This Sunday the world will officially be changed forever. After that day, you will never be able to say that you can’t watch an episode of “The Simpsons” in HD again.

That’s right – the Simpsons is going HD, and to celebrate they have new opening credits. It’s a nice change to the familiar opening – with many of the old gags being spiced up or changed slightly. It’s a great new coat of paint on the Simpsons formula…which shockingly, still seems to work more often than not.

I’m looking forward to seeing this, and I hope the show has at least another 20 years or so to go so we can have a nice crop of HD episodes.

(s20e07)

Tonight’s episode of “The Simpsons” was probably the most coherent episode in a while. The episode starts off with a lengthy Apple, Inc themed parody, that leads to Bart running away from the mall and ending up in the yard of his new Muslim friend “Bashir”.

Bart tries to show Bashir the ropes at school, and everyone, even Homer, seems to like him. After Homer’s buddies at the bar convince him that Bashir must be a terrorist (based solely on the fact that he’s Muslim) Homer tries to poison the family with a cake that looks like the American flag.

When that doesn’t work, Marge gets upset and demands that he apologize to them. When he goes to their house, however, he finds out that Bashir’s father has boxes of dynamite, and blows up buildings.

Long story short – Bashir’s dad is a demolitions expert, Homer makes an ass out of himself, and accidentally blows up a bridge that leads to the Duff beer plant, and so on.

Lisa’s Apple parody subplot moves throughout the entire episode too, with her getting a MyPod, then spending $1,200 on music downloads. After that she visits Mapple headquarters at the bottom of the sea, and ends up handing out leaflets for the company to pay off her bill.

This episode was filled with mild laughs throughout, so from that perspective, I suppose it was a success. The show is really beginning to feel a bit long in the tooth, though. The Apple related parody jokes were very dated, using a slogan the company hasn’t used in 5 years for the basis of a good portion of the humor, and they even went so far as to rehash a few bits from MadTV in joke form as well.

The Muslim neighbors plot was also filled with jokes we’ve all seen on this subject 100 times or more, and it even used some classic comedy gags that go as far back as “I Love Lucy” or even further. It just really felt kind of “been there, done that”.

I think the show could benefit from an injection of new writers, or perhaps, after 20 years, it’s time to put this one to bed.

Starting on the first day of September, all the way through to the 30th of October we have new shows debuting on all the major networks. Below you’ll find a complete list of all the new and returning shows and their premiere dates!

Be sure and check back here at TV Jab for reviews of these new programs as they premiere…we’ll be covering almost all of them this year!
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Details of the episode of the upcoming season of “The Simpsons” that comedian/actor Seth Rogan will be writing made their way online courtesy of the Hollywood Reporter.

In the episode, Comic Book Guy creates a super hoer that is then turned into a feature film. Homer ends up playing the hero and Seth plays his personal trainer. While preparing for the film Homer gets into great shape, but after the movie is over, he is unable to afford the personal trainer and his life becomes a living hell.

Sounds like an episode of “The Simpsons” to me! Look for it as part of the new fall season.

After only a few weeks of negotiations the voice talents behind “The Simpsons” and 20th Century Fox have reached an agreement, signing them to new 4-year deals. That will put “The Simpsons” over the 20 season mark, and is further proof that this show will be on the air for the rest of time.

No word on if the new deal includes another movie in the agreement, but after the success of the first one, I wouldn’t be surprised to see another Simpsons flick hit the theaters in the near future.

The only thing known about the next seasons are that next year their will be only 20 episodes created, instead of the traditional 22…and, of course, if “The Simpsons” suddenly tanks in the ratings there is no guarantee that the show will be around for all 4 of those years, but at this point, I seriously doubt “The Simpsons” will be ending its run anytime soon.

Season 19, Episode 18 – Any Given Sundance

100 Word Review: In this sadly average episode of The Simpsons Lisa makes a documentary about her family and it gets accepted into the Sundance Film Festival. You can add film financiers to the list of things Principal Skinner and Super Intendant Chalmers do that they probably shouldn’t. After the Simpsons are in Utah and upset over Lisa’s film we see that Nelson also has a movie showing at Sundance (which is vastly superior to Lisa’s). That’s pretty much it. Guest voices Jim Jarmusch and John C. Riley were entertaining, but Riley felt wasted. Not the best episode. Not the worst. so-so.

100 Word Review: There are some people that say that this show hasn’t been good in years. I don’t understand those people. The Simpsons, to me, is as good as it has ever been. In this episode Bart ends up in the 4-H club, raises a cow, rescues said cow from slaughter, and ends up forced into a shotgun wedding with one of Cletus’ kids. Is it the greatest episode of the series? Of course not, but it is amusing in places and there are a few great lines. “Sorry, Lise. I can’t be a vegetarian. I love the taste of death.”

“E. Pluribus Wiggum”

Welcome to January folks – the month of many a season finale. One show that is still rolling out new episodes, thankfully, is The Simpsons. The reason for this is mainly due to the amount of time it takes to produce the show. Most of the 19th season was completed before the Strike – but there is no word on exactly how many episodes we’re getting this year. What we do know, is that last night we had a new one – with a great plot.

“E. Pluribus Wiggum” starts off with a bang. The new couch gag is probably going to join the ranks of my all time favorites. I won’t spoil it – but it’s excellent. The show opens with Homer going on a binge to consume as much fast food as he can after Marge calls him on his promise to go on a diet. Upon exiting a fast food drive through, Homer decides to throw away some trash in the car – including uncashed checks, a tricycle, and an old car battery. The car battery leaks on on a gas line and blows up the entire fast food district of Springfield. As a result, a bond issue must be passed to rebuild the area, and to do that they have to move up the election primary…and hilarity ensues.

John Stewart guest stars, Old Media gets ragged on, and the entire electoral process gets sent up. The best part? Both the Republicans and the Democrats are equally sent up in this episode, and there is no real political opinions suggested – other than that the entire system is stupid. The episode is seriously ‘The Simpsons’ at its very best. Don’t tell me the show has ‘jumped the shark’ – everything that makes ‘The Simpsons’ great, and in a sea of re-runs and shoddy reality shows, this is a very welcome change.

Grade: A

“Season 19 Episode 08 – Funeral for a Fiend”

Sideshow Bob is at it again – but, unfortunately, there’s nothing terrible special about this appearance of everyone’s favorite homicidal clown – other than the gimmick of reuniting the cast of Fraiser.

The episode opens with an extended Tivo bit – and how corporate heads think you’re stealing from them if you fast forward through the commercials. It’s a bit we’ve seen on Family Guy before, and when you add in Marge’s staying up all night (which the Simpson family did when they first got cable) the entire opening segment felt like it had been done before. This bit led us into the family going to eat at a steakhouse that was actually a ruse for Sideshow Bob to attempt, yet again, to kill Bart.

This is Sideshow’s 10th appearance on the show – and I really wish it had been better. Bob fakes his death with the help of his family, and their plot is ultimately foiled by Lisa, who notices that Bob’s coffin has a place for his giant feet, which you wouldn’t do for a dead man… apparently.

Unfortunately, that’s how Bob was caught the first time when he attempted to frame Krusty for robbing the Kwik-E-Mart, so even that felt a bit, “been here, seen this.”

Now, having said all that, there were still a few good moments in the show, and overall it was enjoyable – just nothing particularly special. I’m not one of those people that think the Simpsons is passed its prime, or that it “hasn’t been funny in years”. I love this show – and hope that it continues on for another 10 years (although I doubt it will). The day The Simpsons airs its last new episode will be a very sad, sad day in my house.

BUT – they can do better than this.

Grade: B-

Originally a part of The Simpsons Movie promotion, the first official Kwik-E-Mart to ever open full time has done so at Universal Studios. The store is your one stop for all things Simpsons – particularly Homer and Bart.

Why we don’t have these as a national chain is beyond me. Talk about a franchise opportunity. I’d go to a Kwik-E-Mart in the bad part of town before I’d stop at a 7/11 or a Cefco.

via Buddy TV