. "Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Television Production" - The Simpsons (Gracie Films); "Directing in an Animated Television Production" ('Scuse Me While I Miss The Sky); "Music in an Animated Television Production" ("Dude, Where's My Ranch?" - Everybody Hates Ned Flanders); and the one that took an Emmy last year, "Writing in an Animated Television Production" (Three Gays of the Condo by Matt Warburton). The Simpsons face Jimmy Neutron, Spiderman, Futurama, and King Of The Hill as competitors, to name a few. You can read the complete nominations at annieawards.org.

Here's the fast national ratings for Sunday. Overall for the night, ABC averaged a 12.0 rating/18 share, trouncing the night's normal winner CBS, which had a 9.9/15 for second. NBC claimed third followed by FOX's 4.7/7. This trend was repeated in the coveted demographic 18-49, with FOX also coming out fourth. At 8 p.m., ABC moved into the lead with the 13.0/19 for the showdown between the Sooners and the Tigers. CBS dropped to second with the 10.2/15 for "Without a Trace." FOX's new episode of The Simpsons titled "Marge Vs. Singles, Seniors, Childless Couples and Teens and Gays" (6.7/10) and "The Bernie Mac Show" (5.1/7) were good enough for third, topping "American Dreams" on NBC. Official Nielsen figures will be available soon.

Season 15 returns to North America tonight, with an episode titled "Marge vs. Singles, Seniors, Childless Couples and Teens and Gays". So far it wins the award for longest (and most annoying) title ever, but will the episode be any good? A short description follows: "Marge goes on another of her crusades - this time against a law that says that only parents of school children have to pay the school tax. Meanwhile, Maggie is among the babies who riot at a kiddie concert, prompting a backlash by single childless citizens, who organize against kids and famililes." Catch the episode at the usual time tonight on Fox and we'll bring you the ratings soon after.

The Simpsons Channel wishes all of our visitors a happy new year. 2004 is here and 2003 is now just a memory. It was a fairly big year in Simpsons news, with the Simpsons becoming the longest running prime-time comedy as well as celebrating their 300th episode. British Prime Minister Tony Blair made headlines (and still is) with his appearance on the show this year, while several Emmy award wins were celebrated. The third season finally arrived on DVD, and The Simpsons Hit And Run was a video game that we can all be proud of. We hope this year is just as eventful in the world of Simpsons, and wish that you can join us along the journey.