It's strange that not only is it almost 2010 but it's the end of the decade.
The end of a year also means that it's time for the midseason shows to make their appearance. We already know that Chuck and Lost are coming back (January and February, respectively) and now FOX has announced their midseason schedule. After the jump, full details on when we'll see the return of Jack Bauer, Simon Cowell, Gordon Ramsay, reality shows, new shows, and special episodes of your favorites.
(S21E06) This was a pretty well-structured episode, in that it might even give Bart some hope and direction for his own life. Who knew that Skinner and Willie were once cool and beloved, and that Willie was the swim teacher for Springfield Elementary? Okay, as most of you know I've been out of touch with The Simpsons for years prior to this anniversary season, so if this was already revealed, it's new to me.
The bulk of the episode dealt with Bart learning that there was a prankster before him, and one who was even his superior. So of course, Bart seeks out this 19-year old malcontent to learn from the master and come back stronger and better than ever. Too bad, as Lisa is so quick to point out, they're both still losers.
Recently, to celebrate the show's 20th season, there was a contest to create a new character for The Simpsons. Well, the winner has been announced as Peggy Black of Orange, Conn., and the character is Ricardo Bomba, who is quite the ladies' man.
While the concept of a womanizing male character has been done on The Simpsons before (Life on the Fast Lane, anyone?), it hasn't been done with any regularity. This could be the case of The Simpsons stealing from the Family Guy character of Glenn Quagmire (although likely with more taste). However, the concept of the ladies' man has been around since Casanova himself so I don't think it actually qualifies as a theft.
With a show like The Simpsons, it's always tough to find new concepts and new characters. The popular theory is that television ideas can be recycled every seven years, but The Simpsons has been around for twenty. Let's hope Ricardo Bomba can inject some life into the franchise.
(S21E05) I've been waiting all season for this episode. As a long-lapsed fan of The Simpsons, it was beginning to look like someone had sucked the heart right out of Springfield's first family. Maybe they have, for the most part, but everything that made The Simpsons such a great show 20 years ago was there tonight.
Maybe it was that we finally got to see Mr. Burns again; he was always my favorite. Yes, he only had a bit part, and in fact the part of maniacal boss was played by Carl instead of Burns, but his presence set up the stories of the entire episode. I'll go so far as to say everything about that episode worked, from Marge's sexy calendar to Ned Flander's role in the final moments.
Even the brief encounters with Bart at school fed the main story, and were handled perfectly. This is what The Simpsons is capable of, and despite a few moments that were a bit more crass than I recall the Simpsons of yore being, it was classic Simpsons all over again.
It's a scavenger hunt, and here's how it works. During this entire week (November 9-13) the network will scatter references to the show throughout their lineup. And this isn't something that will show up in just a few shows here and there, you're going to find a reference to The Simpsons in every FOX prime time show.
While we wait for the World Series to be over and The Simpsons (and other Sunday night FOX shows) to return, here's something fun: a list of the 14 most awesome fake products from the show (The Simpsons I mean, not the World Series).
I'm sure that there have been a gazillion funny products over the years on the show. I can't even remember more than a few of them. But this list brought back a lot of memories of certain episodes with great fake products, including: Malk, Cheezus H. Rice, and Nuts and Gm (Together At Last!).
Even after I'd given up on watching The Simpsons every week many years back, I continued tuning into their annual "Treehouse of Horror" specials, the most recent of which aired Sunday. After a few more years of watching just that one episode each year, I eventually let it go as well. But I've been watching this 20th Anniversary Season of the show, and reviewing it for the site, so I settled in to see what we'd be tackling this year.
As always, the special is broken into three parts. This year's batch: a send-up of Alfred Hitchcock films, 28 Days Later, and Sweeney Todd. That sounded promising enough, and yet ...
Maybe I'm too old for the "Treehouse." Or maybe they just try and do too much. Or maybe, as was the case with all three of this year's segments, they have decent enough set-ups, but their endings are all stupid.
Do you just love it when life imitates art? It makes me wonder if art can legally sue for copyright infringement.
Fox wants Simpsons viewers to design a new character as part of a contest for a future episode at TheSimpsons.com. Aspiring character engineers have until Oct. 24 to submit their entry.
And here's the best part: you don't even have to know how to draw to enter. All you have to do is describe your character and the animators will draw it for you. That should come in handy for the next WGA Strike. I wonder if the winning character will go in a fire extinguisher case in case of contractual emergencies.
Warning: the following might be NSFW, if your W objects to cartoon nudity.
We told you last week about Playboy's new issue with The Simpsons mom Marge on the cover. Well, she's also the subject of a pictorial inside (complete with a questionnaire) and now the images have made it online. After the jump, one of the pictures (here are the rest).
The funny part is (and something I didn't really think about before) was that Matt Groening drew these pics himself.
I visited the pumpkin patch last weekend and totally massacred a 30 lb. pumpkin and feasted on its flesh, so I am officially in the Halloween spirit. Luckily, there's a crapload of TV to help sustain my ghoulish mood. TV Tango has compiled a pretty comprehensive list of Halloween-themed programming starting today and going through the rest of the month.
Some of the highlights include a Moonlight marathon starting today on SyFy, as part of their "31 Days of Halloween" programming. On Sunday, The Simpsons is airing their 20th "Treehouse of Horror" episode, while Monday has a some good kids' fare, with Halloween-themed America's Funniest Home Videos on ABC Family, and Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie on Disney.
As part of the 20th anniversary celebrations, Fox is holding a contest in which fans can create a character online that will appear in an upcoming episode of The Simpsons. Entries can be submitted on The Simpsons website (although apparently not yet) and should include such information as name, age, appearance, occupation and catchphrase ("D'oh!").
I suspect that all entries will be the property of Fox upon submission. Since the show has been around for so long, it must be tough to invent new, unique and interesting characters so Fox is having the fans do it.
Of course, everyone could always just submit themselves as a candidate. It would be a little like that "Simpsonize yourself" craze from not too long ago. So many celebrities have made appearances on the show over the years, it would be nice if a non-celebrity, the sort that kept the show in business, would have a cameo.
(S21E03) "Call me a killjoy, but I think that because this is not to my taste, no one else should be able to enjoy it!" --Marge Simpson on Ultimate Punching
I'm not a fan of Ultimate Fighting, though I think that other people should be able to watch it, if they're so inclined. But it is an all too common stance among watchdog groups, including mothers, sympathetic school officials and the clergy, as Nelson so kindly pointed out. Of course, this has been going on for years, but it was still a clever enough send-up of the problem.
Maybe it's because I don't find Marge to be one of the funnier characters on the show and this episode focused on her, so there weren't as many funny moments in the main storylines. Luckily, there were plenty of side characters and moments to spotlight.
Come on guys, admit it: you've wondered what Marge Simpson looks like naked, right? She has always had a great body for a cartoon character, looking great on the rare times that the Simpsons go out to a fancy dinner or party. Wait, is it just me that thinks that way? Never mind. Ahem.
Anyway, Marge is the cover girl for the November issue of Playboy! I wonder if we'll see more of her than we've ever seen before.
If you fondly remember watching the first Simpsons Movie hoping that the sequel would bring you equal amounts of life affirming excitement, keep hoping.
They didn't rule out the possibility of another movie, but it certainly won't be in the foreseeable future. The pair said the process for the first movie was so frustrating that they couldn't fathom even starting a second one without some kind of heavy duty anti-psychotic medication.
It's strange that not only is it almost 2010 but it's the end of the decade. 
(S21E06) This was a pretty well-structured episode, in that it might even give Bart some hope and direction for his own life. Who knew that Skinner and Willie were once cool and beloved, and that Willie was the swim teacher for Springfield Elementary? Okay, as most of you know I've been out of touch with The Simpsons for years prior to this anniversary season, so if this was already revealed, it's new to me.
Recently, to celebrate the show's 20th season, there was a contest to create a new character for The Simpsons. Well, the winner has been announced as Peggy Black of Orange, Conn., and the character is Ricardo Bomba, who is quite the ladies' man.
(S21E05) I've been waiting all season for this episode. As a long-lapsed fan of The Simpsons, it was beginning to look like someone had sucked the heart right out of Springfield's first family. Maybe they have, for the most part, but everything that made The Simpsons such a great show 20 years ago was there tonight.
As you know, we're in the middle of the 20th anniversary of FOX's The Simpsons, and the network has a special contest that actually starts during tonight's episode of House.
While we wait for the World Series to be over and The Simpsons (and other Sunday night FOX shows) to return, here's something fun: a list of the 14 most awesome fake products from the show (The Simpsons I mean, not the World Series).
Podcast time again! In this episode, Jason Hughes and Michael Pascua join me to talk about TV's doings this week:
Even after I'd given up on watching The Simpsons every week many years back, I continued tuning into their annual "Treehouse of Horror" specials, the most recent of which aired Sunday. After a few more years of watching just that one episode each year, I eventually let it go as well. But I've been watching this 20th Anniversary Season of the show, and reviewing it for the site, so I settled in to see what we'd be tackling this year.
Do you just love it when life imitates art? It makes me wonder if art can legally sue for copyright infringement. 
Warning: the following might be NSFW, if your W objects to cartoon nudity.
As part of the 20th anniversary celebrations, Fox is holding a contest in which fans can create a character online that will appear in an upcoming episode of The Simpsons. Entries can be submitted on The Simpsons website (although apparently not yet) and should include such information as name, age, appearance, occupation and catchphrase ("D'oh!").
(S21E03) "Call me a killjoy, but I think that because this is not to my taste, no one else should be able to enjoy it!" --Marge Simpson on Ultimate Punching
If you fondly remember watching the first Simpsons Movie hoping that the sequel would bring you equal amounts of life affirming excitement, keep hoping. 
The TV Squad Podcast: Vik Sahay of Chuck, Oprah talk, brutal timeslots, and more!
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Andy Richter: The TV Squad Interview
