According to longtime director David Silverman's Twitter, The Simpsons did a Coca-Cola commercial for a sporting event called the Superbowl [Twitter]
Labels: SPRINGFIELD SHOPPER
posted 1/27/2010 | permalink
2009 was the year of "fixing" beloved Simpsons things that weren't broke to begin with, starting with the godawful new HD title sequence and ending with an iPhone version of the Simpsons Arcade Game from 1991, one of the very few Simpsons video games that is still remembered fondly.
What's different: The storyline (no more Smithers stealing Maggie for some bizarre reason), you can only play as Homer, you can slap him to revive him, new design (as far as I can tell, it looks like a modern episode and not all pixelated), and characters/locations that weren't around or as iconic in 1991 (including the Rich Texan).
What's the same: The basic controls (I think?), and the dated Binky-with-a-ghetto-blaster level transistions (which I like). [United Simpsons]
Labels: NOISELAND ARCADE, SPRINGFIELD SHOPPER
posted 1/10/2010 | permalink
Fox has released an official press release about the upcoming Season 20 DVD/Blu-ray, detailing the many bonus features that will come included with the $50 set:
- No audio commentaries
- A "sneak preview" for a Simpsons documentary scheduled to air 2 days before the DVD is released
Labels: SPRINGFIELD SHOPPER
posted 12/04/2009 | permalink
This one guy, Representative Mike Honda (D-CA), is real mad because the Post Office rolled out some stamps with The Simpsons on them, instead of some stamps honoring Japanese-American WWII veterans. Money quote: "I question the direction USPS is headed when it pays homage to Homer Simpson over the sacrifice of our venerable Nisei veterans." BURN!!! The Stamp Police are all like, whoa, hey, we're not supposed to honor specific military units, because all veterans are equal in the eyes of The Lord Almighty or whatever. According to them, stamps are supposed to be "a reflection of our culture," which entails making literally a billion stamps with little pictures of cartoon characters plastered on them. These stamps are vitally important to America in order to "raise awareness about the show," because apparently slapping Homer's face onto every conceivable tacky piece of junk produced since 1990 just hasn't been raising enough awareness of The Simpsons these days (it's still on TV, you know!). Why does the Post Office, and by extension President Barack Obama, hate our veterans???
Also, ha ha, some nerd at Roll Call got a chance to show off his Simpsons knowledge by "incidentally" noting that Bart Simpson is a stamp collector, as mentioned in the fifth season episode "Homer the Vigilante" (episode 93, 5X12, original airdate 1/7/94, production code 1F10) [Roll Call]
Labels: ANNOYED GRUNTS, CONGRESSIONAL CUTUPS, SPRINGFIELD SHOPPER
posted 5/16/2009 | permalink
An autographed 2-foot cardboard cutout of Lisa Simpson (she's the girl one) is going to be sold off in a charity auction to raise money for Tibetan orphans, hopefully not to some creep with a Lisa fetish! It was even made an honorary member of a Tibetan center, or something! Godspeed, Cardboard Lisa thing! [BBC News]
Labels: SPRINGFIELD SHOPPER
posted 5/16/2009 | permalink
A set of five Matt Groening-designed Simpsons postage stamps, suitable for sending anthrax or tea bags to elected officials, will be on sale from the U.S. Postal Service starting May 7th. [AV Club]
Labels: BART ART, SPRINGFIELD SHOPPER
posted 4/12/2009 | permalink
posted 25 October 2008 source tv shows on dvd
tvshowsondvd.com wrote a bunch of words about the horrible DVD packaging of the equally horrible season 11. Here's an excerpt:
How would you get the discs out of such a tight space then? You have to reach in with two fingers and pinch the edge... making it virtually impossible to not smudge your fingerprints on the "don't touch!" side of the DVD. Also, it's a cinch that the discs will get scratched up sooner or later, inserting them and removing them this way since 100% of the disc makes contact with the cardboard. It's a travesty.
Labels: ANNOYED GRUNTS, SPRINGFIELD SHOPPER
posted 10/25/2008 | permalink
posted 18 June 2007 source variety
Better invest in News Corp. stock now!
Featuring arguably the most popular sitcom family in history, "The Simpsons" revolutionized not only the TV industry but also the TV licensing biz, with a wealth of quirky characters that have translated into a multibillion-dollar merchandising franchise.
To date, Bart, Homer, Marge, Lisa, Maggie and their Springfield neighbors have appeared on everything from T's to pinball machines, raking in more than $5 billion worldwide. All told, the program involves more than 600 licensees.
Labels: SPRINGFIELD SHOPPER
posted 6/18/2007 | permalink
posted 22 March 2007 source richmond times-dispatch
If all goes as planned, the convenience store chain plans to refit 11 stores across the U.S. -- Richmond is an unlikely choice -- to resemble the front of the Kwik-E-Mart, the convenience store that Homer and other characters frequent in the classic cartoon TV series.
Customers also will be able to buy products inspired by the nearly two-decades-old show, including KrustyO's cereal, Buzz Cola and iced Squishees (the cup says Squishee, but the contents will be Slurpee).
Best quote: Spokeswoman Margaret Chabris said contracts on the promotions have not been signed with movie studios. She didn't give any further details, saying the company will release more information in coming weeks.
"We've done research, and research shows us that our customers like . . . movies, so we're getting involved with some major studios on some of their properties this summer," she said.
Labels: SPRINGFIELD SHOPPER
posted 3/22/2007 | permalink
posted 18 March 2007 source zap 2 it
- Jon Bon Jovi was going to guest star, but he backed out because "the writers had his character covered with melted cheese at one point and insult Richie Sambora at another point in the script."
- The Beatles don't like talking about The Beatles.
- Matt Groening authorized a Bart Simpson asthma inhaler.
- Executive Producer Tim Long: "America doesn't love Gil." So why would you base an entire episode around him?
Labels: SPRINGFIELD SHOPPER, WRITER WATCH
posted 3/18/2007 | permalink
posted 10 March 2007 source joblow
Some Simpsons Movie-related toys that are coming up are raising more questions than answers.
Not a huge surprise, as McFarlane Toys is best known for coming out with the best-looking action figures out there, so the announcement that they have been tapped to support the release of THE SIMPSONS MOVIE on July 27th, with a line of intricately detailed action figures, was good news all around. The characters will feature incredible character detail (see below), but also a voice-chip technology, which will allow them to "speak" exclusive dialog from the film. Each figure comes mounted to a customized base, and, as an added feature, the "Movie Mayhem" line of figures come with interlocking bases so the figures can be combined to create one large scene. The line will include a 6-inch figure line and three boxed sets.
There's a boxed set entitled "What you lookin' at?! Bart, Ned Flanders and Top-Secret Character (??????)" and two special sets, one featuring Itchy & Scratchy and the other entitled "Doodle Double Dare" (?????????????). Click here for a picture of a pig.
Labels: SPRINGFIELD SHOPPER
posted 3/10/2007 | permalink
posted 29 January 2006 source empire magazine and lbiu of nohomers.net
Groening: "The scripts [sic.] evolved incredibly. Characters have come and gone, story twists have changed, huge sequences have been storyboarded and then deleted. One of our favourite new characters is totally out, just to streamline the story. Nothing's sacred. As good as the film is going to be, the DVD, with all our deleted scenes, is going to be a hell of a bonus package."
Labels: SPRINGFIELD SHOPPER
posted 1/28/2007 | permalink
posted 10 January 2007 source the inquirer
Not to be outdone by TVs that look like Spongebob, Samsung has made some cell phones with The Simpsons Movie logo plastered on them, probably also with some annoying Simpsons ringtones. According to the reporter, "if done right, these have the potential to be the geek phone of the year." He probably should have waited a day before making such a pronouncement.
Labels: SPRINGFIELD SHOPPER
posted 1/10/2007 | permalink
posted 17 September 2006 source Slashphone.com
The Simpsons Mobile: Coming soon, Jamba will exclusively offer mobile content from the popular FOX series, The Simpsons, through the industry’s first subscription package tied to exclusive content called the "Yellow Plan". Available to consumers for the first time, the "Yellow Plan" will include an array of uniquely designed Simpsons mobile content, such as wallpapers, screensavers, ringtones and video.
Labels: SPRINGFIELD SHOPPER
posted 10/28/2006 | permalink
