Talking Simpsons

Happy New Year, listeners! We had a very eventful January to reflect on, not just with Simpsons news about Emmys and toys. We also did a ton of traveling to New York City, Tokyo, and San Francisco that we are so excited to share with all of you. Plus, tons of podcast news for the start of 2024, and we reply to some really great Patreon comments to start the next 12 months right! Support this podca...

What happens when a "Flanders has a girlfriend" plot meets Notting Hill and the Bush-era culture war? You end up with one of season 14's more complex episodes as we discuss A Star Is Born Again. As Ned meets a new woman who loves how down-to-earth he is, how will Ned deal with Hollywood values? And what does that have to do with references to Cher, J-Lo's famous dress, LA's NFL teams, dead jellyfi...

Homer has a bad heart and we've got a great guest, writer Neil Campbell who cocreated the series Digman with Andy Sandberg (now streaming on Paramount Plus )! Neil talks us through the Simpsons ep he wrote in 2013, his longtime fandom of the show, and his thoughts on this freelance-written episode that balances the drama of Homer's near-death experiences with cops shooting at mummies & people with...

Hey folks, we're interrupting your podcast feed to let you know we're returning to SF Sketchfest for the fifth year in a row! Check out all the details below: WHAT: Our SF Sketchfest 2024 Live Show all about "Marge vs. the Monorail" WHO: Your Regular Talking Simpsons Hosts and Chris Wade , Producer of Chapo Trap House WHERE: Gateway Theatre in San Francisco (215 Jackson St.) WHEN: Wednesday, Janua...

Starting 2024 with one of season 14's better episodes, as Lisa becomes a champion speller and Homer follows around fast food. Learn all about the many references to The McRib, The Paris Review, secret conspiracies, the seven sister colleges, Requiem for a Dream, and tons more in this new podcast for the new year. Listen now before we expel Boogerman! Support this podcast and get over 150 bonus epi...

The Talking Simpsons Network is taking a week off for the holiday season, so to fill the content gap, we've decided to post an episode of our Patreon-exclusive Talking Futurama podcast miniseries! If you like this episode and want to hear the rest (with more to come every month), head over to  Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and sign up at the $5 level. Once you do, you'll have immediate access to all...

Happy New Year! In case you didn't know, every month we release the premium podcast, What A Cartoon Movie . And, as we take a week off to rest and recharge, we're giving all of our listeners a chance to hear a free sample of this Patreon-exclusive series. So please, enjoy our ultra-long look at Pixar's The Incredibles! And if you'd like to hear 60 more episodes of What A Cartoon Movie —with a new...

We've reached the beginning of the month (and the start of a new year!), which means it's once again time for another installment of our community podcast! Join us as we discuss even more season 35 episodes, The Simpsons' ranking on Variety's 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time list, Bill Oakley's annual Steamie Awards, and more.  And, as always, we read and respond to your questions and comments fr...

Whether or not you remember 1984, you're going to love first-time guest David Sims , cohost of the excellent podcast Blank Check and film critic for The Atlantic ! This episode is a treat for any former children of the '80s as we hear the tale of Lisa's birth, how they got their first home, the creation of an iconic clown bed, parodies of McDonald's commercials, and even the star-studded first wor...

Hard to believe it but we have reached the landmark 300th episode, and for this occasion, we turn to Simpsons historian, TheRealJims from the awesome YouTube channel of the same name ! How does the show celebrate such a big moment? Well, first Bart learns he's a child star but that Homer already wasted all of the money, and somewhere in between that and a big action ending, Tony Hawk and Blink 182...

We've reached what some consider the best episode of Simpsons ever, so we welcome back one of our best guests ever, Will Menaker from Chapo Trap House ! We have so much to say about this triumph of writing and animation, from the show's love for Adam West and Linda Rondstadt to the jingle still stuck in our heads decades later, and even exploring the realities of freezing to death. All that, plus...

The end of 2023 is almost here, and Talking Simpsons Network has a huge November to reflect on. First off, we chat about Simpsons news like a delayed Halloween and clickbait about Homer maybe stopping his strangling. Then we chat about our respective trips to Japan and Los Angeles ahead of Thanksgiving and wrap things up with some of our favorite comments from Patreon with previews of what new pod...

As we go deeper into season 14, we are left with this question: What if you wrote Homer The Heretic but without any of the brilliant satire or insight into religion? You'd probably end up with something like Pray Anything, where Homer sorta causes a biblical-level flood that somehow is canonical. Also featured in this episode: All male arks, weird deleted scenes, drunkenly worshipping deer heads,...

To celebrate Conan O'Brien's first Simpsons ep, we're welcoming on another tall funny man, Steve Yurko from the One Piece Podcast and ProZD Plays Games YouTube channel! As we dig into a tale of boyhood crushes, a sea captain replacing Don Rickles, and secretly rewritten scripts, Steve also gives us insight on director Wes Archer from working with him! Fairly warned be ye for this week's podcast! S...

It's time for us to cover another of the most controversial episodes in Simpsons history, and this time it's when Marge takes steroids. The story starts from an interesting and real place of Marge being the victim of a jarringly realistic mugging, then in the third act veers into a wacky area of comedy full of dated jokes. Listen now with either an intense lifting session or a game of Tetris! Supp...

It's a major ep for Simpsons history and for that reason, we welcome a pair of first-time guests, Matt Bors and Ben Clarkson , creators of the hilarious satirical comic Justice Warriors ! Together we explore the first ep written by Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein, as they tell the story of Marge and Homer working together to fix their slanty shanty. This leads to Mr. Burns sexually harassing her, T...

We've reached the end of the month, which means it's once again time for another installment of our community podcast! Join us as we discuss the dawn of season 35, new Simpsons-themed shoes, the legendary caramel on the ceiling of the writers' room, a real-life Moe's Tavern in Austin, and more.  And, as always, we read and respond to your questions and comments from the most recent round of episod...

It's time for a very special live podcast for the Halloween season, as Bill Oakley (former Simpsons showrunner, Steamed Hams Society boss , and Sight Gags figurehead) joined us in Portland, OR! Recorded on October 14, 2023, Bill chatted with us about two of his fave Treehouse of Horror segments, Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace and Attack of the 50ft Eyesores, and shared many secrets from making the...

It's Lisa's birthday once more and for this special occasion we welcomed first-time guest, comedian Django Gold , who just released the new stand-up special Bag of Tricks ! It's a truly wild ep this week as Homer is a thoughtless gift giver which leads him to pay a sleazy man to follow her, with it all coming to a head in a deadly hall of mirrors chase. All that, plus laser pointer history, the in...

As we explore an episode all about animation history, we're joined once again by the award-winning artist  Nina Matsumoto ! Yes, it's time for the greatest animated film of the 1990s, Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie, and Bart is very excited to see it. But as we explore parenting and discipline, we also chat about how this reflects the animation industry at the time. All that plus MANY tangents about...

We're settling into fall as our monthly community podcast gets back to normal just in time for our September installment. We start by discussing the big news for Simpsons, including the favorable end to the WGA strike for the show's writers, then chat about our upcoming plans including our live show with Bill Oakley in Portland on October 14! All that, plus responses to some of the top Patreon com...

As The Simpsons head to EPCOT for a special episode, we welcomed back Scott Gairdner , EPCOT lover/writer/actor/cohost of Podcast: The Ride ! Not only do we dig into all of the theme park trivia that's stuffed into this ep, we also discuss the complex love affair with Edna and Skinner, special guest stars who might not read scripts correctly, and tons more. So grab some pie and listen while waitin...

The Simpsons celebrate Halloween for the third time, and we get scarily accurate in our history of this episode! We've got the original script to note the many changed lines in this episode, plus all the references will finally be demystified. Not to mention our thoughts on scary dolls, the many King Kong films (especially the 1933 original), zombies, and tons more. So get ready for the terror of...

The Berkeley Studio Era of Talking Simpsons ends just as it began: With a Sideshow Bob episode! Yes, as record one more time in our old recording space, we cover the season 14 ep that not only brought back Robert Underdunk Terwilliger, as well as an infamous culprit. How does Al Jean's new era deal with the return of the recurring villain, and why does it involve Mardi Gras & musical parodies? Lis...

We've reached the beginning of the month, which means it's once again time for another installment of our community podcast! Join us as we ring in the Pacific Northwest era of Talking Simpsons by catching you up on Simpsons news, as well as our very busy last few months. And, as always, we read and respond to your questions and comments from the most recent round of episodes. Here's a tip from us...