• Another goddamned Nelson episode: Who could have imagined that there would be so many goddamn episodes exploring the emotional life of the kid who says "haw haw?"


• Another slam at the on-screen FOX advertising bugs: The panel was brought to a close with a clip from the upcoming season's Halloween episode. In it, Marge is decorating cupcakes that look like jack-o'-lanterns. She pokes fun at the fact that Halloween "was last week," but at the Simpsons' house they're still celebrating (a nod to the fact that the Halloween episodes never air on Halloween). While she's speaking, the American Idol "bug" pops up on screen. Marge is upset by this, grabs her Dust Buster and sucks the logo up. She tries to start speaking again, but the Fox Sports "bug" pops up and a bunch of mini-football players run out. Marge kills them with bug spray. Next, 24 (along with a mini-Jack Bauer), Family Guy (with mini-Peter Griffin) and House bugs (with mini-Dr. House) appear. Marge grabs Jack and sticks him to the fridge with a magnet. Next, she "blends" Peter to death with a cappuccino frother. Lastly, she grabs Dr. House, sticks him in the microwave, and blows him up. Cut to the family sitting at the dining room table and Marge walking in with fresh baked bread. "Dinner is served," says Marge. She slices off a piece of bread to reveal the various body parts of all these guys spelling out "Treehouse of Terror XVII." Hilarious.


• More character returns: This time it's Lurleen Lumpkin, the country singer Homer managed, and Sideshow Bob's brother Cecil, following in the footsteps of such other pointless Jean-era returning characters as Homer's Mother, Bob the RV salesman, Artie Ziff, and The Guy Who Originally Owned The Dog.


• Al Jean is going to remain showrunner forever: Says NHC poster elephant6rawk, who was there and asked them if they plan on replacing Jean as guy in charge of the show any time soon. There is no hope for The Simpsons.

Labels: CRYSTAL BALL

Labels: AZTEC THEATRE

Labels: CONGRESSIONAL CUTUPS, WEB-WATCH, WHAA??

Labels: CANDY BOYS

Labels: CHINERGY

Responding to a comment by current show runner Al Jean that he would have simply ''laughed'' off an invite to work on the movie, in Entertainment Weekly for its Simpsons cover story that hits stands this Friday, O'Brien deadpanned:

''I cleared my talk show schedule for a year at great financial cost to myself, got an apartment right outside the Fox lot, and told them I was ready to report to work. All I heard back was that they were having trouble finding me a parking space, and then they stopped returning my calls altogether. I am stunned and disappointed.... Truth be told, I worry that the Simpsons-writing portion of my brain has been destroyed after 14 years of talking to Lindsay Lohan and that guy from One Tree Hill, so maybe it's all for the best.''

Labels: PARDON MY ZINGER, SMARTLINE, WRITER WATCH

Labels: GABBIN ABOUT GODS

"The Simpsons Go to Paris" depicts the Simpson family wearing outfits straight from the seasons' high fashion catwalks. The spread also features Simpson-ized versions of supermodel Linda Evangelista and designers like Marc Jacobs and Jean Paul Gaultier.

Just what the hell demographic are they trying to cater to?

Labels: STEPPIN OUT

Last week, Congressman Peter DeFazio, of Springfield, Oregon, sent a tongue-in-cheek letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez.

DeFazio was petitioning for an "investigation" of how Springfield, Vermont, could have won the right to host the movie premiere of "The Simpsons," over his own hometown.

Labels: CONGRESSIONAL CUTUPS, EYE ON SPRINGFIELD

The Vermont town of Springfield has beaten 13 rivals and will host the premiere of the film about the animated family The Simpsons. The show is set in a fictional Springfield because its creator, Matt Groening, spotted that it is one of the most common place-names in the US. Vermont was chosen in an online vote after 14 towns submitted videos to argue why their town should win.

Labels: EYE ON SPRINGFIELD

The Simpson [sic.] creator Matt Groening has snubbed new British Prime Minister Gordon Brown by insisting he'll never have a cameo on the hit animated series. While Brown's predecessor Tony Blair guest starred on a show in 2003, cartoon genius Groening is adamant there won't be another British statesman on the show for years. He says, "One Prime Minister per century is enough."

Labels: WHAA??

A few years back Dan "C" did Santa's Little Helper in a rehearsal and unfortunately for me ... did it a little too good. The producers thought ... "Hmmm, Dan barks pretty good, and we are already paying him and he seems to like doing the dog thing ... why do we need to pay Welker who comes in here, spends less than an hour, eats all the doughnuts, refuses to come to rehearsals ... let's just give the damn dog to Dan!" Bingo ... I'm out. I did do lots of shows that needed sound effects and weird sounds, but Santa is without this little helper.

...

I wanted a raise ... most of what they asked me to do was wild and wacky, but it also almost always hurt my throat. So, I asked for a raise ... that is why you haven't seen me. They are really great people over there, but they have a rule about "top of the show" for guest performers and I fell under that consideration.

Labels: VOCAL VOCATIONS

"Matt Groening rang me up because he'd seen The Office on a flight, ages before it was shown in America. I did a very rough sketch and wrote a song. So the only things that were mine were the song, a couple of jokes and the Wife Swap idea, which was Jane's anyway. So I mustn't take too much credit - I said as much once, but they said no, no, that's always the case. Whoever it says 'wrote' the episode goes through the same process. So that made me feel slightly less guilty."

Labels: GERVAIS