The Simpsons
Season 27 Episodes 5: “Treehouse Of Horror XXVI”
Written by Joel H. Cohen
Created by James L. Brooks, Matt Groening, Sam Simon
Starring Dan Castellaneta, Nancy Cartwright, Julie Kavner, Yeardley Smith, Harry Shearer, Hank Azaria, Pamela Hayden, Kelsey Grammer
NBC
Air Date: Sunday, October 25th, 2015, 8pm

To crazed TV watchers, October means one thing: Halloween episodes! When I was a kid it was Roseanne. My parents and I gathered every year to watch the Conner family scare that crap out of us. At that point The Simpsons were just the weird yellow cartoon from Tracey Ullman’s show. Then I saw my first Treehouse of Horror episode, was introduced to Kang and Kodos, and the sweet sound of James Earl Jones reading Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven to a scared Homer, I was hooked. Since then, we’ve witnessed over a quarter century’s worth of Treehouse of Horror episodes, each with 3 scary Simpsons segments, including classics like The Shinning, Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace, and Citizen Kang. I never could have imagined that when I watched the first Simpsons Halloween special back in 1990 at the age of 8, I’d be able to watch the 26th edition of that same special with my 11-year old son. As usual, The Simpsons prove cross-generational and timeless.

Some spoilers and check out the “couch gag” clip below.

Bordertown is a new animated series from executive producer Mark Hentemann (Family Guy). Much like the show it’ll draw its biggest comparisons to, Bordertown is a raunchy, politically incorrect, and yet very socially aware comedy. Joining Hentemann on stage at New York Comic-Con on Saturday night were writer Lalo Alcaraz, and stars Hank Azaria, Alex Borstein, Nicholas Gonzalez, and Judah Friedlander. As a lifelong fan of The Simpsons and Family Guy, being this close to Chief Wiggum and Lois Griffin was a great experience.

Usually when characters die on an animated comedy series, they’re back and perfectly fine by the next episode. But sometimes an animated series kills off a character permanently, whether it be because the actor who voices the character has to leave the show, there’s a dispute between actor and producers, or maybe because the show’s makers just don’t like that character anymore.

The last time The Simpsons killed off a character—or “did it,” as some like to say—was back in the year 2000 when Ned Flanders’ wife Maude fell to her death. Now executive producer Al Jean has revealed that another character will soon meet their demise.

Back in February, a leaked picture (shown at right) of what was supposedly one of the new CGI Smurfs being created for the live-action/CG hybrid family flick, The Smurfs.

Since then, most of the attention being given to this movie was toward Hank Azaria being cast as Gargamel and our first looks at the actor in full costume and running around New York City. Now, we return our attention to those little blue creatures, who are finally making their debut.

USA Today has the very first image showing off the Smurfs in all of their full-color CGI glory as they hang out in Times Square. The image features Grouchy Smurf, Papa Smurf, and Clumsy Smurf.

Keep on moving to check out this first peek at those lovable Smurfs.

It’s absolutely mind-numbing how much press The Smurfs movie is getting based solely on the fact that Hank Azaria is playing the evil sorcerer Gargamel, but it’s true. I’m sure many are surprised at how many times the live-action/CGI hybrid movie has been popping up in the news, and surely no one is happier than the producers.

The latest bit comes from someone in New York City (via /Film) who was able to catch some of the movie being filmed on their cell phone. The scenes they were filming involve Gargamel outside of the famed toy store FAO Schwartz looking for the Smurfs. There’s also a sequence where in bumps into fellow star Neil Patrick Harris as he exits a store.

Be sure to head on over to the other side to see both of these videos. Whether you’re excited for the movie or not, they should help you to solidify your stance on the final product and whether or not you want to see it.