The bright, refurbished Great Hall of the Student Union was crowded Monday night. The speaker, a short, turtleneck-clad man, was a consultant for "The PJs," helped put out "Alf" and wrote jokes for "Airplane II: The Sequel". He also helps produce a lesser-known program called The Simpsons. Mike Reiss, a consulting producer on the show, has been behind America's favorite four-fingered family for more than 200 episodes. His 11 years of comedy experience shone through in his rapid-fire idiosyncratic routine. "Why do they have four fingers?" Reiss said, responding to a question about the family. "It's 20 percent cheaper." The event ran a lighthearted 45 minutes. The auditorium that had seen a more somber Chuck D presentation less than a week ago was packed with Simpsons devotees. But Reiss didn't neglect his responsibilities to his sponsors. He spoke of his quirky childhood in the Jewish community, tossed off with well-honed wit. Read More >>>

This Sunday saw a Simpsons double, with new episode Smart & Smarter at 8:00pm, followed by a rerun of I, D'oh-Bot at 8:30pm. This is the standard schedule for a Simpsons double, and once again Fox received the standard result. 12.5 million viewers tuned in for Simon Cowell's appearance at 8pm while 12.8 million caught the rerun.

Elsewhere, the premiere of "Super Millionaire" helped push ABC to second on the night, just behind CBS. NBC wasn't far off in third place. Despite the improved Simpsons ratings, FOX once again took fourth at 5.2/8. Among adults 18-49, though, ABC came out on top. FOX was a tight second in the coveted demographic, while NBC and CBS followed. The two Simpsons episodes helped Fox come second for the 8pm hour, behind CBS's "Cold Case."

Once the hottest items on toy store shelves, Playmates Toys has recently confirmed that their "World of Springfield" Simpsons action figure line will end this year after releasing Series 16. Unfortunately, due to the untimely departure of Maggie Roswell from the show, an interactive Maude Flanders figure was never released. While The SCS is doing their best to urge Playmates to develop the figure, staff member Michael Crawford has created a poll to determine the interest in the Maude figure and other final WoS products. Only one vote per person, please. Read More >>>

Tonight's new episode has been in the spotlight moreso than most of the episodes this season. The episode titled "Smart And Smarter" sees Simon Cowell as the voice of an interviewer for a pre-school that Homer and Marge are trying to get Maggie into. When she gets in, Lisa doesn't take it particularly well. Cowell is well known for his acerbic comments on TV and will be seen making cruel jibes at the Simpsons' youngest child Maggie. On the appearance, Cowell says "It's the best thing I've ever been asked to do." The episode airs tonight in North America (followed by a repeat of I, D'oh-Bot) and on May 23rd in the United Kingdom. We'll bring you the ratings for the episode later this week.

With three nominations in total, the chance of The Simpsons winning a Writers Guild Award this year was fairly high. The 56th annual awards were presented in simultaneous ceremonies in New York and Los Angeles this Saturday, with "Lost in Translation" and "American Splendor" taking top screenwriting honors. The Simpsons tops the television winners in the animation category. The show received the award for the Season 14 episode "The Dad Who Knew Too Little" written by Matt Selman. Other episodes nominated were "Moe Baby Blues" by J. Stewart Burns, and "My Mother The Carjacker" by Michael Price, but these did not come out on top. This is the show's first Writers Guild Award after a category for animation was introduced last year.

It's another week of disappointing figures for The Simpsons after last week's airing of "Margical History Tour" was trounced by the Grammy Awards as well as two other networks. "Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore" ranked #49 for the week with a total of 9.43 million viewers.

While CBS easily swept the four primetime hours on Sunday in total viewers, NBC pulled the same trick in the key young adult demos. Fox was once again no where to be seen, sitting at position #4 behind the ABC for the night. At 8pm, "Cold Case" kept CBS in first at, beating the conclusion of NBC's airing of "Shrek." ABC was a sold third with the 6.5/11 for "Extreme Makeover," while FOX stayed fourth with "The Simpsons"(5.3/8).

After months with no talk about the Season 4 DVD, it looks as though things are finally starting to happen. DVDFanatic.com today announced that Conan O'Brien will be providing a commentary for the episodes Marge Vs. The Monorail and New Kid On The Block. "After seeing a Conan O'Brien show, one of our devoted readers asked Conan if he was going to do The Simpsons: Season 4 Commentary track. Apparently, Conan told him that he recorded them the week prior. "Tall Al" asked, "Even the Monorail?" and Conan replied back, "Yeah, Monorail!" In addition to this, early last week the website also announced Jon Lovitz would be providing commentaries for episodes he appeared in. There's still no release date available for the fourth box set in the series, but we'll let you know as soon as any news comes to hand.

Don't miss tonights new episode of The Simpsons titled 'Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore.' A description of the episode follows and may contain spoilers. "Bart is heartbroken when Milhouse and his mother move away to Capitol City. Desperate to fill Milhouse's shoes, Bart attempts to find a new best friend with no such luck. That is, until Marge asks him to wash the family car with Lisa, and the two have so much fun they begin to do everything together as best friends would. Later, Bart decides to pay Milhouse a visit and is shocked to see his once meek best friend has reinvented himself. The new Milhouse sports spiked blond hair, is popular and even gives Bart a wedgie in the halls at school." The episode airs tonight at 8pm on Fox.

The staff of The Simpsons Channel would like to wish Simpsons creator Matt Groening a happy birthday. The cartoonist who first brought our favorite family to life in a series of Tracey Ullman Shorts in 1987 celebrates his 50th birthday today. On behalf our visitors, we wish him all the best for today and in the future. Way to go, Matt!

Sure it's great to be an Emmy Award-winning producer and writer for a legendary television show, but Mike Reiss, who has worked for years on The Simpsons is prepared to tell students at Weber State University today about the other half of that equation. While he was the executive producer and head of the classic animated Fox series during seasons three and four, "I worked 80 to 100 hours a week, 51 weeks a year. It nearly killed me," he said. "That's why I ran the show for only two years and that's why people only do it for two or three years." At the end of the fourth season, Reiss visited his doctor and learned he gained 70 pounds while he was head of the series. "My doctor said, 'You're morbidly obese. Do you know what that is?'" Reiss remembered. "I said, 'That's what Homer is.'" Read More >>>

With Mike Reiss in the spotlight at the moment, The State News have also posted an article about him and The Simpsons.

After years of living in Springfield's celebrity shadow, Eugene finally got its own moment in the spotlight. For 14 years, Eugene's neighbor to the east has reveled in its status - earned or not - as hometown to The Simpsons. But on Sunday night, Eugene got a brief taste of the thrill when the writers deigned to put the city in the script, too. In the episode "Margical History Tour", characters Lenny and Carl re-enact the Lewis and Clark expedition. Naturally, when the two reach the mouth of the Columbia River, the rain kicks in. "I say we give this lovely land a name," says Lenny. "How about: Eugene, Oregon?" Executive producer Al Jean said writer, Michael Price, came up with the line because he thought it sounded funny and because Eugene's a pretty well-known place. While Groening didn't inspire the line himself, he was on hand for the final mixing of the show, when special sound effects are added, and was amused when he heard the line. Read More >>>

DVD Fanatic got a chance to talk to The Simpsons producer and writer Mike Reiss, who chatted about the next "Simpsons" DVD and says that The Simpsons movie is definitely in the works. "It's been 13 years of wanting to do "The Simpsons" Movie. Finally FOX said, "Let's just do it!" We never had the greatest idea that was compelling but FOX said, "Maybe if we start paying you, you'll get inspired." And sure enough it worked! We've got a very good and interesting idea and it's different from the show. You know, it's like the "South Park" movie where it's just a bigger, longer, amplified version of the show. I can't tell you anything specific about it. My wife doesn't even know the secret." When asked when he thought this movie would come out, Reiss said "I will say two years from this summer. I think it's going to be Summer 2006 or maybe Christmas 2006. It's a reality after being just sort of this phantom idea. I think it is really gonna happen." Read More >>>

Sunday's 46th annual Grammy Awards telecast delivered its highest numbers in three years, driving CBS to an easy victory for the night. This left The Simpsons with its lowest figures in quite some time, rating fourth in its timeslot with just 8.9 million viewers.

Overall for the night, CBS averaged a 14.2 rating/22 share, good enough for a wide margin of victory over second place NBC's 7.2/11. ABC took third at 6.1/9, with FOX a distant fourth at 3.9/6. Figures were much of the same in the coveted 18 - 49 demographic. The Grammys began at 8 p.m. and gave CBS a 15.7/23 for the first hour. "Dateline" improved to an 8.3/12 in second, still ahead of ABC's "Pearl Harbor." FOX was back in fourth with the 4.5/7 average between "The Simpsons" and "The Bernie Mac Show." The WB was fifth with the 2.8/4 for "Charmed."

Simon Cowell is cut down to size in a classic TV moment by Homer Simpson. The acid-tongued pop impresario suffers the wrath of Homer after he makes baby daughter Maggie cry. Cowell is the latest celebrity to land a starring part in the long-running cartoon series. And he said yesterday: "It's the best thing I've ever been asked to do." The episode, "Smart And Smarter," sees Cowell given the role of a nursery school admissions officer. He is confronted by Homer after he makes cruel comments about Maggie when she fails an Idol-style audition for his nursery. The episode is set to be a smash in the States, where Cowell has become a hate figure for his acidic put downs on American Idol. An insider said: "Simon Cowell made his name in Britain for being stuck-up and arrogant and he went one better in the States. Read More >>>

The Simpsons has come home with the goods once again. The show last night left the 31st Annual Annie Awards with another award to add to its vast collection. The Annie for "Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Television Production" was won by our favorite family over fellow nominees "Captain Sturdy," "Fairly OddParents," "Samurai Jack," and "Spider Man: The Animated Series."

Update: The Simpsons also won the award for direction in an animated television show ('Scuse Me While I Miss The Sky), music in an animated television show (Everybody Hates Ned Flanders; Dude Where's My Ranch?), and writing in an animated television production (Three Gays Of The Condo). Apologies for our previous article which reported otherwise.

A new episode airs in North America tonight, titled "Margical History Tour". The episode is a trilogy of stories similar to that of "Simpsons Bible Stories" and "Tales From The Public Domain", which you either love or don't care for. This year's format is tales from our history. Details in the episode follow. "There's a shortage of books at Springfield Library, but Marge isn't about to let that stand in the way of telling a few stories about historical characters: Henry VIII (Homer), Lewis and Clark (Lenny and Carl), Sacagawea (Lisa), and Mozart (Bart)" It's the first episode in an all-new February lineup, with new episodes guaranteed all month. Other scheduled episodes can be seen on our right column.

Bart Simpson is to appear at the world's biggest arts festival this year. Nancy Cartwright, the voice behind the character, is to launch her debut one-woman show in Edinburgh this summer. The three-week run will be based on Cartwright's best-selling memoir about her role as the spiky-haired tearaway, My Life As A Ten-Year-Old Boy. Her performance at the Assembly Rooms this August is expected to be one of the festival's hottest tickets. It will be the actress's second appearance at the Fringe - she starred there in 2000 but with the entire cast of The Simpsons. The show with Cartwright, Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner and Yeardley Smith was one of the fastest-selling ever at the Fringe. Mary Shields, associate director of the Assembly Rooms, said, "When the cast of The Simpsons appeared in 2000 they were doing excerpts from the cartoon with projections of the cartoon behind them on a screen." Read More >>>

Ricky Gervais of BBCs "The Office" is reportedly going to revive his role as David Brent in a cameo for The Simpsons. The Sunday Mirror says Gervais has been snapped up to appear in the cartoon after his success at the Golden Globes. He will join Homer and Marge after getting lost on holiday in America. The Office won two gongs at the Golden Globe Awards - Best TV Comedy and Best Comedy Actor for Gervais. A Simpsons insider tells the paper: "Since then America has gone David Brent crazy. Matching him and Homer will be comedy genius - a perfect pairing." After all the false claims about David Beckham scoring a guest role on The Simpsons, we're not sure whether this article holds much truth, but if we do find out any more we'll be sure to let you know first.