“Asked why he wanted to record his voice as a character on The Simpsons, British Prime Minister Tony Blair turned to producer Al Jean and said, “I just want to do one thing that will impress my kids.” When he paid his visit to Homer Simpson, Blair followed in the footsteps of Michael Jackson, Mel Gibson, Sir Elton John and Dr. Stephen Hawking. Blair’s episode is set to air in November, and he will be the first politician to guest on the show. It used to be that the ultimate mark of celebrity was hosting NBC’s Saturday Night Live or appearing on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. But somewhere along the line, Rolling Stone started putting pop-punks Good Charlotte and actress Asia Argento on the cover, and Saturday Night Live started asking U.S. Senator John McCain and skier Johnny Mosely to host. Now playing yourself on The Simpsons is the true measure of celebrity. It means you have become so important in the real world that you can transcend the fictional boundaries of the animated world.” Read More >>>
Tag: uk
Nickelodeon’s “Brit Simpsons”
“A ‘typical’ British family has been chosen from thousands of hopefuls to become the stars of a ground-breaking animation series for children’s channel Nickelodeon billed as an antidote to the ‘abnormal’ Simpsons. The trials and tribulations of family life in the Moores’ Leicestershire home will be shown every weekday evening on Nickelodeon from next week. The broadcaster, which began its search for a British family to act as the prototype for the cartoon in July last year, said the Moores had been chosen for their entertaining personalities and hectic lifestyle. Howard Litton, the Nickelodeon director of programmes, said the broadcaster had “searched high and low” to find the perfect family on which to base the cartoon, called Meet the Moores.” Read More >>>
Jonathan Edwards Avoids OFF
Jonathan Edwards, the record-breaking triple jumper, spoke for the first time this weekend about the Christian principles that will guide him in his new role as a television watchdog, revealing amongst other things that he doesn’t watch the Simpsons.
Sky Set To Air The 300th
“America’s most dysfunctional family celebrate their 300th episode in the UK this weekend. After more than 10 years on the air, The Simpsons take a bow on Easter Sunday for a milestone show. The episode was screened in America in February but Sky One will host its first airing in Britain. Sunday’s show, Barting Over, will see Bart leave home after discovering he starred in a TV advert as a baby – and Homer squandered all the cash.” Read More >>>
Scots, Start Your Whacking!
Simpsons’ devotees drew parallels to the infamous Whacking Day as news broke on Scotland’s day of war against 5,000 hedgehogs on one of the Western Isles. According to Reuters, the Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), a conservation group, “sent a six-strong team into the wilderness Monday to kill the spiky mammals…” Apparently, Sonic’s brethren have been voraciously eating the eggs of the island’s rare birds. Unfortunately, the slaughter a.k.a. “cull” of the hedgehogs has sent animal welfare groups (and Nick Laws) into a big hissy fit, who called for a less bloody mass relocation of the creatures to the mainland. However, the SNH quipped back, reporting that such an act would result in a slower, more painful death for the cute yet cuddly mammals. Reuters did not report on the latest casualty estimates from the front.
It’s Toony Blair!
“Tony Blair took a gamble yesterday by recording an episode of The Simpsons while Britain is still at war. But he reckons it will pay off. Downing Street sources insisted last night that Simpsons fan Mr Blair, who watches the anarchic animation with his children, agreed to appear in the show months ago. And he felt it would be ridiculous to cancel, especially as it would throw the programme’s schedule into disarray. The sources said: “He’s a big fan of The Simpsons. He knows he might get some criticism because of the timing but this was in the diary long before the war with Iraq began. We believe it will greatly benefit tourism and help bring Americans back to London.” In the episode which will air in Season 15, a cartoon Blair, complete with sticking-out ears and trademark cheesy grin, will give tips on tourism to the family during their visit to London. At a press conference on Thursday, Jean claimed he had no plans to include Mr Blair in an episode. “We’d love to get him but we haven’t,” he said. But it appeared yesterday this was merely a ploy to prevent any danger of the hush-hush recording being called off.” Read More >>>
Homer’s Odyssey
UK: “Imagine a world without The Simpsons, which next week celebrates its 300th edition, its birthday presents including a movie deal announced yesterday. But the most profitable and probably the greatest TV series ever was originally kicked into being only by the greediness of television copyright lawyers. Cartoonist Matt Groening was meeting network executives to discuss some scribbles for a Tracy Ullman TV series. He planned to recycle characters he had established in a newspaper strip but discovered just before he went in that such a move would involve mortgaging his drawings to the studio. Forced to invent some unknowns to sell them, he scratched on a pad a family which, in haste, he gave the names of his own parents and siblings: Homer, Marge, Bart and so on.” Read More >>>
Al Jean Speaks In The UK
ThisIsLondon.com have nabbed a sneak interview with The Simpsons executive producer Al Jean to find out what’s in the pipeline for America’s favourite family. Al spills the beans on numerous issues which fans may be interested in, including the Simpsons movie, Iraq-themed episodes, the past, present, and future of the show, and guest stars currently lined up to perform next season. This comes as the 300th episode “Barting Over” airs in the United Kingdom next Sunday. Read The Interview >>>
Becks Not Famous Enough
“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 >>>
Turning 300 All Over Again
Bet you thought you’d heard the end of the 300th episode madness, but the rest of the world is yet to screen the episode, and it’s quite normal for them to make a big deal out of the event when it does arrive. SKY|one in the United Kingdom will air the 300th episode of The Simpsons, Barting Over on Sunday 20th April at 9:30pm. Leading up to this event, SKY|one will be showing “The Simpsons Golden D’ohnut Awards”, a celebration of 300 episodes consisting of 12 episodes to be shown over the Easter weekend (18th – 20th April). Viewers will vote for their favourite episode from 12 different categories, and the 12 winning episodes will be shown. To view more information, check out the United Kingdom episode listings at The Simpsons Archive.
Simpsons Rush At Domino’s
UK: “The rising number of single people together with interactive episodes of The Simpsons are helping Domino’s Pizza grab an ever-larger slice of the £1bn pizza delivery market. The chain currently controls one-fifth of the pizza delivery market in the UK and Ireland – a market it estimates will more than double by 2010 (though Nick Laws says he’ll stick to Pizza Hut). Changing demographics and better online and digital technology are key factors driving up sales.
Couch potatoes watching the popular ‘The Simpsons’ cartoons on interactive television can already order a Domino’s pizza during advertising breaks. All they need to do is press the little red button on their control and place their order. “We call this The Simpsons rush”, explains Mr Dunese.” Read More >>>
OFF Was BBC’s Fave Show In 2002
The Simpsons has ended the year in BBC’s “Your Charts” on top form.