All posts by Solar Dragon

About Solar Dragon

I am Solar Dragon, the head admin on Wikisimpsons.

RIP Sam Simon

Deaths


The Simpsons developer, executive producer, character designer and writer Sam Simon passed away today from Colorectal cancer.

Simon was diagnosed in late 2012 and was given 3-6 months left to live. However, he defied the odds and continued to fight long after that time frame. As well as working on The Simpsons, which he left after season 4 due to creative difficulties, Simon is well known as a member of PETA and his involvement with The Sam Simon Foundation.

Sayonara, Sam Simon! You will be missed!

What to expect: March 2015

What to expect

These are the upcoming events in March 2015 to look for.

Episode news

“The Princess Guide”


“The Princess Guide” will air on March 1st, this very day. The episode is written by Brian Kelley. Yaya DeCosta guest stars as Princess Kemi, Richard Branson guest stars as himself and Joe Mantegna guest stars as Fat Tony. 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.”

See also: Moe will plot revenge over Nigerian E-mail scam this March and 10 New Promotional Images for “The Princess Guide” have been released!

“Sky Police”


“Sky Police” will air on March 8th. The episode is written by Matt Selman and directed by Rob Oliver. Nathan Fielder guest stars as himself. In the episode:

“Chief Wiggum is mistakenly delivered a military jet pack, which he gleefully accepts and uses in order to fight crime. But when the jet pack crashes into the church, the congregation, led by Marge, must resort to gambling and counting cards in order to collect money to repair the church.”

See also: Chief Wiggum is mistakenly delivered a military jet pack this March and 5 Promotional Images for “Sky Police” have been released!

“Waiting for Duffman”


“Waiting for Duffman” will air on March 15th. It is written by John Frink. Cat Deeley guest stars as herself and Stacy Keach guest stars as Howard K. Duff VIII. In the episode:

“When Duffman undergoes hip replacement surgery and retires, the company sets up a reality show competition to find his replacement. Homer wins the competition, and because the job requires him to stay sober, he learns that beer isn’t as necessary as he thought to have a good time.”

See also: So You Think You Can… DUFFMAN? on an all-new episode this March and 3 Promotional Images for “Waiting for Duffman” have been released!

Tapped Out news

Enter the Bartman


On March 3rd, Bartman will be coming into The Simpsons: Tapped Out as a costume for Bart, as part of the Superhero update. He will be available at 8am GMT across all games worldwide for 60 donuts. He will be available until the end of the update.

The Fruit Knight Rises… Again


On March 10th, Fruit-Bat-Man will return to Tapped Out. He first appeared during the “Dark Knight Court” episode tie-in. He will be available for 90 donuts and will be available until the end of the event as well.

If you already had Fruit-Bat-Man from his original release, he can be used to fight felons for the premium time of 3 hours. He will be able to do this if you choose to purchase him.

Miscellaneous news

Lisa Simpson’s Guide to Geek Chic


On March 17th, the fourth book in the Vault of Simpsonology series will be released; Lisa Simpson’s Guide to Geek Chic.

“In Lisa Simpson‘s Guide to Geek Chic, Springfield‘s most sensitive student reveals the secrets of being a misunderstood geek goddess. The geeks have inherited the earth . . . And Springfield’s most outspoken and overlooked middle child, Lisa Simpson, is here to tell you why! So what does it matter that you don’t run with the popular crowd? You control the trends and tastes of popular culture. Who cares if you aren’t part of a clique? Your idiosyncratic style is now très chic. So what if you’re not very social? You’re tech savvy drives all social media. There’s no need to lay low in nerd anonymity. You are the smartest person in the room, and it’s time to fulfill your dork destiny!”

A summary of news: February 2015

Summaries

This is the summary of all The Simpsons news from February, in case you missed anything.

Episode news

Springfield gets a new town anthem


On February 8th, “Walking Big & Tall” aired. The episode, written by Michael Price and directed by Chris Clements, guest starred Pharrell Williams as himself and Kevin Michael Richardson as Albert. Springfield learns that the town anthem they had used for 30 years was bought from a salesman and lots of other towns used it. So, Bart and Lisa help write a new town anthem. Meanwhile, Homer becomes proud of being fat.

See also: “Walking Big & Tall” promotional images released!, Pharrell Williams to guest star and Pharrell invites 2.8m

Marge and Moe get new jobs


“My Fare Lady” aired on February 15th. Rich Sommer and Christopher Lloyd guest starred in an episode written by Marc Wilmore and directed by Michael Polcino. In the episode, Marge becomes a driver for a transportation app service to earn money. Meanwhile, Moe’s Tavern is destroyed by Homer when he watches over it for Moe and Moe becomes a janitor at the Nuclear Power Plant.

The episode also had a special couch gag by Australian animators Paul Robertson and Ivan Dixon. The couch gag was created and released onto YouTube by them and was found by the producers who liked it and added it to the episode.

See also: “My Fare Lady” information released, “My Fare Lady” promotional images released and Simpsons wins Fox’s night – with second-least watched episode ever

Tapped Out news

The Stonecutters return


The Stonecutters made a return on the 5th February. This update was just a resale of items from the previous Stonecutters event. This update had no new content at all and was a resale of most of the old Stonecutters stuff.

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

Jiminy Jillikers! Valentine’s Day was later than usual!


A week after the Stonecutters event, Valentine’s Day came around. The last two years, this was a major event. However, this update was a small update with very little new content. This was because something new and big was coming…

See also: Homer’s running late for Valentine’s…and so is EA!

Help, Sky Finger! Criminals have overrun Springfield!


February 18th brought a new event… Superheroes! This event, scheduled to end on March 23rd, added 3 new character collections; Superheroes, Vigilantes and Criminals. The update is split into four parts, called issues, and there is a comic book theme to the music, text, text bubbles and other parts. For full details, read our article.

See also: Homer’s leading the charge in an all-new Tapped Out event!

Comic news

Simpsons Illustrated #15 was released


Simpsons Illustrated #15 was released on February 4th. The description of the comic is:

“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.”

See also: Simpsons Illustrated #15 now available!

Simpsons Comics #218 was released


Simpsons Comics #218 was released on February 18th.

Comic Book Guy falls asleep during a Sci-Fi DVD marathon and dreams up three thrilling astronomical adventures. First, Bart is recruited by a battle school, where he and a ragtag crew of cadets are trained to fight an alien war. Then, Lisa finds herself set adrift in space when the satellite she is tethered too is destroyed by Krusty-themed space junk. Finally, no one is safe when Homer and yet another ragtag band of misfits become Protectors of the Planets.

See also: Simpsons Comics #218 now available!

RIP Leonard Nimoy

Deaths

Leonard Nimoy, best known as Spock from Star Trek, passed away earlier today following a battle with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Nimoy had been diagnosed with the illness and had been in and out of hospitals for months. He was admitted to hospital on February 19th following severe chest pains and passed away today in his home.

Nimoy voiced himself in two episodes of The Simpsons; season 4‘s “Marge vs. the Monorail” and season 8‘s “The Springfield Files“.

He will be missed.

Source:

“Brick Like Me” wins a WGA award!

Miscellaneous


The Simpsons season 25 episode “Brick Like Me“, written by Brian Kelley, has won a Writers Guild of America award for Animation.

Four episodes from the show were nominated, “Brick Like Me”, “Covercraft” by Matt Selman, “Pay Pal” by David H. Steinberg and “Steal This Episode” by J. Stewart Burns. The other two nominees in the category were Bob’s Burgers episodes “Bob and Deliver” and “Work Hard or Die Trying, Girl”.

For a full list of nominees and winners from the Writers Guild of America Awards 2015, see this page.

Matt Groening to guest star as himself on Portlandia

Miscellaneous


The Simpsons creator Matt Groening is to guest star as himself in an episode of Portlandia.

Matt Groening will portray a disgruntled version of himself who sues Spike (Fred Armisen) after he creates an unlicensed “Bart Ska-mpson” T-shirt.

Groening was contacted for the role through another Simpsons writer, Matt Selman, who knows Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein. A guest appearance on another TV show is very rare for Matt Groening who only really guest appears in obscure documentaries. Groening says that he has not acted since a cameo on The Tracey Ullman Show in 1988.

The episode he guest stars in, “Fashion”, airs tomorrow, 12th February!

Sources:

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

A summary of news: January 2015

Monthly, Summaries

Each month, we will have a summary of the news from the past month, with all the episode airings, comic releases, Tapped Out updates and anything else you can think of.

Episode news

The Simpsons Movie 2?


January 4th saw “The Man Who Came To Be Dinner” air after a two year wait. It was originally supposed to be the season finale of season 24. No explanation for this was given, until recently. The episode was intended to be the second Simpsons Movie. The producers intended to make it a sequel, but eventually decided to make it an ordinary episode.

Al Jean stated in an interview with Entertainment Weekly:

“Two of the allures were exploring the rules of the new world and the cinematic nature of doing something in space,” says Jean. “But then we were worried that people might think it’s an idea that’s not canonical—it doesn’t really happen, unlike all of other 560 episodes that really ‘happened’—so the ultimate decision was to air it as an episode,” Jean explains. “It just got to the point where if we were unsure about it as a movie, then it would be good to air the episode. And then if we do a movie, we’d just think of something else…. So if you want to know what was thought of a possible Simpsons Movie 2, we just aired it—for free. You can see it for free!”

The episode saw the Simpsons heading to the homeworld of Kang and Kodos where they were to become their next meal.

A 25 year old script finally becomes an episode!


Back in season one of the show, a fairly new comedy writer wrote a script for The Simpsons which was filed away and lost. 25 years later, that episode, written by the now famous Judd Apatow, finally aired. “Bart’s New Friend” sees Homer get hypnotized into thinking he’s a 10 year old kid, who then becomes friends with Bart.

Elon Musk comes to Springfield


January 25th saw inventor Elon Musk come to Springfield. He and Homer become fast friends and together attempt to revolutionize the Nuclear Power Plant. However, when Musk goes too far, Homer has to break off his friendship with Musk.

See also: “The Musk Who Fell To Earth” promo images released and Two New Promotional Images for “The Musk Who Fell To Earth”

Tapped Out news

Queen Helvetica of Equalia!


Christmas was taken down on January 14th and the snow had all melted away. The next day, Gil came along with a limited time offer for a castle and a new costume for Lisa, for the low, low price of 175 donuts. Read all about what happened here.

See also: A Royal Welcome

Willie Becomes a Slave


A tie-in update for the upcoming episode “The Musk Who Fell To Earth” was released on January 21st. This saw a new costume for Willie come with a new questline tying into the upcoming episode. It’s too late to get any content from it now, but read about it in our article.

See also: Willie’s slave laboring – technically – in a new tie-in!

The Mafia Returns


On January 28th, Level 49 hit. This update came with two new characters, three new buildings, three new decorations and… a new strip of land! Read all about the update in our article.

See also: The Springfield Mafia returns and Land, Glorious Land!

Comic news

New comic releases



Simpsons Comics #217 was released on January 21st. Bart Simpson #94 was released on January 28th.

Comic stories for these issues will be added before this is published.

See also: Simpsons Comics #217 now for sale! and Bart Simpson #94 now available!

Miscellaneous news

MythBusters


January 10th saw a special The Simpsons special episode of MythBusters air. This special sees the presenters attempt to find out whether a cherry bomb dropped in a school toilet make others act like geysers, in reference to a prank Bart pulled in “The Crepes of Wrath”, and whether placing someone between a wrecking ball and a building protect the building, in reference to the scene from “Sideshow Bob Roberts”. Read about what happens here.

Sources