The UK got an alternative televised Christmas message this year. In addition to the Queen's traditional address to the nation, Channel 4 aired an exclusive animated piece for English viewers. In it, Marge Simpson spoke to viewers wishing them a Merry Christmas, using various British cliche's. All the family members dropped in at some point during the speech, including Homer dressed as 'Father Christmas' and Lisa with her much publicised 'Free Cornwall' protest. If you don't live in the UK you wouldn't have been able to see this message on television, but it can be downloaded in its entirety by clicking here (10mb wmv file).

The staff of The Simpsons Channel would like to wish all our regular and first-time visitors a safe and Happy Holiday season and all the best in 2005! 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 but we'll be back with any new headlines by Sunday.

Disabled scientist Professor Stephen Hawking's decision to make a second cameo appearance in The Simpsons has angered his wife. The forthcoming episode of the TV cartoon show will feature electro-convulsive shock therapy (ECT) being used to treat schizophrenia, a plot device Elaine Hawking thinks shouldn't be used in an animated comedy. She says, "I'm not altogether happy with it. I just don't think that ECT's the sort of thing that anybody should make fun out of - it's just not right for comedy. "I read the scripts and obviously told Stephen of my concerns, but he thinks it's fine, so I'll have to go along with that." The episode is expected to air some time in 2005.

Homer Simpson is going to be killed off. You read right, but before you get too carried away, it's probably just a dream sequence or more likely an upcoming Treehouse Of Horror storyline. "Show creator Matt Groening has revealed he is going to send the bumbling Simpson star to heaven to argue with God. But Matt said that Homer comes back after deciding he misses wife Marge and kids Bart, Lisa and Maggie too much. Matt - who picked up a gong for Outstanding Contribution to Comedy at the awards - said: "Homer gets into an argument with God. He tells God he should go back in time and change things that are wrong in the world. Homer says Superman could do it but God asks 'Could Superman invent love? And you do you think blew up Krypton?'" It wouldn't be Homer's first trip to heaven so it's possible.

"The Office star Ricky Gervais will write an upcoming episode of The Simpsons, it has been revealed tonight. Matt Groening, creator of the cult cartoon series, confirmed that Gervais had been signed up to pen an episode - in addition to making a cameo in the show. rybody on The Simpsons are fans of The Office - it's one of the best shows on TV in the last decade," Groening said recently. "So we are going to write Ricky into the show." Gervais will appear as his alter-ego David Brent in the cameo, although it is unknown whether he will be writing the same episode." Groening confirmed this news in an interview on UK channel ITV 2 this afternoon so we should consider this news official!

The day has finally arrived. After months of waiting, The Simpsons: The Complete Fifth Season DVD Box Set is released into North American stores today. The set includes every episode from Season 5 with commentaries, as well as music videos, featurettes, tv ads, audio outtakes, animation showcases, and deleted scenes. IGN were among the first to review the title, DVD Fanatic want you to win it, while About.com actually has deleted scenes from the disc for you to download. The set is retailing for around $49.95 US Pick up your copy today in time for Christmas!

The eagerly anticipated Simpsons Christmas message which will air on Channel 4 in the UK on Christmas Day is causing a buzz, but apart from downloading the event on the net, the rest of the world wont be able to see this exclusive piece of animation. We're expecting someone will host the entire file after the event but if you can't wait that long, Channel 4 have uploaded three video highlights to its website today. A media player that supports .rm files is required to view these movies.

Not that screenshot again, right? Marge Simpson will mock David Beckham's alleged infidelity in the eagerly-awaited Christmas speech to be screened in the UK on December 25th. The cartoon mother will compare her solid marriage to Homer, with the England Captain's reputed affair with his personal assistant Rebecca Loos during his wife Victoria's absence. Marge - who will be competing against British royal Queen Elizabeth II's annual Christmas speech - will say, "My husband and I have never been happier. "Our union is as solid as the union between your David Beckham and Posh Spice... Oh, he did that? With his assistant? That's so sad, Ok, moving on." Of course we're taking anything with Beckham's name in it with a grain of salt after a few misleading articles but this one sounds legit enough.

We previewed #100 a month ago so we thought we'd make something regular of it. Simpsons Comics #101 is avaliable in stores next Thursday. Here's Bongo's synopsis: "There are few things in the world that have a closer relationship than Homer and his sofa. So many memories, so many televised sporting events, so many pork rinds, such a big impression left in the cushions. After years of shared comfort food and the residual crumbs from said comfort food in the sofa's crevices, a man and his sofa are not soon parted; especially when said man is determined to spend a whole year... on said sofa!" The issue was also said to conclude the story #100 so be sure to pick up your copy.

Hey visitors! Today is the seventh birthday of The Simpsons Channel. On this day in 1997, the site was opened by Brian Chen as a links portal where visitors could find sites based on the content they requested. We've come a long way since then, and while this year's celebration is a low-key event, it doesn't change anything. The site in its current form is at peak popularity, bypassing the 1999 era when web news was frequent and competitive. Last week I renewed our domain right through to December 2005, so we'll at least be around for another year, and who knows what's in store until then.

The Simpsons took four out of five nominations in its category as The Writers Guild of America announced nominees Wednesday for its 2004 TV awards. The long-running Fox comedy was nominated for episodes from Season 15 including Today, I Am a Clown; Fraudcast News; Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore and Catch 'Em If You Can. The other nominee in the WGA's animation category was Starcrossed, an episode of the Cartoon Network's Justice League. The nominations helped Fox to a leading eight WGA nominations for TV writing. The network also picked up nominations for the comedies Arrested Development, Malcolm in the Middle and Wonderwalls, and the sketch-comedy series MADtv. The four Simpsons nominations beats last year's three, probably due to lack of competition in Animation. Winners will be announced Feb. 19 during ceremonies in Los Angeles and New York and we'll bring you the results when they come.

With tough competition from CBS's Survivor Vanuatu final and ABC's top rating Sunday nights, the new episode of The Simpsons titled Fat Man And Little Boy did well to score 10.3 million viewers, the same figure as last weeks episode. Aided by NBC's airing of National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, Fox did manage to scoop third for the night behind CBS who scored first place and ABC which was pushed back to second. This order continues in the coveted 18 - 49 age demographic. At 8pm, Survivor was first, followed by Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and then The Simpsons/Arrested Development. In scheduling news, unfortunately it has come to hand that the next new episode aired will be on January 16th, but hopefully then there wont be too many weeks off throughout the remainder of the season.

After tonight you wont be seeing a new episode of The Simpsons until at least January 9th next year. Fox will be showing a series of reruns and for the first week of 2005 the show will be pre-empted for a double episode of 24. So you'll be a fool to miss out on tonight's new episode titled 'Fat Man And Little Boy'. When Bart loses his last baby tooth, his solution to his "ten-year-old's midlife crisis" is to start writing slogans on T-shirts, and soon he's a gag T-shirt salesman, much to the dismay of Homer, who thinks that with Bart bringing in income, Homer is no longer needed. This episode will see Eric Idle reprise his role of Declan Desmond, who proved popular when he appeared in Season 14's 'Scuse Me While I Miss The Sky'. We'll see how this episode fares in the ratings against still competition including Survivor tomorrow.

James L. Brooks doesn't make movies too often, but that doesn't mean he isn't keeping busy. While Brooks' involvement in The Simpsons isn't as extensive as it once was, particularly while he's in the midst of directing a feature, Brooks still says that the show is close to his heart. "Well, I sure haven't been [as involved] for the last year. Usually what I do when I'm not doing the movie is there's one day a week that I put in…" The talk of a Simpsons movie has been circulating almost since the day the show first hit, but there has always been a hesitation. When IGN FilmForce spoke with Brooks this weekend, he indicated that the prospect of a movie was not out of the question. "If we feel right, then we'll go forward, and we're in the process of trying to feel right. It's sixteen years, and we have gathered together the people who have been there from the beginning, and everybody who ever was a show runner on it, so we've all gathered together and we're looking at this right now." Read More >>>

The Simpsons have once again graced the cover of TV Guide magazine. The special "Happy Holidays From The Simpsons" themed issue on sale in the USA from Thursday features four different animated covers featuring our favorite family. The content of the issue will include original artwork and seasonal messages from the Simpson family members written exclusively for the magazine. If you can't hold out until Thursday or you live in another country, the official TV Guide website has an excerpt from Homer's holiday themed message here.

If you want to make Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes go ballistic - and I wouldn't advise it - just suggest that his broadcast journalists are shills for President Bush and the Republicans. Ailes has transformed his formerly brass-knuckled, partisan persona into that of a "fair and balanced" cable-news czar. So he couldn't have been happy Sunday night when The Simpsons featured a Fox News satellite truck sporting a huge Bush-Cheney bumper sticker while the rock group Queen's classic "We Are the Champions" blared over the soundtrack. Ailes didn't return my phone call yesterday. But my pal Tom Shales e-mailed that the wicked sendup was "pretty ballsy since 'The Simpsons' plays on the Fox network, but it also shows how firm is the image of Fox News as Bush whores." "Simpsons executive producer Al Jean responded: "Shales said that, not me." Read More >>>

After a shaky start to the season, ratings for Sundays episode "She Used To Be My Girl" were slightly on the up from the last new episode. And as well with no new episode last week, the premiere film Ice Age scored 9.1 million viewers. Audiences proved they'd rather watch The Simpsons, with 10.3 million people watching the new episode this week. Some better news for the Fox network as a whole, finishing third place on Sunday and second among the 18 - 49 age demographic. The worrying signs are that despite this, The Simpsons and Arrested Development at 8pm came in at fourth place. For the whole night, ABC proved it didn't need Desparate Housewives to continue its winning form over CBS, with telemovie "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" walloping all the competition.

After a one week absence, Season 16 returns to Fox tonight with the fourth episode titled She Used To Be My Girl. It's another Marge themed episode (that's three in a row). Here's Fox's press release: "Marge runs into her former high school pal Chloe Talbot (guest star Kim Cattrall), who is now a famous newscaster. Chloe is cultured, sharp-dressed and has a successful career on television. While Lisa has become enamored with Chloe’s worldliness, Marge becomes jealous and wonders if she made the right decision by choosing family over a career". After this one there's only one new episode left until 2005. It seems Fox is stretching the season out with a rerun and an Arrested Development episode to end the year. As usual tonights episode can be discussed at No Homers Club following the episode.

Homer Simpson has been named the fifth greatest television show character of all time in a list which will be explored in a Bravo TV special titled 'The 100 Greatest TV Characters'. This comprehensive five-part series will focus its critical eye on famous television characters that have become a part of the fabric of American pop culture. Blending classic moments, rare photos and interview with both stars and show creators, the series will spotlight how our favorite TV characters broke out of the pack to emerge as pop icons. The show will air on December 30th in a five-part marathon on Bravo, and Homer will be showcased in the fifth part. Characters ranked higher than Homer were The Fonz (Happy Days), Lucy Ricardo (I Love Lucy), Ralph Kramden (The Honeymooners), and Archie Bunker (All In The Family). Read the full list here.