Treehouse of Horror… Highlight of the Season for any Simpsons Fan

• Halloween means only one thing for fans of TV?s The Simpsons -The Treehouse of Horror, an annual seasonal special celebrating Halloween in true Simpsons fashion. The creepy comedy of The Treehouse of Horror gets more outrageous every year. Simpsons fans can be seen trick-or-treating dressed as their favorite Simpsons character and decorating their homes with Simpsons Halloween collectibles?all in an effort to demonstrate their excitement for the upcoming season. The Treehouse of Horror is definitely a highlight for any Simpsons fan. Because it?s an annual tradition, there?s always a lot of anticipation about what this Halloween special will bring.

• Matt Groening said in an interview that his second TV series, “Futurama,” was based on the Incredible String Band’s song, “Robot Blues.” British indie-rock magazine Mojo ran an eight-page article on the band. Elektra reissued the band’s records on CD.

• Cover art for 5th season is here.

• Matt Groening is insisting a “Simpsons” movie is still on his agenda. “We’re trying to tell a story that we wouldn’t do on television and take advantage of a longer process and a more ambitious process for animation,” the “Simpsons” creator told Britain’s Guardian newspaper.

October 9, 2004
The show will end eventually, but not for a long, long time

• Matt Groening’s promise came with an announcement he has turned down a proposal to make a feature length episode starring real actors, the BBC reported Monday.Groening says fans of the show would hate the idea of a movie with real actors.He also promised that as long as the creative talent is still flowing, The Simpsons could be here to stay for a long time:”At this point I don’t think there’s any end in sight. I once said a few years ago that I thought I was closer to the end than the beginning, meaning that, we’d been on air for 10 or 12 years at the time and I thought we’d be on another 10 years.”So I don’t want to give anybody the wrong idea. Of course, the show will end eventually, but not for a long, long time.””We’ve been on the air so long that we’ve corrupted an entire generation of children and now they’ve grown up and they’re ‘Simpsons’ writers so the stories are getting really, really weird.”

October 8, 2004
Five questions with Hank Azaria

• Hank Azaria, star of the new Showtime series ”Huff,” is heading to town this weekend as part of a special Chicago International Film Festival salute to quality television. Chigaco Sun-Times asked five questions from Hank about the show plus one about the Simpsons.Q. You have been such a mainstay and provide several key voices for ”The Simpsons.” What’s your reaction to Matt Groening’s comments that next year may be the last?A. It’s so funny, every year or two, Matt says something like that and everybody goes crazy and stirs things up. Several years ago, he said something like this and I must have received 30 calls from people asking me if it’s true. Matt is a tremendous part of ”The Simpsons.” He created it, he has remained involved, but he’s not the guy that makes that call. I’d be shocked if we didn’t do one more year — besides the one we’re working on now — and I’d think we might go three or four more years.>>>

October 7, 2004
5th Season Dates

• Fox is hoping to rake in some holiday d’oh by releasing a special “Simpsons Christmas 2” DVD on Nov. 2 and a collector’s edition of “The Simpsons” fifth season on DVD Dec. 21….

October 6, 2004
5th Season In Time For Christmas!

• The word is out, and we’re helping to spread it! We’ve gotten e-mail from many of you that The Simpsons – The Complete 5th Season has been announced by Fox Home Entertainment, and we’re here to tell you it’s absolutely true. Will you have to wait until Summer 2005 to get it? Nope! Even though it has been roughly a one-year wait between season sets of The Simpsons in the past, Fox is going to get Season 5’s DVD set out in time for Christmas…roughly six months after the 4th Season’s release. The exact date is December 21st, so be prepared to plunge into the midst of last-minute gift-shoppers to get your hands on it! We’ll brave the crowds, though, and won’t give it a second thought.

October 5, 2004
D’oh or die

• The upcoming “Simpsons” movie will either “kill the show or completely reinvigorate it,” the long-running animated series creator says.
  While still in the earliest stages of production, a “Simpsons” movie is definitely on the way, creator Matt Groening said in an interview with London’s Guardian newspaper.”Everyone on the show this year seems really re-energized, and we’re starting to throw out ideas for the movie and I think that will either kill the show or completely re-invigorate it,” Groening says.

Odd stuff:

Bizarre!

October 4, 2004
MG wants to run through 2009/ Groening vetoes live action Simpsons

• Matt Groening wants to keep the show going until at least 2009, he told the Media Guardian today.
• Matt Groening also confirmed that plans were underway for a Simpsons movie, due out towards the end of the decade. “Everyone on the show this year seems really re-energised and we’re starting to throw out ideas for the movie and I think that will either kill the show or completely re-invigorate it.”
• Television’s most dysfunctional family are to be axed froms screens before they get too boring.
• Matt Groening has signed a deal with the voices behind Bart, Homer, Marge, Lisa and co taking them up to a 19th series in 2008.
• “I’d love to get to 365 episodes, so there’s one for every day of the year with no repeats.”
• Matt Groening, the man behind ‘The Simpsons’ has revealed he’s turned down a proposal to make a feature length episode starring real actors. He reckons fans of the show would hate the idea, but he is pledging to make an animated Simpsons movie.
• Eager Simpsons fans have inundated Whittlesea Council with telephone calls after rumours the municipality had a real-life replica of the cartoon family’s home.

October 3, 2004
Pray anything

• The Olmec Head was a stymieing gift from Mr. Burns to an ungrateful Nuclear Family in an early season of The Simpsons. Since that episode, Simpsons fans have considered it one of the few symbols of Simpsons continuity. Ty Templeton one of the former writers and artists for the best Batman series ever published imagines a very bizarre story surrounding the origins of the head…

On the community:

• General website called Pray Anything is rumoured to be back in october 31.

October 1, 2004
Bart booked hospital appointment

• Some fans feel the show lost its heart and humor years ago. Some fans feel “Futurama” took quality writers and producers away from “The Simpsons,” making it suffer. Other fans think the show is as good as ever. How much longer will the show go on?
• Actress Nancy Cartwright – the voice of Bart Simpson – has performed a one-off show at an Edinburgh hospital. Her performance was part of the Edinburgh People’s Festival, an attempt to take the Edinburgh Fringe beyond its usual boundaries. Cartwright, 46, is currently appearing at the capital’s Assembly Rooms, but performed a 15-minute show for patients at the Simpson Hospital. Cartwright addressed those in the hospital with the phrase: “What’s happening man, I’m Bart Simpson.” I’m 5ft 1in tall, I’m not yellow and I don’t have nine points at the top of my head. The actress then re-enacted some of her favourite lines from the show.

September 29, 2004
Marge V Queen for Christmas Message

• New Simpsons episode guide book is covering 2 seasons again, 13 and 14 (at least, according to plans at the moment.)
• Marge Simpson will go head-to-head with the Queen by delivering this year?s alternative Christmas message, Channel 4 said today. The blue-haired cartoon character will address the nation from her home in Springfield. Marge is expected to spread a message of family harmony learned from years as the long-suffering wife of Homer and mum of Bart, Lisa and Maggie.
• Don?t look now, but the town of Springfield is going to legalise same-sex marriage. In an episode of The Simpsons to air in the US early next year, Homer Simpson becomes an ordained minister over the internet, and sets about marrying couples with gay abandon…

September 28, 2004
Don’t Look Back

• 19-year breast cancer survivor star of classic TV Bob Newhart Show, That’s My Bush, and The Simpsons Marcia Wallace has written book called ?Don?t Look Back, We?re Not Going That Way?
• The Simpsons is the longest-running primetime animated series in the history of television. The Simpsons returns with more guest voices and even funnier stories. With all those years of writing behind them, everyone is curious to see what the writers will come up with next. Did you know that The Simpsons holds a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the most guest voices in the show?

September 27, 2004
31st-Century Boy

• Matt Groening’s ”Futurama” was like a shooting star: It was very bright, but you had to really look for it. Fox hid the cartoon sci-fi comedy on Sunday nights at 7 p.m., rarely promoted it, and so often pre-empted it that fans didn’t know where to find it. But now, with its final episodes just released on DVD (”Futurama: Volume Four”), EW asked Groening to reflect on his creation, the funniest show of the 31st century.

September 24, 2004
Real-life ‘

• On the surface, Julie Thacker-Scully and Mike Scully seem like a happy, mature, well-adjusted couple. But their résumé suggests a case of arrested development, and we don’t mean the Emmy-winning sitcom.
• Homer Simpson loves foods. But which are his favorites? I’ve made a list of Homer Simpson’s top ten favorite foods based on the number of times he has said,”Mmm,” or referenced a food on “The Simpsons.” You may disagree, but the results are based on math and statistics.
  
  1. Beer
  2. Burgers
  3. Hot Dogs
  4. Pizza
  5. Chocolate
  6. Donuts
  7. Sprinkles
  8. Pancakes
  9. Beer Nuts
  10. Free Goo

September 23, 2004
50 Cent ‘to appear on the Simpsons

• The Simpsons’ 16th season will start again with “Treehouse of Horror XV” on November 7.
  
• If you’ve ever laffed even once at The Simpsons, Robert Benchley, S.J. Perelman, P.G.Wodehouse, Thorne Smith, Mark Twain, John Cleese, Raymond Chandler, Wilson Mizener or Spike Milligan, you’ll laff at John Swartzwelder book. John is writer from The Simpsons.
• MG is once again in the commite of Webby Awards.
• 50 Cent has reportedly become the latest star to make a cameo appearance in The Simpsons. Nancy Cartwright, who voices Bart Simpson, says the rapper even persuades Bart Simpson to duet with him. The result, she says, is very different form Do the Bartman, which was a chart topper for Bart in 1991. Cartwright, who is over in Britain to appear in a show at the Edinburgh Festival, told Radio 1 that 50 Cent was great to work with. She said: “He’s going to hate me for saying this but he’s a pussycat! The guy is really sweet. You should see the gold on him.” Speaking about the duet, she said it was ‘very street’. “Maybe I’m 50 Cents, he’s 50 Cent and I’m 50 Cents,” she said.

On the community:

• Looks like Joe Cams is re-opening his esimps…

Bite:

• One day, Maggie, being the intelligent baby she is, was surfing the web. She saw all the fansites, and judged that her fav…

September 20, 2004 – jukka
Matt Groening’s Top 10 of the Simpsons episodes

• In an issue of “Entertainment Weekly,” Matt Groening listed his top ten favorite episodes. Notice that most of Groening’s favorite episodes aired in seasons one and eight. This is ironic because most fans feel that season one episodes are too primitive, and that season four had the best episodes.1. “Bart the Daredevil” – Season 2
  2. “Life on the Fast Lane” – Season 1
  3.”Much Apu About Nothing” – Season 7
  4.”A Streetcar Named Marge” – Season 4
  5.”In Marge We Trust” – Season 8
  6.”Homer’s Enemy” – Season 8
  7.”Treehouse of Horror VII” – Season 8
  8.”Natural Born Kissers” – Season 9
  9.”Krusty Gets Busted” – Season 1
  10.”There’s No Disgrace Like Home” – Season 1

On the community:

• Here is a new website made by a fan in Cuba!
• Have you wondered lately where the Simpsons Top 100 has disappeared?

September 19, 2004 – jukka
New art cover

• Artwork for The Simpsons Christmas 2 which includes four Christmas themed episodes.

Bite:

• Groundskeeper Willie would like to know why you hollered at him. Dr. Hibbert would like to know why you hurled your stethoscope across the room. And Homer Simpson would like to know what possessed you to carve your initials in his abdomen. Springfield, cartoon home of The Simpsons, won’t take it any more.

September 18, 2004 – jukka
Life imitating Bart

• Nancy Cartwright is two people. And they’re both coming to Toronto. The first is a 44-year-old woman with blonde hair and blue eyes, a voice actor, philanthropist and proud mother who lives in Los Angeles and could pass unnoticed on any crowded street.
• On Oct. 16, Animation Connection, a studio-authorized gallery based in Toronto, is also presenting a trade show where more than 250 original Simpsons drawings, paintings, and cels will be on sale.

Bite:

• For the past decade Stephen King he has played in the Rock Bottom Remainders, a writers’ band featuring Miami Herald humourist Dave Barry, novelists Barbara Kingsolver, Scott Turow and Amy Tan, and Simpsons creator Matt Groening. Once they went on tour with Warren Zevon, who insisted King sing his tune, “Werewolves of London”.

September 17, 2004 – jukka
Cartoons aren’t just for the kids

• Latest word about Futurama.
• Animated hits The Simpsons and Family Guy remain TV staples while redefining family.
• Health authorities believe the message that we all need to drink two litres of water a day is slowly getting through. But let?s face it, constant reminders to do so are boring. Sure we might not look so good or feel so well if we don?t. We might find it harder to concentrate in the lecture hall or at work and we may suffer dehydration causing lethargy, irritability and mood swings. But drinking water just isn?t fun. And if we aren?t enthused by the prospect, how do we motivate ourselves to get into the healthy habit? Well, thanks to the Simpsons and their love of ?Duff? products, people of all ages can now enjoy chilled water whenever they want from a funky new mini-fridge and water cooler. And the good news is that they hold beer and wine too!

On the community:

• Just Do’h It is back. Looks like they have done some changes to the frontpage as they won’t be having weekly updates to sections of the site. And the reason is that boys have life outside the website.
• New site called Springfield Online has hit the net today. It’s quite nice looking site but bit weak on the content part. Everything seem to be pretty basic stuff. Good for the eye, though!

Odd pic:

September 16, 2004 – jukka
Hard to beat

• A mainstream primetime show about four yellow-skinned, plainly dressed, four-fingered family members with weird hair, and this is supposed to entertain?
• My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy by Nancy Cartwright is now available as audio book.

September 15, 2004 – jukka
Bart coming to Toronto!

• Nancy Cartwright, the voice of Bart Simpson, has chosen Toronto for the North American premiere of her one woman show “My Life as a Ten Year Old Boy”. It is the story of how a girl from Ohio grew up to become the voice of a cultural icon. It’s also a tale of life as an “anonymous celebrity”; a seldom recognized face with one of the world’s most famous voices. Plus special guest David Silverman! As one of the original director’s of The Simpsons, Silverman’s behind the scenes stories and drawing demonstrations are not to be missed! Tickets go on sale Saturday September 18th, 12 Noon EST at Ticketmaster.

On the community:

• All new Zone Simpsons is opened. Overall feel of the design is interesting. Too bad whole site is in french language but he-hey… content can is accessible anyway and site is worth a check out for it’s nice flash on front.
• Behind the Laughter’s Episode Guide is redesigned today + with new features.

September 10, 2004 – jukka
More Futurama on the Way?

• The word around the campfire is that due to increasingly good sales on the ?Futurama? DVD sets and Video Game, Fox may be firing up the grill on another season of Matt Groening?s show. The series, which was on air for four seasons, never reached the heights of popularity achieved by ?The Simpsons?, but was applauded by critics & fans everywhere. At the time the show was ?pulled indefinitely?, the rumour was that at least another season of the show was in the early to 50% complete stage of production, and may be ?revisited further down the road?. Well, according to a couple of sources, they may just have gotten a little further down the road, so hopefully for fans of the show, there will be more Fry, Bender, Leela and Dr. Zoidberg on the way this time next year.Simpsons Composer Gets 25th Emmy Nomination.
• Counting to 100 used to be so much easier for TV producers. The Hollywood Reporter is dedicating a 108-page issue Thursday to explore TV programs that have reached that benchmark, which determines whether the show will live on in syndication heaven after its network run. Most modern shows top out at about 100, usually because the studio or network push the show until it reaches that mark and then give up on it in favor of something new. Look at “Angel” with 110, “Ally McBeal” with 112, and “Mad About You” with 164. Decades ago, the TV season also lasted longer – 39 weeks compared to the current 22. There are some modern marathoners, though, such as “The Simpsons” with 335 and “Law & Order” with 326. Both are still counting.

September 6, 2004 – jukka
Bart Simpson walks this way!

• In 15 years The Simpsons has grown from mere cartoon to cultural icon. Michael Idato goes behind the scenes of TV’s most successful animated series.
• ReadaBet.com published a lighthearted preview concerning the Simpson?s gay character that is to be made public later this year. Two bets were recommended. Firstly Mr Smithers at 5/2 due to his love of Mr Burns.
• Voice of Homer wins Emmy again. It’s his third trophy for the animated series but still welcome, especially since it’s been 10 years since the last one. His award for outstanding voiceover performance was in a category announced before the Sept. 19 Emmy ceremony.
• She walks the streets unrecognised despite providing the voice of TV?s most infamous animated rapscallion, but it seems a little bit of Bart Simpson has seeped into Nancy Cartwright.
• 50 Cent has reportedly become the latest star to make a cameo appearance in The Simpsons. Nancy Cartwright who voices Bart Simpson, says the rapper even persuades Bart to duet with him.

On the community:

• All new Simpsons Top 100 has been online now awhile. New design still have nasa homer on top with his mout open but whole engine of the site has been rewritten. Now it features realtime databases with current ranking and all. Awhile databases amuses, new look is bit busy in and is screwed too tight in some areas. Take a look of user reviews and while you there go leave your own mark in there!
• The Springfield Library is opened. It’s small site but as a bonus for your pleasure, go read Simpsons Web Community Dictionary where even me (jukka) is explained!
• Odd name for the site but go deep and Springfield is Stolen will open you. Not bad idea at all as long as those image will stay on actual sites and are not stolen for good.
• Henrik’s The Simpsons Gallery has been redesigned. Colors are toned down although it’s definitively Henrik design – colorful and bit busy. Go now!