I love The Simpsons. Everyone loves The Simpsons. The Simpsons are The Beatles of the telly world. Other cartoons have tried to steal the thunder, like Family Guy and South Park… but they just never manage it by not being as good. Yes, yes I know they’re completely different, walk on. The Simpsons is one of the few shows I can watch over and over again, with repeats and repeats… and I rarely get irritated. However, there’s one thing that has really annoyed me for years, and that’s the way the broadcasters seemingly hit ‘shuffle’ and hope for the best. Mostly, it isn’t a problem, but come Halloween or Christmas…
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Like most, I’ve seen just about every single Simpsons Halloween Special and Christmas Special. Like most, I’ve never actually seen them on the date in which they celebrate. Last week, I DJed in a zombie outfit at a Halloween shindig. It was great fun and everyone got into the spirit of things… everyone except Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and The Other One. Then, ker-blammo, a Halloween special was shown yesterday (the one where Bart gets a fly head and Marge is a witch). Even though it’s clearly more bonfire night than fright-night, that’s probably the closest the scheduling has ever got to being accurate.
I’ve no idea how The Simpsons is shown in other countries… do they have it on everyday, iPod shuffle style? Surely in America, they have it on so it matches the season or something? I don’t think it’s too much to ask Channel 4 to match an episode up with Christmas and Halloween? Sure, hit ‘shuffle’ for the rest of the year. If the show makers can be arsed making an effort for seasonal shows, then at least put your back into it in kind?
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They actually do the exact opposite of hitting ‘shuffle’: they try and air seasons in the correct order. Right now, they’re airing season 9 weekdays at 6pm, with new-to-C4 season 10 Sunday afternoons. Frustrating at holiday time, admittedly, but not a ‘shuffle’.
In the US new episodes generally air at the right time, and due to shows getting delayed over here we normally get everything 3 months later. Some more clever scheduling might be in order for repeats though. Assuming they are showing them randomly and not just repeating them in order.
What was amusing was the writers’ strike last year messing up the scheduling even in the US, with the Christmas episode of House airing for the first time in February…