“British soccer sensation David Beckham has been kicked into touch for a cameo role on The Simpsons – because he is not famous enough. Creators of the show were planning to approach him to see if he would agree to be written into the cartoon. But executive producer Al Jean said Beckham was barely known to audiences in the United States, where the series is made. Speaking in London, Jean said “We thought about Becks but soccer isn’t as big over there. He’s not really famous enough. We thought about it, we didn’t ask. I’ve heard of him because my daughter plays soccer.” He was to be approached to appear in a special with Homer and co, set in London. Notable guest voices for the programme to be screened in the future include Sir Ian McKellen and Harry Potter creator JK Rowling, both playing themselves.” Original Story >>>
Season 3 Box Art Revealed
Those of our visitors who are hanging out for the complete third season of The Simpsons on DVD, set your pants to wet. No, we don’t have any more info on a release date, but signs that the release is close have begun to appear. Amazon.com have just released an image of the box art for this edition. Click the image for a larger view. At this stage we have been told that the DVD will be released by July.
Trail Of A Cartoon Insult
“Who knew, in April 1995, a clever line by an obscure character on The Simpsons would become ammunition against an entire nation? And who knew today, people who call the French “cheese-eatin’ surrender monkeys” are not cartoons and they are not kidding? French bashers have turned the insult into a national bullying cry. The joke was adopted, apparently by Jonah Goldberg, a Simpsons fan who also writes columns for the National Review Online. Goldberg, who credited the show, used the phrase for many years before the recent barrage of copycats made it unfunny. Google page after Google page cites references beginning in February on weblogs, Simpsons fan sites and articles in The Philadelphia Inquirer, Time and The Washington Post. The writers of The Simpsons aren’t sure who deserves credit – the joke was added during one of many rewrites to the original story.” Thanks Jukka. Read More >>>
Captions, Feedbags, & Toons
Since we’re on a bit of a news drought, here’s the latest in what’s happening around the net: Springfield Weekly and it’s sub-site Insert Caption Here have both received new designs. Uncle Moe’s Family Feedbag is back online after several months downtime. Ferg’s Simpsons Dedication has a great new flash design. Toons Exposed has opened. The site used to be The Simpsons Network but has now expanded to include other cartoons.
Simpsons Top 100 Back Online
After disappearing from the net due to scheduled maintenance a couple of weeks ago, The Simpsons Top 100 is back online with a new look, exactly a year since the previous version was released. The new look was made to remove integration with the Springfield Message Board. If you were a member before, you will have to sign up again to their new login system. A list update is not ready just yet, one will arrive in the coming weeks. Check it out.
Art Imitates Light Pollution
If you thought the main storyline on the episode ‘Scuse Me While I Miss The Sky was far-fetched and ridiculous, listen up! “A high school student in Midlothian, Virginia, Barlow is the founder of National Dark Sky Week, which kicks off on April 1st. The week is dedicated to spreading awareness about that glaring and stress-inducing foe to astronomers everywhere: light pollution. Light pollution can most often be observed as the glowing aura of a city seen from the countryside. As our cities grow, so too does the problem of light pollution. Coincidentally, on Sunday night, the contamination of the sky was a subject on the most recent Simpsons episode. The problem was comically demonstrated when Lisa tried looking at Venus through her new telescope only to have it immediately swallowed up in a concentrated beam of light shot up from a stadium. Although the residents of Springfield, as usual, over-reacted to the problem, the episode did communicate a good point: How can society dim the light polluting our sky?” Read More >>>
‘Scuse Me. Here’s The Ratings
The overnight ratings for the episode ‘Scuse Me While I Miss The Sky are in. “CBS stayed strong at 8 p.m. with quality results for “My Big Fat Greek Life” (8.9/14) and, to a lesser extent, “Becker” (6.2/9). On NBC, “American Dreams” was second with a 6.3/10. FOX was narrowly third for the hour with the combined efforts of “The Simpsons” (6.6/10) and “Oliver Beene” (5.3/8). ABC with fourth with the conclusion of “Disney’s The Kid.” On The WB, “Charmed” scored a 4.7/7.” So it wasn’t the best week in the ratings, but at least the show fared better than Mike Scully’s “The Pitts”. Fox came fourth in the 9pm hour which was comprised of the premiere of this show, as well as an episode of “Malcolm In The Middle”. You can rate and review the new Simpsons episode here in the “Bash Mike Scully” forum at the No Mods Club.
Ex-Python Meets Simpsons
“Monty Python trouper Eric Idle is bringing his distinctly British voice to Springfield, USA. Idle will guest-star on Sunday’s episode of The Simpsons (‘Scuse Me While I Miss The Sky), playing a British filmmaker who decides to shoot a documentary at Springfield Elementary. He’s the first Python to lend his voice to the long-running FOX show. “The Simpsons is great because it’s like doing a radio show,” Idle says. “Everybody does funny voices, and it’s really good fun.”
Mike Scully: The Pitts?
Fans of The Simpsons will know Mike Scully. Whether they think of him with high regard may be another issue, given he was responsible for the seasons of The Simpsons that many people consider the worst. Al Jean is in, and Scully is out, moving onto other projects. If you’d like to know what he’s up to these days, stay tuned to Fox this Sunday, because following Malcolm In The Middle at 9:30pm is a show titled “The Pitts”, created by the husband-and-wife team of Mike Scully and Julie Thacker — another Simpsons writer. Scully tells TV Guide “It’s a live action show, but cartoony in some aspects. It’s really designed for the Simpsons audience”. Thanks for thinking of us, but the show has already sparked the kind of press forseeing that it will live up to its namesake: MyInKy.com says “It’s odd that they’ve created a series The Simpsons would have a heyday mocking”. We’ll see what viewers think after the pilot, this Sunday on Fox.
Where The Futurama Is Now
“Matt Groening hearkens back to his days a rock music critic, his day job before creating The Simpsons, in describing another one of his creations. “I feel about Futurama the way Paul McCartney must feel about Wings,” Groening says with a characteristic laugh. “It’s tough to compare anything to The Simpsons, but I’m incredibly proud of Futurama. The show is still alive, even though it’s no longer supported by its original network.” In many ways, Futurama was a more difficult program to create than The Simpsons. Groening and some of the other artists involved in the series discussed the challenges recently. The Simpsons centers on a family of more or less human characters in a suburban setting. Futurama demanded much more extensive design work. The artists had to create a world that spoofed the clichés of the sci-fi genre and preserved the look of Groening’s original drawings, but in which things were still recognizable.” Read More >>>
Marge Rated 2nd Best Mom
The brits have had their say! A poll conducted by The Mirror asked 2000 children and Nick Laws who they believed was the nation’s favorite fictional mom. Marge Simpson didn’t quite make the top spot, but was slotted in second with 21% of the votes. Kat Slater of the British soap “Eastenders” came out on top with 30% of the votes. Josa Young, from internet provider AOL who carried out the survey, said: “We were surprised Kat Slater topped the bill. But she is loving and loyal and fits the bill as a ‘cool’ mum.” The opinion of The Simpsons Channel is that had a similar poll been conducted in the USA, Marge would have come up the winner by far! Read More >>>
Pranks Over For Fan Man
To his friends, he was James Miller, gentle and fun-loving, passionate about hiking, mountain climbing and, above all, flight. To boxing fans, he had another identity: The Fan Man. In 1993, before a nationally televised audience, Miller paraglided into an outdoor heavyweight fight in Las Vegas between Evander Holyfield and Riddick Bowe and proceeded to get pummeled unconscious by Bowe’s entourage. His stunt was memorialized in a way James could appreciate: Fan Man made an appearance in a 1996 episode of The Simpsons.