Monthly Archives: February 2015

Pharrell invites 2.8m

Episodes

It appears Springfield’s proposed new anthem wasn’t as popular as they thought…and we…and FOX.
FOX stupidly decided to air The Simpsons against ratings powerhouse the Grammys last night (which itself was down), which attracted an average of 24.82 million over its 3 hours, leading the show to bring in its second-lowest ever audience, ahead of the 2.69m-pulling “Diggs” of Season 25, attracting 2.78 million (18-49: 1.2/3), down 0.7m (2.85m; 18-49: 1.2/3) from the rating logged in yesterday’s unofficial report.

The night on FOX was down in general, with Brooklyn Nine-Nine logging the only audience number normal for its run at a 20k-down 2.59m, Family Guy down to 2.81m and Bob’s Burgers down to 1.94m. All the other networks were clever and aired encore programming, logging similar ratings. And it’s not usual that Family Guy beats Simpsons.

So, here’s how the lowest ever The Simpsons ratings table is looking:

1 DIGGS MARCH 9 2014 2.69M
2 WALKING BIG & TALL FEBRUARY 8 2015 2.78M
3 THE YELLOW BADGE OF COWARDGE MAY 18 2014 3.28M
4 THE MUSK WHO FELL TO EARTH JANUARY 25 2015 3.29M
5 WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN BART’S EXPECTING APRIL 27 2014 3.45M
= COVERCRAFT NOVEMBER 23 2014 3.45M

That’s it for now! Hope next Sunday it won’t be so gloomy! Gone are the days where the table above would have been filled with 5m and 6m.

(Sources: Wikipedia; TV by the Numbers)

Who is EA’s cheap(-ish) replacement for a Valentine’s event? They are, they are!

Tapped Out

That’s right, as you may have guessed from the title, it appears EA might not be bothering with Valentine’s Day this year and have treated us to the Stonecutters – back for one week only!
Black Market Panel
EA have given us a welcome return to many of the Numbers – including Number 36 – Krusty’s costume, which is free, but only has one quest if you don’t want to fork out 140 Donuts for the Stonecutter Lodge – which unlocks all of his other jobs.

Number 51 is also back, having a brief return from last Halloween also, for 100 Donuts. Number 12 and Number 14, that’s Lenny & Carl, cost 50 Donuts, with Arnie Pye’s Number 67 on for 60. Homer’s Number 908 is also back, free with the Stonecutter Lodge questline.

The Stonecutter Daycare Center costs a measly $250k for you players with millions of cash – but as it’s unlocked at Level 5 – those all the way down there will be heavily disappointed. The Abandoned Store is back for 30 Donuts, and so is the All Seeing Eye for 100, the Stonecutter Table for 150 and the… why not just pop over to the article itself to see what else has come back?!

Number 36 is off promoting corn-sumerism in my town.

However, this is only WAVE 1, with 13 items. Waves 2 and 3 are set to spring up over the weekend and into next week, so Homer will be happy to let you prize open your wallets and fork out for some jaunty goodness – if you happened to miss the event last June.

When you log on, you are greeted with a message from Homer, Lisa and Number 1, detailing how the Stonecutters rigged the Super Bowl.

And that it for now – see you this weekend when Wave Two is coming – hopefully the Sea Captain is ready and bracing!

Throwback Thursday: “Bart’s Little Fantasy”

Throwback Thursday

February 5, 1989 saw the Simpsons have a role-reversal and Bart, Lisa and Maggie became the adults, ordering little Homer and Marge about – but that wasn’t quite how it went.

“We’re the Kids and You’re the Parents!”

It turns out that was just Bart’s Little Fantasy after Bart and Lisa disobeyed their parents’ orders to clean up the rumpus room, and so Bart was sent out to mow the lawn as a punishment.

Isn’t that what every kid dreams of – ordering their own parents about?! Well, they do that anyway nowadays.

And on this day in 1995, some else of “Bart’s” was first shown – his Comet.

Everyone in Flanders’ shelter…except Flanders…

Also on this day in 1927, the late Lee Miskin, who served as an animation timer on two episodes, was born. Christopher Guest, who voiced Nigel Tufnel, was born on this day in 1948. The youngest-ever voice actor on The Simpsons, voicing Charlie the orphan at age 9, Jordan Nagai, was born on this day in 2000. And finally, this day in 2004 saw Bart and Lisa deliver the slogan for their new TV show in the now-defunct UK comic The Best of The Simpsons, issue #8.

That’s it for this Throwback Thursday, and we’ll be throwing back even more next week!

Simpsons Illustrated #15 now available!

Comics

Simpsons Illustrated #15 is the latest comic in the Simpsons Illustrated series.

The Simpson family embarks on a globetrotting adventure that not only takes them around the world but, literally, into orbit around the Earth with everybody’s favorite, eternally optimistic, moonraking megalomaniac, Hank Scorpio! And when Bart finds himself living the dream after landing a gig as the new Radioactive Man comic book writer, Comic Book Guy finds himself living his worst nightmare. Then, Lisa applies her deductive skills to discovering the identity of her anonymous valentine.

Moe will plot revenge over Nigerian E-mail scam this March

Episodes, Guest stars

Information about the plot for the episode “The Princess Guide“, which will air on March 1 [2015], has been released in The Futon Critic.com.

In the episode …
“Homer is put in charge of keeping Princess Kemi out of trouble while her father, a Nigerian king, works out a uranium deal with Mr. Burns. When Kemi ends up at Moe’s, Moe jumps to the conclusion that she must be related to the Nigerian prince who scammed him over email and schemes to get his money back. But much to his surprise, he finds himself falling for the princess.”

And it will guest star Yaya DaCosta as Princess Kemi, Richard Branson as himself and Joe Mantegna as Fat Tony.

If you want to read the original listing from The Futon Critic.com, visit this page.

Stay tuned!

Simpsons Comics Clubhouse is now out!

Comics

Simpsons Comics Clubhouse is a coming together of great stories from previous comics!

“Looking to have some fun with the Simpsons? Join the club! Membership comes with these exclusive benefits: Get the low down on Homer as he discovers his new calling as the bearer of bad news; Mr. Burns opens a museum dedicated to his life and his legend; Marge gives up her apron for academia; Bart and Lisa memorize the entire cartoon canon of “Itchy & Scratchy” to save humanity; and Homer goes to freakish lengths to get Marge an anniversary gift. All this and even more rewarding perks and privileges await you in the Simpsons Comics Clubhouse. Dress code and proper attire will be strictly enforced at all times.”

The Simpsons Wins an Annie Award

Miscellaneous


The 42nd Annual Annie Awards were held on January 31st and The Simpsons was nominated for several awards. The awards were:

Best Animated Short Subject for the Michal Socha Couch Gag from “What to Expect When Bart’s Expecting“.
Best General Audience Animated TV/Broadcast Production for “Treehouse of Horror XXV“.
Outstanding Achievement, Directing in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production with Matthew Nastuk nominated.
Outstanding Achievement, Storyboarding in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production with Brad Ableson, Matthew Faughnan & Stephen Reis nominated for “Treehouse of Horror XXV”
Outstanding Achievement, Writing in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production with Rob LaZebnik and Tim Long nominated separately.

Despite being nominated for 5 awards, The Simpsons only won one, although it was probably the biggest. It won Best General Audience Animated TV/Broadcast Production.

Congratulations to The Simpsons!

For a full list of awards and nominees, see the Annie Awards website.

What to expect: February 2015

Monthly, What to expect

This is the first in the What to expect series of posts. Every month, we’ll tell you what to expect in the upcoming month.

Episode news

“Walking Big & Tall”

February 8th will see the first episode of the month air, “Walking Big & Tall”. The official plot synopsis was revealed by The Funton Critic:

When Lisa learns Springfield’s anthem was stolen from another town she writes a replacement. Meanwhile, Homer learns the meaning of “Wide Pride”

Singer Pharrell Williams is to guest star.

See also: Springfield will get a new town anthem this February, Pharrell Williams to guest star and “Walking Big & Tall” promotional images released!

“My Fare Lady”


February 15th will see the second episode of the month air, “My Fare Lady”. The official plot synopsis was revealed by The Funton Critic:

When Marge gets fed up with the thankless duty of chauffeuring her kids around, she begins working as a driver for a transportation app service. Meanwhile, Homer bankrupts Moe when he watches over the bar for one night, which forces Moe to take a temporary job as a janitor at the nuclear plant.

See also: “My Fare Lady” information released and “My Fare Lady” promotional images released

Comic news

A gathering of comics

February 3rd will see Simpsons Comics Clubhouse get released. This is a collection of comics from previous issues.

“Looking to have some fun with the Simpsons? Join the club! Membership comes with these exclusive benefits: Get the low down on Homer as he discovers his new calling as the bearer of bad news; Mr. Burns opens a museum dedicated to his life and his legend; Marge gives up her apron for academia; Bart and Lisa memorize the entire cartoon canon of “Itchy & Scratchy” to save humanity; and Homer goes to freakish lengths to get Marge an anniversary gift. All this and even more rewarding perks and privileges await you in the Simpsons Comics Clubhouse. Dress code and proper attire will be strictly enforced at all times.”

Miscellaneous

The Simpsons Minecraft skins


Coming late February (release date as of now unknown) will be 24 character skins for Minecraft. These 24 characters include the main Simpson family; Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie. Who the other characters will be are currently unknown, but we’ll inform you on this blog when we know!

See also: Back in Block Form