For a moment, Al Jean couldn't believe his ears. Here was the British Prime Minister, the man to whom he had sent an irreverent script, shaking his hand in a quiet ante-room at 10 Downing Street and saying, "You're my hero". As a writer and executive producer of The Simpsons, Jean wasn't used to being called a hero, let alone being greeted so effusively by a statesman. But these were exceptional circumstances. British premiers won't get the chance to be immortalised as a character in The Simpsons very often. Tony Blair knew an opportunity when he saw it and, after 8 months of negotiation between his director of communications and the producers, he agreed to make an appearance. "We never, ever thought he would agree. And, even up to the last minute, we never thought it would happen," explains Jean. Read More >>>

People considering a tandem skydive would trust cartoon character Homer Simpson over US President George Bush, according to research. The public voted the daft dad of hit TV show The Simpsons as their number one choice if they were participating in the daredevil stunt. Homer got 20% of the overall vote in the survey carried out on behalf of disability charity Leonard Cheshire, while President Bush got just 8%. More than 1,000 adults were asked to rank personalities in order of who they felt was most trustworthy. Weakest Link host Anne Robinson got 16% of the overall vote, while Pop Idol judge Simon Cowell got 13%. Homer was most trusted by people in the North West (31%) but least by those living in the North East (16%). Cowell was most trusted in Scotland (15%), but Londoners preferred Robinson (22%).

The staff of The Simpsons Channel would like to wish all our regular and first-time visitors a safe and Happy Christmas and all the best in 2004! May all your Christmas wishes come true, and be sure to take care on this very special day tomorrow. We'll of course be taking the day off, as should the media, but we'll be back with any new headlines by Saturday.

AskMen.com columnist Rich Weir has posted his top ten episodes of The Simpsons in his bi-weekly entertainment article. There's a couple of strange additions but then we all have different tastes. "Having recently celebrated its 300th show, there's no better time to honor the ultimate Simpsons episodes of all time. And no, it wasn't easy; how do you narrow down a plethora of historic installments from what is arguably one of the greatest comedies in television's history? And since every die-hard fan has his favorites, some classic moments inevitably had to fall through the cracks (the unforgettable visit from Shary Bobbins, Bart and Lisa's hellish stay at Kamp Krusty, and the climactic answer to "Who Shot Mr. Burns?," to name a few). Read More >>>

The media seems to have taken the week off, but the websites are delivering changes before the year's end. Four redesigns have occured in the past week, of course, one of them being us. Thanks for all the positive feedback. Other changes have occured at Just D'oh It, which has redesigned to celebrate its second birthday. D'oheth has turned four, and has also been given a makeover. Finally, the compact A Little Slice Of Springfield has changed to a single-page format and has adopted a little more 'festive' color. Great improvements all around.

Praise continues to roll in for arguably the best Simpsons video game of all time. CNN has named "Simpsons: Hit & Run" one of the four best console games of 2003, alongside "SOCOM II: U.S. Navy SEALS," "SSX 3," and "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic."

Shrugging off the resemblance to Rockstar Games' "Grand Theft Auto" titles, CNN's Marc Saltzman has nothing bad to say about this "incredibly fun and silly" Simpsons game. Read More >>>

Welcome to The Simpsons Channel version 8. Today is our sixth birthday and we thought we'd commemorate it with a change in design. We've pretty much stuck with what's worked for us in terms of features and colour scheme, and are still very much committed to bringing you the latest Simpsons news first. Basically I wanted to do something that wasn't put together in two days, as our last design was. We've renewed our domain until December 2004 and intend to be in business until then and possibly beyond.

There's not a lot much else that I can say about the design. You can see what I've done, sticking with the three basic tabs on the right and given us a little extra room for longer headlines. As you navigate the site you'll see everythings as it used to be, but improved visual-wise, so I'm not expecting any huge negative feedback.

If you're down about the amount of front-page stories, don't be, I've just narrowed it down to three for opening day so you can see the design in a compact form as it was created. Your feedback is most welcome, whether it be by email or at a message board in which I've posted a thread.

Against extremely tough competition, NBC got a solid performance out of "Secret Santa," but it wasn't nearly enough. The finale of "Survivor" helped CBS run the table on Sunday night. Overall, CBS averaged a 12.6 rating/19 share for a comfortable advantage over second place NBC. FOX was well back in third at 6.1/9. Among adults 18-49, CBS maintained its margin of victory in the coveted demographic. FOX finished second for the night at 4.4. At 8pm, the first hour of the "Survivor: Pearl Islands" finale earned a 13.2/20, more than doubling up FOX's new Simpsons episode 'Tis The Fifteenth Season (6.6/10) and "The Bernie Mac Show" (5.5/8).

Nielsen's shows the episode ranked #28 for the week with 11.28 million viewers.

Christmas is coming early in Springfield. Tonight's new episode titled 'Tis The Fifteenth Season' is another Christmas-themed episode and will be repeated on Monday December 22nd. Here's a description thanks to snpp.com. "Homer is given a Joe DiMaggio rookie card by Mr. Burns, so he sells it for a lot of money. After spending most of it on himself, Homer comes to realize his greedy ways when he sees "A Christmas Carol" on TV. So he reverses course and starts to do favors for everyone he can, making Flanders jealous by becoming Springfield's new king of nice. He and Flanders then engage in a head-to-head "nice-off". Catch it tonight!

"You're sitting down to watch TV. One channel's showing a presidential debate, another a cartoon. Which do you watch? If you want entertainment, you'll pick the cartoon. But if you want a smart take on current events - well, you still might want to pick the cartoon. Ever since The Simpsons launched the current boom in adult animation, we've been more likely to hear pointed social commentary from animated cells than from anyone running for office." The Simpsons, South Park, and King Of The Hill are discussed as examples in this article from sunspot.net. Read More >>>

In a joke on "The Simpsons" Sunday night, cartoon character Lisa consulted a real-life book about the show's episode-by-episode history to check whether they had already done that night's story before. They hadn't. But if she'd checked further, she would have found another apparent error in the script. In an episode focusing on Krusty the Clown's long-delayed bar mitzvah, the clown stated his given name as Herschel Pinchas Yoracham Krustofsky. And as anyone who remembers the Wanted poster that was issued after Mr. Burns was shot in 1995 knows only too well, Krusty's name is Herschel Shmoikel Krustofsky. Did the producers goof? No, says Fox spokeswoman Jill Hudson: "They just wanted to see if anyone was paying attention."

After Hello magazine published a tidbit on David Beckham scoring a role in The Simpsons, we were quick to follow and so did countless other British media sources. It was inevitable that the creators of The Simpsons would hear this eventually, and Al Jean was just as shocked to hear the news as we were. David Beckham WILL NOT appear in The Simpsons. The producer took time out to personally inform snpp.com contributor Jonah Flynn that Beckham had not scored a cameo and any information saying otherwise is 100% untrue. A week's worth of chatter is probably enough to keep the rumor alive for years, so be sure to spread the word, and hopefully this'll be the last time you see Beckham's head on our front page.

Duff Beer, d’oh and the delinquent acts of a yellow boy named Bart will be the topics of discussion tonight as a writer for "The Simpsons" speaks about the animated television classic. Mike Reiss, who has won four Emmy awards for his work on The Simpsons, will speak in Meacham Auditorium in Oklahoma Memorial Union at 7:30 p.m. The "Simpsons Symposium" is free and organized by the Campus Activities Council Speakers Bureau. "We’ve never put on anything like this before," said Rebecca Johnson, CAC chairwoman. "So many students love The Simpsons, it’s just a cool thing to do that will draw a lot of students." In addition to spilling the secrets of Springfield residents, Reiss will also share clips from The Simpsons that never aired on the show, said Nathanial Scott, CAC Speakers Bureau chairman. Read More >>>

The much anticipated 'Today I Am A Clown' did well in the opinion polls, lets see how it rated on Sunday. For the night, CBS averaged an 11.7/18, miles in front of second place ABC. NBC was a distant third with FOX right behind at 4.7/7. Among adults 18-49, CBS had a 4.8 rating to win the coveted demographic. FOX moved up to second with a 3.4 rating. At 8 p.m., CBS rode "Cold Case" to a 10.6/16 and the hourly win. FOX moved up to second with "The Simpsons" (6.1/9) and "The Bernie Mac Show" (5.7/9). Nielsen's weekly data will be available later this week, when we'll bring you the figures and ranking for the episode.

Actress Bridget Fonda and composer Danny Elfman were married Thanksgiving weekend, Fonda's publicist said Friday. The wedding took place near Los Angeles, with the reception at a downtown restaurant, publicist Nancy Seltzer said. The newlyweds are on a two-week honeymoon. Fonda, 39, whose film credits include "Single White Female," "The Godfather: Part III" and "Jackie Brown," is part of an acting dynasty that includes father Peter Fonda, aunt Jane Fonda and the late Henry Fonda, her grandfather. Elfman, 50, is the former frontman for the '80s pop group Oingo Boingo and composer of The Simpsons theme song.

New episode again tonight, for the sixth week in a row. Tonight's episode is titled 'Today, I Am A Clown'. A related article was posted on The Jewish Journal this week. "Krusty the Clown never had a bar mitzvah. It's a startling confession "Simpsons" fans will hear this Sunday when the Springfield celebrity discovers he doesn't have a star on the town's Jewish Walk of Fame. Krusty turns to his Orthodox father, Rabbi Hyman Krustofsky (Jackie Mason), and Mr. T for help. Krustofsky returns to help his son study for his big day ? which he originally opposed for the young Hershel, fearing that he might make a mockery out of it. When Krusty realizes that his show's shooting schedule has him working on Shabbat, he brings in Homer Simpson as a guest host." Read More >>>

Sega of America on Thursday sued a division of Fox Entertainment and Electronic Arts Inc., saying The Simpsons Road Rage (not Hit & Run) infringes a Sega patent. The suit, filed in San Francisco federal court, named as defendants Fox Film Entertainment, Fox Interactive, the game's developer Radical Games Ltd, and Electronic Arts. Sega, a division of Japan's Sega Corp., claims the 2001 video game "Simpsons Road Rage," was designed to "deliberately copy and imitate" the Sega game "Crazy Taxi," according to court documents. Sega cited reviews by video game publications of "Simpsons Road Rage" that said the game was very similar to "Crazy Taxi," including one that characterized "Road Rage" as a "shameless incident of design burglary." Read More >>>

We previously reported that champion sportsman David Beckham had been rejected to appear on The Simpsons. Hello! magazine has today reported otherwise. "Star footballer David Beckham is following in the footsteps of famous Brits from Prime Minister Tony Blair to Mick Jagger, with his animated alter-ego making a one-off appearance on TV cartoon hit The Simpsons. While he was passed up for a cameo earlier this year for not being famous enough stateside, the athlete's whirlwind PR tour of the US apparently had the desired effect. With David's popularity now on the rise, producers of the popular programme have had a change of heart." It is likely that Beckman's appearance will be in next year's Season 16.

With The Simpsons without its 8:30pm rerun this week, Bernie Mac took its place. Lets see how The Fat And The Furriest fared. Overall for the night, CBS averaged an 11.2 rating/17 share for the evening, NBC in second, ABC in third with 5.9/9 and FOX came fourth with 5.3/8. Among adults 18-49, CBS stayed in the lead with a 4.4 rating in the coveted demographic. FOX was second with a 3.8 rating. At 8 p.m., CBS' "60 Minutes" (and "Cold Case" in some markets) had a strong 11.5/18 for the hour. FOX moved up to second with "The Simpsons" (6.8/10) and the season premiere of "The Bernie Mac Show" (6.1/9). The Simpsons came in at #33 for the week with about 12 million viewers. 89% of this audience stuck around to help The Bernie Mac Show get the figures.

An episode from popular cartoon series The Simpsons could result in Grandpa Simpson being accused of infringing on someone else's domain name. As you can see from the snap of the TV picture, Grandpa is fulminating about how the whole world has gone to rack and ruin. To that end Grandpa Simpson apparently set up his own web site, oldcoot.com, as was revealled in last night's 'The Fat And The Furriest'. But unfortunately, the oldcoot.com domain is registered to a real person, Samuel L. Bowman, based in Sharpsville, IN, who operates a business called Granpabusiness.com. This should be an interesting one to watch.