Hitting the comic stands tomorrow is Simpsons Super Spectacular #2! Super-heroic Barts of many worlds (Bartman, Stretch Dude, and Cupcake Kid) are summoned into yet another world by an unlikely ally to battle side-by-side against the tyrannical ruler of the planet… Bart Simpson(!) in "The Extraordinary League of Barts!" And on the flip side, Radioactive Man and the "marvels" of Zenith City are viewed through the camera lens of a prickly photographer in "Bongos," an all-comic, all-painted tale by Batton Lash and Dan Brereton.

Simpsons Classics #7 is also avaliable for you to pick up, as well as Futurama Comics #23.

Sunday's new episode of The Simpsons scored a total of 9.04 million viewers at 8:00pm, giving "We're On The Road To D'ohwhere" the lowest figures this season (previously 9.8 million; Christmas Stories and Girl Who Slept Too Little). The figures remain relatively stable though, as there hasn't been any huge dropoffs yet.

The Simpsons and The War At Home were in fourth place at 8pm, and so was the FOX network overall for the night. In the key 18 - 49 demographic, the network's lineup boosted them to second place. Family Guy had 9.12 million viewers at 9 -- the first time it has beat The Simpsons this season, while American Dad even edged close with 8.21 million.

- Airs Sunday!
After a huge break, The Simpsons returns this Sunday with an all new episode -- before taking on another huge month long break.

After Bart steals the key for the school's steam tunnels and triggers and explosion that destroys Principal Skinner's car, Marge and Homer send him to a "behavior modification camp." Homer is forced to cancel his much-anticipated trip to Las Vegas in order to drive Bart to the camp, but on the way there, Homer decides it's a great time to bond with Bart.

Billy West, voice of Phillip J. Fry, Professor Farnsworth, and others, today confirmed via his website forum that new episodes of Futurama have been greenlit by FOX. The word from executive producer David X. Cohen was delivered to West today, with four straight-to-DVD full-length features ordered, obviously with the possibility of more or even a series revival depending on how those sell. The show's production crew is expected to get back together and start recording the new material at the end of July or August this year.



While news of a direct-to-DVD release was confirmed in July last year, very little has been heard on the topic and we suspect even the show's creators were even in the dark over details. The Simpsons Channel will endeavor to keep you informed on the latest Futurama news despite our Simpsons focus.

Earlier this week we broke that the White Stripes were to appear on The Simpsons. MTV.com has given further details on their appearance.

The Stripes have been tapped to appear in an upcoming episode of the long-running FOX 'toon, scheduled to air sometime this fall. In the episode, titled "Jazzy and the Pussycats," Jack and Meg White find themselves in the middle of a family feud when Homer and Marge buy a drum kit for Bart, who becomes a jazz drummer, much to the dismay of his musically inclined sister, Lisa. In one scene — an homage to the Stripes' clip for "The Hardest Button to Button," Bart bashes his kit in his bedroom, down the street, through the halls of Springfield Elementary and into an intersection, where he meets up with the Detroit duo.

According to a spokesperson for FOX, Jack and Meg recorded their lines in New York on November 30, before Jack lost his voice and was ordered by doctors not to speak. The episode isnt expected to air until season 18.

Simpsons Comics #114 hits the comic stands this Wednesday. Get the 4-1-1 on the good people of Springfield, as you become privy to the phone conversations, the wrong numbers, the latest gossip, and the bad connections of everyone in town. Wish for the ish with all the dish (if you get our gist)!

Bongo were also due to release Simpsons Super Spectacular before the end of 2005 but has been postponed for reasons unknown. We'll let you know when its out.

Kiefer Sutherland and Mandy Moore are the latest stars adding their voices to cult cartoon series The Simpsons. Sutherland will play an Army colonel in an upcoming episode, which will see Homer Simpson mistaken for a terrorist. Singer/actress Mandy Moore will portray a sexy dominatrix named Tabitha Vixx



Jack White of band The White Stripes will show up in an episode where Homer and Marge buy a drum kit for Bart and he becomes a jazz drumer, making Lisa jealous. Looking even further ahead, signed for Season 18's Treehouse Of Horror are Richard Lewis and Fran Drescher.

A total of 10.1 million viewers watched Sunday's episode Homer's Paternity Coot. At 8:00pm, The Simpsons was in third place behind CBS's Cold Case and ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. In the cartoon war, 8.2 million viewers tuned in at 9pm for Family Guy and 7 million for American Dad. Two Simpsons reruns at 7:00pm came fourth in their slot.

Overall for the night, winners were CBS, ABC, NBC, with FOX lurking behind in fourth place. FOX did manage to come third amongst viewers 18-49, behind ABC and CBS.

- Airs Tonight!
Marge's objections to the new toll road system somehow leads to the discovery of a frozen mailman and his 40-year-old mail. The letters are returned to the rightful recipients, including one to Grandpa Simpson's deceased wife, revealing a secret love affair and the real father of her baby, Homer. Confused and emotional, Homer finds Mason Fairbanks (Michael York), his wealthy and much improved paternal dad, and happily establishes a father-son relationship with him while rejecting his surrogate father of 40 years. But soon Homer realizes that a DNA test doesn't necessarily tell who his true father is.

Variety reports that talks have begun at 20th Century Fox TV to revive Matt Groening's animated series Futurama, which takes place in the next millennium. The studio is in early discussions to put Futurama back in production and create a limited number of episodes of the Emmy Award-winning series -- although it's too soon to tell where those episodes might end up, adds the trade. While reports of Futurama's return have been loosely discussed in the past, this is the first time we've heard word of Fox taking an interest.

The final original episode of Futurama aired on Fox in August 2003. But since then, the series has found new life -- and fans -- via DVD releases and repeatedly high-rated airings on the Cartoon Network. Futurama remains popular enough that Comedy Central even stole away off-net rights to the show's repeats late last year; it will switch to the comedy channel in 2008.

The Simpsons creator Matt Groening said Ricky Gervais did such a good job writing an episode of the hit US comedy show that he wants him to do more. The Office star wrote and appears in the episode, which is due to be screened next month. Groening said Gervais was good enough to be a regular character, according to the UK press. "He caught our tone exactly, and then added his own Ricky Gervais/David Brent patheticness," Groening said. "Everything you could ever possibly want from Ricky Gervais you get. "It's possible we'll collaborate again... he should be a regular character. In fact, he should have his own cartoon series."

Gervais' character in The Simpsons is based on David Brent from The Office sitcom. He moves into The Simpson household with Marge as the family take part in an episode of Wife Swap, while Homer moves in with his wife.

Bart Simpson Comics #27 shipped to stores last week.

It's high-flying hilarity when Bart, Lisa, and Milhouse zip around Springfield in eighty minutes inside a hot air balloon! Then, an anxious Lisa believes that someone is out to sabotage her big sax solo at the Springfield Elementary concert. And get ready for another Maggie & Moe mystery, when a trip to the Springfield Museum leads to the theft of the museum's biggest cubic zirconia.