You may have seen a stirring on Twitter yesterday from the biannual Television Critics Association press tour. A stirring that showed, yet again, that the internet’s love of The Simpsons is deep, endearing and unending. Mmmmmmmm… unending deer [slobbers].
Fox’s cable network FXX made the announcement that the network will officially debut its extensive package of Simpsons reruns on August 21st, with a marathon of all 552 episodes over the 25 years of the series, including the movie. It will last 11 days, and productivity will reach NCAA Tournament-level lows.
That’s not all, however. The network is also debuting an app called Simpsons World, which will be released in October. I couldn’t even possibly wrap my head around all of the details this will contain with any sort of flowery prose without my head exploding, so let’s just let the press release explain it:
“Simpsons World” will offer a unique and personalized Simpsons experience for both the casual and super fans by allowing users to interact with premium content in unprecedented ways. For the first time ever, all authenticated viewers will have instant and on-demand access to every single Simpsons episode ever, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week via SimpsonsWorld.com, and FXNow apps for iPhone, iPad, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Android phones and tablets, Smart TVs and additional set-tops devices.
Additional exclusive offerings include new ways to explore Springfield’s characters and locations, the ability for users to curate their own personalized playlists and share their favorite show clips and quotes.
The only logical reaction is something like this:
Anyway, this is a sports site, so you may wonder how this has anything to do with sports, beyond the many great episodes of The Simpsons that focus on such things.
Here’s the thing: Simpsons World is currently available, according to Alan Sepinwall, “60 percent of the country’s providers, including AT&T, Cablevision, Comcast, Cox and Time-Warner.” That’s similar to the distribution for Fox’s FS1 and Fox Sports-related app, Fox Sports Go. Sepinwall reports that FX’s COO Chuck Safter “sounded very confident that they will close deals with the other 40 percent in the next year or so.”
The question is: would Fox look to include all of their apps, including FX Now (which allows HBO Go-style live streaming of the network’s shows as well as on demand titles) and Fox Sports Go (which streams live MLB and NBA games as well as FS1 shows) in a package deal with Simpsons World? While demand for FS1 programming may be low, packaging a set of streaming apps that includes FX’s buzz worthy programming, the World Series, and… oh, every episode of The Simpsons ever made (for what it’s worth, the movie will be available on the app “intermittently” but not constantly) along with tons of bonus content will likely be in massive demand.
For now, Simpsons fans play the waiting game. Aw, the waiting game sucks, let’s play Hungry, Hungry Hippos!
Comments are closed.