Our old discussion pages have gone and in place you will see a ‘Forum’ section. This will allow our users to post topics of their choosing and allow for discussion that was previously limited. With that, our members are given a stronger focus, and you will notice you can now log in and out, or check your login status at the top of every page.

But the biggest change today is to our design. Way back when we started in 1997, every other Simpsons fansite would feature a cloud background, which would eventually become the bane of every single Simpson’s web goer’s existence. And due to that popular public opinion, the clouds have not been seen on any popular fan site for at least a decade.

We feel that we should preserve such an iconic piece of the show and indeed its web history, as it is something that has existed on every single episode since Bart the Genius. So, we’ve taken the opportunity and we’re going to own the cloud background, to usher in a new decade of our favorite family. We trust that their new high-definition appearance wont rekindle distant memories of websites’ past, and hopefully fill your mind with positive thoughts on our brand new look .

For those of you unaware of how Twitter works, it is basically bite sized updates on your friends random thoughts or happenings. Twitter makes it easy to share, respond to, and publish these thoughts. Desktop and mobile software makes it possible to receive Tweets without the need of visiting a website. Simpsons Channel’s Twitter feed will operate like any other. You will be notified immediately of any updates to the website, and additionally will receive bite sized bits of news that doesn’t make the website, such as major changes or updates to fansites, or funny fanart or videos, etc.

If you’re already a member of Twitter, follow us now to start receiving updates at:

http://twitter.com/SimpsonsChannel.

Simpsons Channel silently celebrated its 11th birthday on December 17, 2008. We’d like to thank all visitors past and present who have enabled the website to become such a success. So what can you expect from us this year? Well our experiment with WordPress has worked smoothly thus far and I’ll be looking at once again revamping the design eventually this year. Aside from that, we hope to provide you with all the best Simpsons news as the show celebrates 20 years on the air.

What does this mean for the website? I’ll tell you.

• Categorized news for easier reference and management
• Quicker and easier to update, more automation
• Improved comments system, with avatars, profiles and greater spam moderation (as requested by our regulars)
• Improved stability, and a content management system based off a thriving development community.
• Multi-user base for more news contributors.

While our entire news archive survived the switch, there was unfortunately no way of retaining the users and comments made in the last couple of years. The sad fact is, this was always going to happen, and was the product of using a discontinued content management system which did not allow our website to grow. It’s happened, but we’ve made a clean slate and I invite all previous users to sign up for an account here, where you now get the requested features of user profiles and avatars.

We also ask that any websites hosting our RSS feed update their links to the new feed. It is available by clicking the RSS icon at the top of any page.

Please note that the website is still in beta mode. We’re still putting categories and tags on old posts and everything will be complete in the coming weeks.

You can expect to see the usual video highlights and previews, special promotions, and maybe further down the line, original productions. Not just ours, but yours, such as video or product reviews which you may wish to donate. You will see our first original production up there today, where after ten years you get to hear me speak.

So in addition to this shiny new panel which we’re naming the ‘remote control’, what else is new? Away with the purple color scheme, for starters. We were prominantly blue for a number of years, and I’ve been missing it, so back it comes. You’ll also notice some fancy zooming techniques when you click Promo Images for a larger view (try it), but this may not work in older browsers. The rest of the site works and operates as usual. Enjoy!

On this day in 1997, The Simpsons Channel was opened by Brian Chen. Since then, our site has served the online Simpsons community with show news and website links and news. We would like to thank all the visitors who have accessed this website since it opened ten years ago. Your constant support and contributions to the website are what helps it stay alive today. If you would like to read more about the website’s history including ownership and format changes, visit the About Us section.

I’m looking into possible expansion features such as viewing news by category and if I implement them you’ll be seeing that over the next few weeks. But for the meantime, enjoy the new look — hopefully you like it.

“I will say this — we have things in the movie that you can’t do on TV,” Groening says. “There may be some nudity. It may be people you want to see naked. It may be people you don’t want to see naked. But you will see things that you’ve never seen before.” As the mind reels at Groening’s minor-key revelation, it should be noted that “The Simpsons Movie” will be rated PG-13 (“we hope,” Groening jokes), feature every character in Springfield’s vast universe and attempt to strike a balance between Homer’s slapstick stupidity and character-based comedy.

“We’ve put out some phony stories,” Brooks says. “It used to be that comedies never put their best jokes in trailers. Now, as marketing has become king, you start the trailer with your best joke. We’re trying to strike a balance between the two.” Adds Groening: “But don’t take the pig waste disposal thing lightly. You botch that and it could really put a crimp in someone’s day.”

Simpsons website maintainer Adam Wolf doubts the movie can “recapture the magic of the early to mid years.” “The show is completely different now,” Wolf says. “To return to the glory years now would be a feat nothing short of amazing, but would also pose the question as to why every show couldn’t be as good as the movie.”

To which “Simpsons” vet Al Jean, who has been the show runner since season 13, answers: “To take people by surprise after 18 years is hard. But, the truth is, I’ve been dealing with that feeling since season 2. It’s not new.”

SOURCE: LA Daily News

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