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 an exploration of William Friedkin's movie mindset in this week's podcast! Support this podcast...

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 podcasts we've got coming your way. Some make a plate of leftovers as we start the holidays right! ...

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, Maggie choking on dust, and much more in this week's podcast! Support this podcast and get over...

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! Support this podcast and get over 150 bonus episodes by visiting Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and...

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! Support this podcast and get over 150 bonus episodes by visiting Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and...

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, Tom Jones being kidnapped, and Bart battling a wolf for some reason all on this week's podcast! ...

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 episodes. It's all happening on this month's Talk to the Audience—the only podcast more entertaining...

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 episode. This was a fun sequel to our 2018 live show, so listen now to get in the Halloween...

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 influence of Snow Dogs, and tons more on this week's podcast! Support this podcast and get over 150...

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 Star Trek, pet ownership, new apartments, and tons more, so if you like stories, listen now! ...

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 comments on this month's episode! Support this podcast and get over 150 bonus episodes by visiting...

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 waiting to board Spaceship Earth! Support this podcast and get over 150 bonus episodes by visiting...

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 oodles of research in a podcast that may contain potassium benzoate (that's bad)! Support this...

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? Listen along and learn as we've grown accustomed to your face on this week's podcast! Support...

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 you won't regret: a podcast host's just a friend you haven't met! Support this podcast and get...

A Duff Blimp-sized welcome back to the great Merritt K (check out her new Patreon) as we dig into this Lisa-centric episode! After feeling "ugly" thanks to a cartoon, Lisa gets unexpected help from Homer after putting her in the Little Miss Springfield Pageant. And after a strange series of events, Lisa becomes a powerful political figure in this memorable ep. So grab your extra-long version of MacArthur Park and listen now! Support this podcast and get over 150 bonus episodes by visiting...

The Simpsons need a new place to live just as your humble hosts are also moving into new houses, though with fewer hilarious results. After a hockey game leads to termites that eventually send the family onto a reality show, we flashback to the turn-of-the-century style of reality programming that Simpsons writers loved mocking back in 2002. Plus, we discuss the history of Oreos, Mutt & Jeff, and Squiggy in this week's nowoodnik of a podcast! Support this podcast and get over 150 bonus...

For one of the best-written and animated eps of the series, we welcome back comedy performer/writer/musician/podcaster Tim Kalpakis from the band/podcast The Sloppy Boys (check out their new album)! Production season 4 begins with two new animation studios, as Homer loses his faith when he sees how awesome wasting time is. But will his pride destroy him in this perfect George Meyer script ruminating on the nature of faith? All that plus some of the best jokes ever in this week's heavenly...

It might be hard to believe, but we haven't had a live show at PAX in four years. Why? We honestly couldn't say. But in 2023, we're making our grand return to the famed video game convention to celebrate the 28th anniversary of Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins! And frankly, we'd love to see you there. Check out the details below: When: Saturday, September 2nd at 7:00pm  Where: PAX West, The Monarch Theatre And here's the panel description, straight from the PAX website: Shortly before...

This week's well-endowed episode sees us exploring one of the horniest episodes of Simpsons ever with Large Marge. After accidentally getting cosmetic surgery, Marge has a chest expansion that gets a lot of attention. After the show finds every possible joke they can about Marge's honkers, we then learn there are downsides to it, plus the confusing return of Stampy and Adam West to the show, some Hollywood lore on Burt Ward, and lots of immature giggling on this chesty podcast! Support this...

The Talking Simpsons Network is taking a week off, so to fill the content gap, we've decided to post an episode of our Patreon-exclusive TalKing of the Hill 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 of our limited miniseries, covering animated shows like Futurama, Mission Hill, The Critic, and Batman: The Animated...

This week's episode we get theatrical with Jake Rockatansky of the hilarious investigative podcast QAnon Anonymous! Marge wants to find a new hobby while Homer becomes a much more passive-aggressive partner than usual, all as the town engages in a musical version of a Tennesee Williams classic. We dig deep into the way it was created, the ways it offended New Orleans, Maggie battling Randianism, surprising deleted scenes, and so much more. You can always depend on the kindness of this...

This week we're reaching the end of production season 13/starting broadcast season 14 with a tale spurred on by hate of reality TV (not to be confused with the three other eps just like it). This time Bart loses his mind from TV  overload and gets sent to third grade to join the advancing Lisa. Turns out they adjust to it differently in a plot that brings us back to Capital City with some returning season 2 stars. All that, plus robot history, googling Japanese pronunciation, and a couple of...

The Talking Simpsons Network is taking a week off, 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 of our limited miniseries, covering animated shows like Futurama, Mission Hill, The Critic, and Batman: The Animated...

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 dangerous Simpsons-adjacent submarine voyages, the continued adventures of the WGA strike, new comic collections that happen to feature our Wife of the Show, the slightly-altered July podcast schedule, and more! And, as always, we read and respond to your questions and comments from the most recent round of episodes. So join us for the last Talk to the...