Simpsons Channel

The Simpsons complete 14th season is out!

Fans in the UK & Australia have already had the opportunity to get theirs, but on Tuesday the complete 14th season was released in the USA.

For those who missed a previous post on the DVD release, special features for Season 14 DVD/Blu Ray include:

• Deleted Scenes
• It’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll Featurette
• The 300th Episode Featurette
• In the Beginning
• Halloween Classics
• Foolish Earthlings
• Animation Showcase
• Original Sketches
• Bonus Treehouse of Horror Episodes (Only available on Blu Ray)
• Audio Commentary on All Episodes

The 4-disc set on DVD has a suggested retail price of $49.98.  The Blu-Ray version, which contains 3-discs, retails for $10 more.  A limited edition box with a molded head of Kang (or is that Kodos) is available in stores and from online retailers as well.

Holidays of Future Passed airs this Sunday in North America.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and the Simpsons flash-forward thirty years to find themselves in a tech-savvy, futuristic Springfield. Bart and Lisa have children of their own and decide to spend the holidays as one big family at Homer and Marge’s house. Lisa and Bart turn to Homer and Marge for parenting advice and begin to realize that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

The episode is set in Christmas 30 years in the future, where Homer and Marge are empty nesters and Bart, Lisa and Maggie bring their own kids over to see Homer and Marge for Christmas. Bart is now a lousy, deadbeat dad who actually lives in the school, which is now condos, and Skinner is his landlord. Bart has had two kids and is divorced and Lisa is married to Milhouse. Adult Bart and Lisa get drunk in the Treehouse, talking about their family.

The Simpsons was up this week in viewership as 9.01 million viewers tuned in to see “The Ten-Per-Cent Solution”.  Up against the Simpsons was Sunday Night Football on NBC (14.16 million), The Amazing Race on CBS (9.63 million), and ABC’s Once Upon a Time (9.61 million).

The Simpsons had the highest ratings on FOX for the night, beating out Allen Gregory (5.21 million), Family Guy (7.05 million), and The Cleveland Show (5.43 million).  FOX released their mid-season schedule and the big noticeable change was Allen Gregory missing completely. It’s widely perceived that Allen Gregory will be cancelled.

Fox was in 4th place for the night in viewership, but finished second in the 18-49 demographic.

What did you think of guest voice Joan Rivers?  How about those Itchy & Scratchy movie parodies or the brief appearance by Jackie Mason as Rabbi Krustofski?

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Next Sunday is an all new episode titled “The Ten-Per-Cent Solution”. Many fans will be excited to hear that this is a Krusty episode!

Krusty the Clown is stuck in a rut when the television network pulls his show from the air and his talent agency drops him as a client. But when the Simpsons introduce him to seasoned agent Annie (guest voice Joan Rivers), they are surprised to learn that Annie was Krusty’s very first agent. Despite their rocky relationship, Annie is convinced to re-sign Krusty and craft his career comeback. But when Krusty’s retro comedyshow reboot is deemed a critical success, Krusty must decide to stay with his agent or side with the network executives.

The episode was written by husband and wife team Dan Castellaneta & Deb Lacusta. It’s not the first episode written by the voice of Homer, Krusty, Barney, Grampa, and others. Dan & Deb were behind episodes like “The Ziff Who Came to Dinner”, “Days of Wines & D’oh’ses”, “Gump Roast” and several others.

I had the opportunity to meet Joan Rivers after one of her shows and I asked her how she liked doing The Simpsons. I’m not sure if she had recorded yet, but she told me how exciting it was to play a character that had nothing to do with her and how much she enjoyed the show and the experience.

Joan did an interview with E! Online about appearing on The Simpsons. Check it out: HERE

A total of 5.61 million viewers tuned into Sunday’s episode “The Man in the Blue Flannel Pants”. This is a a slight drop from the 5.74 million who watched the week before.  The Simpsons was up against CBS’ 60 Minutes (15.36 million viewers), Sunday Night Football on NBC (13.42 million viewers), and ABC’s new show Once Upon a Time (10.66 million viewers).

The Simpsons was the highest rated show on FOX for the night.  Alan Gregory had 3.12 million viewers. Family Guy took in 5.51 million and American Dad 4.46 million.

Fox finished in 4th place for the night and in the 18-49 demographic.

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A new episode titled “The Man in the Blue Flannel Pants” airs tomorrow night on FOX!

THE SIMPSONS host a tastemaker party at their home to promote Absolut Krusty, Krusty the Clown’s own brand of liquor. Mr. Burns takes notice of the party’s success and decides to promote Homer to “Account Man” for the Springfield Nuclear Plant. Robert Marlow (guest voice John Slattery), a seasoned account veteran, takes Homer under his wing and shows Homer what the high life is like in the corner office. Meanwhile, Lisa introduces Bart to a new literary world which sparks his interest in reading classic novels, and when Homer’s long hours at the office become the norm, a family vacation with Marge and the kids help him realize that family always comes before work.

For those who are counting, this is episode 493 – getting closer to 500!

A panel of experts in association with PBS UK has named The Simpsons as the US Television show with the greatest influence on British Culture.

The panel said The Simpsons had transformed cartoons from being the sole preserve of children into something that could appeal to all generations and had had a significant influence on British comedy, as well as the country’s TV landscape as a whole.

Also making the list were The Sopranos and I Love Lucy.

You can read the full article and see their complete list at The Radio Times.