Season 30 Information Thread

[biffwestwood]

With the new episode on April 7th, now I am sure we will have a 23 episode season.

I have a feeling there will be reruns for the rest of April and 3 new episodes in May.

[Brad Lascelle]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/TheSimpsons?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheSimpsons</a> New episode Sunday! <a href="https://t.co/i2xhQeNQvR">pic.twitter.com/i2xhQeNQvR</a></p>&mdash; Al Jean (@AlJean) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlJean/status/1106028302177726465?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 14, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Venomrabbit]

Huh, those are interesting designs actually! Though I guess that does away with that mention of Sophie having an aptitude for shooters.
Also I have no idea who's in the top corner but I already wish it was Roy.

[Beggs]

I actually really like the name "Conflict of Enemies" for the fake game. It's hilariously uninspired, but in a good way as it's making fun of generic and uninspired titles. I much prefer a somewhat sarcastic parody like that, rather than something forced like "Galaxies of Warring", or lazy like "Mapple".

[That Don Guy]

With the new episode on April 7th, now I am sure we will have a 23 episode season.

A 23-episode season would correspond with a 22-episode season for Bob's Burgers and a 20-episode season for Family Guy if they all show new episodes on the same nights.

Assuming a 23 episode season, that leaves only 3 episodes left to air. Al kinda-sorta confirmed "I'm Just A Girl Who Can't Say D'oh" for April 28 and "Woo Hoo Dunnit?" for May 19, so either May 5 or 12 will likely not air an episode during May sweeps. Perhaps the Miss USA pageant will pre-empt the Sunday line-up again, as in 2017

Last year's Miss USA pageant was on a Monday night. Also, the organizers have not announced a date yet for the pageant, so they're cutting it close if they want it in May.

I could see Fox having the season finales on 5/12 so it wouldn't compete with the final episode of Game of Thrones on 5/19, but as you said, Al Jean says that there is already an episode scheduled for that date.

Before 2017, the last time there was a Sunday in May before the season finale that did not have a new episode was in 1996, when Fox aired Mrs. Doubtfire that night.

[Smarch Weather!]

@<b><a href="https://www.nohomers.net/member.php?u=19936" target="_blank">jbauer</a></b> If it winds up being Kramer again, then I'm going to legitimately start questioning my ability to discern directors from available promo material.

Teaser preview for E My Sports...



Promo pics for Girl's in the Band...










I probably should have connected the dots sooner given that they were bringing J.K. Simmons back for a different role than one he's done previously... AND the Capitol City Philharmonic premise... but this is TOTALLY a Whiplash send-up.

I like the Whiplash reference, but don't understand why they are making it in this episode. A philharmonic is mostly classical/opera music, while Whiplash was all about Jazz, plus Lisa has seemed to be more interested in Jazz anyways.

[Szyslak100]

ZABF02: Marge the Lumberjill.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/TheSimpsons?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheSimpsons</a> ZABF02! <a href="https://t.co/x29pJwCdH7">pic.twitter.com/x29pJwCdH7</a></p>&mdash; Al Jean (@AlJean) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlJean/status/1106252779952070657?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 14, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Written by: Ryan Koh (yeah, after one script of Westbrook, one of Koh. What could be worse?)
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="in" dir="ltr">Ryan Koh</p>&mdash; Al Jean (@AlJean) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlJean/status/1106297756593717248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 14, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Brad Lascelle]

(yeah, after one script of Westbrook, one of Koh. What could be worse?)

At least there's a chance of Frink saving the Westbrook script (not that he was able to for 'Tis the 30th Season)... although neither Westbrook or Koh have proven themselves capable of delivering a worthy episode that wasn't showrun by Selman. Jean unveiled both of these live read scripts so that's clearly not the case for these two. To make matters worse, Rob Oliver is likely going to be wasted on one of these. What a shame!

And just when I was getting excited about this coming weekend's episode, Al Jean drops this bomb...

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/TheSimpsons?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheSimpsons</a> go to Korea! This Sunday <a href="https://twitter.com/8?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@8</a>! <a href="https://t.co/RoKbNzjZRI">pic.twitter.com/RoKbNzjZRI</a></p>&mdash; Al Jean (@AlJean) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlJean/status/1106559391291961344?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 15, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Because we just needed to shoehorn a "Simpsons and other random Springfielders travel to X destination" plot into this storyline. We already knew about the buddhist temple scene so hopefully there's not much more filler material beyond this. (And to be fair, Esports is practically a religion in Korea so it actually makes sense in this context as opposed to some random spelling bee trip to Calgary.)

[Venomrabbit]

The Simpsons go to Korea to get better healthcare for Grampa!

Jokes aside, I always find those plots more interesting when it's the Simpson/s that are outnumbered, like with Bart on the Road for instance.

[Nameless]

Do we not know about the title/writer for YABF22 yet? I think Dan Greaney, Carolyn Omine and Bill Odenkirk are the only producers without YABF writing credits yet.

[Wile E. the Brain]

The episode YABF22 is titled The Fat Blue Line, and written by Bill Odenkirk.

[6F01]

"D'oh Canada" will air May 5. Looks like May 12 will have no new episode, unless one of the "holdovers" is pushed up to make a 24 (!) episode season.

https://twitter.com/AlJean/status/1106626406044205056

One of the holdovers is a "future" episode;;;; none of the titles are an obvious clue, but still another "format breaker" to look forward to

https://twitter.com/AlJean/status/1107437794148794368

[Dark Homer]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Directing the very serious-minded Jason Momoa via Skype for ⁦<a href="https://twitter.com/TheSimpsons?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheSimpsons</a>⁩ this morning. Spoiler: he was GREAT. <a href="https://t.co/urKdz2UeVp">pic.twitter.com/urKdz2UeVp</a></p>&mdash; Tim Long (@mrtimlong) <a href="https://twitter.com/mrtimlong/status/1107684112381304833?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 18, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Rutherford]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Directing the very serious-minded Jason Momoa via Skype for ⁦<a href="https://twitter.com/TheSimpsons?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheSimpsons</a>⁩ this morning. Spoiler: he was GREAT. <a href="https://t.co/urKdz2UeVp">pic.twitter.com/urKdz2UeVp</a></p>— Tim Long (@mrtimlong) <a href="https://twitter.com/mrtimlong/status/1107684112381304833?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 18, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

What episode is this for? Do you think it's for ZABF?

[Dark Homer]

No clue, sorry

[That Don Guy]

"D'oh Canada" will air May 5. Looks like May 12 will have no new episode, unless one of the "holdovers" is pushed up to make a 24 (!) episode season.

We know 5/12 won't be pre-empted for the Miss USA pageant; Fox just announced that will be on Thursday 5/2.

[Dark Homer]

Promo images for "The Incredible Lightness of Being A Baby"

[GlitterCat]

It's weird to see Maggie without her bow.

[Brad Lascelle]

It's weird to see Maggie without her bow.

Yeah, it's disconcerting. Sort of like when Lisa's not wearing her pearls.

Thing is, the bow's absence makes sense in this context seeing how she's given it away as a gift to her new friend.

[Venomrabbit]

Without her pearls, Lisa's just a big Maggie. Without the bow, Maggie is just a small Lisa.

It's probably a big reason why I prefer it when her overbite is more bumpy or homer-like without the pacifier.

[That Don Guy]

Plot of "The Incredible Lightness of Being a Baby"

South Park - er, The Flintstones already did it (Fred and Barney keep Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm apart when Fred and Barney have an argument over which one would win a "Bedrock's Most Beautiful Baby" contest).

I also wonder why they skiped "YABF12 - I'm Just A Girl Who Can't Say D'oh"

Probably just got finished first; maybe YABF12 needed some more music work done, like a vocal song recorded - after all, the title is a reference to a song from Oklahoma!.

[jbauer]

Could Bart vs. Itchy and Scratchy be a Selman episode?

https://twitter.com/mattselman/statu...22666486530048

It's Amram's first of two scripts. Given the slot in the production order, I'm guessing it's directed by Clements.

[Brad Lascelle]

Could Bart vs. Itchy and Scratchy be a Selman episode?

https://twitter.com/mattselman/statu...22666486530048

It's Amram's first of two scripts. Given the slot in the production order, I'm guessing it's directed by Clements.

Yeah, I've had this earmarked as a Selman-Clements effort for a while now. Makes me quite optimistic about how it will turn out.

[jbauer]

Whenever I think of Clements, I recall that one very well animated sequence in the movie, the one involving Lisa's reaction to Colin's compliment (before passing out). That was his (MacMullan did the actual passing out).

Whatever the case, it'll be hard for Clements to top last week's Lisa bedroom freakout scene that was brilliantly animated and staged by Rob Oliver and his team.

[Szyslak100]

ZABF03: Livin' la Pura Vida

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/TheSimpsons?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheSimpsons</a> great read today! <a href="https://t.co/75uFPZYipz">pic.twitter.com/75uFPZYipz</a></p>&mdash; Al Jean (@AlJean) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlJean/status/1108845806025478144?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 21, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The title of this episode is a reference to two songs belonging to Latin American artists. "Livin' la Vida Loca" by Ricky Martin (which also has its English version) and "Pura Vida" by Don Omar. Will this be the episode that finally comes close to Latin pop culture? Hope so.

Written by: Brian Kelley
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="und" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/dcguzzler?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@dcguzzler</a></p>&mdash; Al Jean (@AlJean) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlJean/status/1109485523821748226?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 23, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Brad Lascelle]

Whenever I think of Clements, I recall that one very well animated sequence in the movie, the one involving Lisa's reaction to Colin's compliment (before passing out). That was his (MacMullan did the actual passing out).

Yeah, that was a fun reaction take...

Whatever the case, it'll be hard for Clements to top last week's Lisa bedroom freakout scene that was brilliantly animated and staged by Rob Oliver and his team.

I remarked about it in the R&R thread, but yeah Oliver and company pulled out all the stops for that one. Reminded me so much of the Homer suppressed freakout scene in The Town in terms of its spasmodic fidgeting and thrashing about (except for this one being longer)...




One subtle detail I haven't seen called out anywhere else was the involuntary twitching of Lisa's right eye that starts up right after Homer's dismissive echoing of "that's nice, honey" and his immediate escape from her room, clearly ignoring everything she had to say. It precedes Lisa's freakout by a full 35 seconds and the animation team took the effort to make that involuntary eye twitch a full six times before she goes completely off the rails. It's such a little nice bit of attention to detail that will go largely overlooked by most people that I can't help but admire that they still took the time to include it. (Yeardley's voice acting for that entire scene was superlative, too.)

Deducing a director in advance for The Incredible Lightness of Being a Baby might prove tricky in light of the fact that Bob Anderson remains AWOL after missing the first cycle of this production's run director rotation completely, Jennifer Moeller making her debut with Girl's in the Band, Lance Kramer already having had an episode and YABF12 being temporarily bypassed.

The chalk guess is that it'll be Matthew Nastuk (with Michael Polcino taking on I'm Just a Girl Who Can't Say D'oh), so I guess that's what I'm going with for now. Nastuk seems to have a habit for every character in a scene sharing a mirrored expression which I haven't found with Polcino as much. And there's a whole lot of mirrored expressions in those promo shots.

[CousinMerl]

I caught a bit of that animation in the latest episode ('E My Sports') and the freakout was quite nicely animated with a lot of expressions (such as the twitching which you pointed out; that initial eye twitch when Homer repeats what she said and leaves was very minuscule, almost being easy to misinterpret as an error, but it was a neat detail for sure).

It's kinda amazing that that they stepped up the animation game quite a bit over just a few seasons, going from more or less stiff and ridgid on model stuff to more fluidity and more expressive movements overall. I've also noticed that sometimes the character designs are a just a tiny bit off model to give them a looser and flexiblelook at times (and the backgrounds and the colors are much nicer as well).

Not sure what the reason(s) behind the somewhat sudden animation improvements are but it's only a good thing.

[Venomrabbit]

There's been some off-model moments for that? I haven't noticed that, any particular examples?

I mean I've noticed off-model stuff in there obviously but it seems more the accidental kind, or some of those characters that are seemingly never on model.

[Nameless]

Is this all the Selman-showrun episodes to date?:

NABFs: The Food Wife (20), The Book Job (22)
PABFS: A Totally Fun Thing... (12), Day the Earth Stood Cool (20)
RABFs: Gorgeous Grampa (06), Saga of Carl (14), Brick Like Me (21)
SABFs: Steal This Episode (05), War of Art (10), Wreck of the Relationship (17), Opposites A-Frack (22)
TABFs: Covercraft (02), Sky Police (09), 'Cue Detective (17), Halloween of Horror (22)
VABFs: The Girl Code (03), Marge-ian Chronicles (09), The Town (17), There Will Be Buds (22)
WABFs: The Great Phatsby (04/05), A Father's Watch (11), The Serfsons (17), Springfield Splendor (22)
XABFs: Homer is Where the Art Isn't (05), King Leer (10), Heartbreak Hotel (15), Krusty the Clown (22)
YABFs (so far): The Clown Stays in the Picture (05)

I would be very surprised if Bart vs Itchy & Scratchy isn't one of his, and he also seems to usually have another episode midway through the run - Woo-hoo Dunnit? or Thanksgiving of Horror, maybe? He also always has one near the end of the production line, and has done the last episode for the last five seasons running, so I guess The Fat Blue Line or Gorillas on the Mast is also one of his (given Frink is also an executive producer, it would seem odd for Selman to showrun one of his episodes, so I'm presuming Go Big or Go Homer isn't one).

[Brad Lascelle]

@Nameless Al Jean didn't tweet out the live read cover of Thanksgiving of Horror and that's usually the tell as to whether an episode is his or Matt Selman's. That and it being intentionally referential to Halloween of Horror (which Selman also showran) and falling in the ABF17 slot of the production order which he has handled many instances in the past. So I'm putting the smart money on that one being his.

Dan Vebber (Thanksgiving of Horror's attached writer) did co-write the teleplay for a Jean ep earlier in this production cycle (101 Mitigations w/ Brian Kelley). I'm curious as to whether those teleplay scenarios indicate instances where the second of the two active writer's rooms pick up the overflow from the one in which a script originated or if I'm reading too much into that.