This week marks 28 years since the first episode of The Simpsons aired. To mark the anniversary, we've got an exclusive new interview with Mimi Pond, a graphic novelist and the writer of this landmark episode. We discuss how she became part of the show's earliest days, what unfortunate situations kept her out of the writers room...
2017-12-18 21:48:06 +0000 UTC View Post
In this penultimate episode of The Critic, Alice's sister Randa visits The Big Apple and finds out she'll need more than her southern-fried ways to survive the big city. But in her quest for a new husband, she might just find a suitable suitor in the megalomaniacal billionaire Duke Phillips. In what should be the series finale o...
2017-12-15 22:29:28 +0000 UTC View Post
After drinking plenty of Malk, we cover this classic episode, like it or lump it. Skinner and Edna are battling over a teacher's strike (purple monkey dishwasher) and all the kids are set free. We chat about all this with Super Best Friends' own Matt McMuscles as our special guest. Not listening to this podcast? That's a paddlin...
2017-12-13 08:17:48 +0000 UTC View Post
Surprise! Bob and Henry got a brand new interview, this time with Simpsons legend Mike Scully. Scully started with season 5's Lisa's Rival and worked on staff until becoming the showrunner for seasons 9 through 12. We chat with Mr. Scully about his time on the show, episodes like Trash of the Titans and the death of Maude Flande...
2017-12-11 16:29:26 +0000 UTC View Post
If you've been following our podcasts over the years, you shouldn't be surprised that we LOVE holiday specials. So, as a special gift to our Patreon patrons—those in the $5 and up tiers—we'll soon be giving a Christmas special the Talki...
2017-12-09 00:54:22 +0000 UTC View Post
Simpsons meets Disney in this iconic episode. Santa's Little Helper misses casual sex, the family ends up with 25 dogs who love Models Inc, and Mr. Burns shows off his wardrobe in this classic. We comment on it all with our special guest, Kat Bailey, so get a big bag of chips ready and listen!
2017-12-06 05:10:32 +0000 UTC View Post
We're back with yet another Talking Simpsons community podcast! (Sorry for the delay.) Listen in as we field your questions and comments on Homie the Clown, Bart vs. Australia, Homer vs. Patty and Selma, A Star is Burns, Lisa's Wedding AND the documentary The Problem with Apu. Plus, we drop a few tidbits of info about what's nex...
2017-12-06 00:20:59 +0000 UTC View Post
Originally posted November 11, 2015, Homer gets a new job back when that was a novel thing. Learn to love minor league baseball, organ music, and Tony Bennet in this classic from season two, now with the ads removed and saved for all-time on the Patreon!
2017-12-05 02:04:17 +0000 UTC View Post
An insane, evil billionaire businessman running for President? Only The Critic could come up with such an outlandish premise! In an episode that in no way reminds us of recent events, Duke Phillips recruits two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Jay Sherman to become his speechwriter so he can effectively conquer America via democracy. ...
2017-12-01 19:12:14 +0000 UTC View Post
Zounds! We're headed to the far off future of 2010 to see Lisa (and the rest of Springfield) grow up in one of the funniest AND most heartwarming episodes ever. Bart is in construction, Burns got stabbed a bunch, and a bunch of celebrities are still at large. Join us in the cheap showiness of nature to reexamine and explain this...
2017-11-29 03:34:56 +0000 UTC View Post
After 19 episodes, we're finally here: the best possible episode of The Critic! The dearly departed Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert guest star, temporarily break up, and try to recruit Jay Sherman as a potential partner. Are you ready for THREE songs? How about writing by Jon Vitti and direction by Lauren MacMullin? In any case, we'...
2017-11-24 16:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Password: hubert
Henry and Bob are travelling back to 1987 to chat about Simpsons history that's more than three decades old. What new moments happened in the first 11 shorts of the second season of Tracey Ulman? Was any of it funny? How wild is the animation? Find out in this Patreon exclusive vide...
2017-11-23 21:43:25 +0000 UTC View Post
In this very special bonus episode of Talking Simpsons, we take a look at The Problem with Apu, a new documentary by comedian Hari Kondabolu about his relationship with Apu as a South Asian American. Whether or not you agree with Hari's argument, you should at least be able to see how his life experiences could give him a compli...
2017-11-23 16:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Boo-urns! It's time for the crossover that entertained millions and pissed off Matt Groening. We get into that, as well as some of the most meme-inspiring lines in Simpsons history, including quiet parts loud, footballs to groins, nonunion Mexican equivalents, and so much more. Just hook it to your veins!!!
2017-11-22 08:32:13 +0000 UTC View Post
Originally posted November 4, 2015! Listen to us talk all about Burns' quest to be governor as the writers cram in every Citizen Kane reference they can. This podcast has the momentum of a runaway freight train, so give this a listen!
2017-11-21 16:46:08 +0000 UTC View Post
The Critic enters its zaniest territory to date as Franklin and Eleanor Sherman find themselves stranded on a desert island thanks to an alcoholic penguin. (We said it was zany.) Back in New York City, Jay digs into the horrible sources of his family fortune, and uses some of that ill-gotten money to make The Big Apple smell les...
2017-11-17 20:01:14 +0000 UTC View Post
Mark your calendars for January 28, 2018, because Talking Simpsons is going to do a LIVE PODCAST RECORDING!
SF Sketchfest is one of the best comedy festivals in the world, and we've been invited to their podcast location at PianoFight Bar on January 28, 5:30pm. We'll be recording a special live podcast there (more details to c...
2017-11-15 19:59:17 +0000 UTC View Post
After blowing all his money on pumpkins, Homer is in desperate need to save his family and dear Rat Boy. So he turns to Patty and Selma for help, which somehow also involves Mel Brooks. Meanwhile, Bart does ballet in a plot that's wholly separate from Homer's problems, but is fun all the same on this week's podcast!
2017-11-15 08:03:37 +0000 UTC View Post
Originally posted on October 28, 2015! Straight from the archives and newly ad-free, it's the original Halloween special from The Simpsons. We talk scary houses, aliens cooking for forty humans, and Edgar Allen Poe in this landmark episode. Relive it with us here!
2017-11-13 21:55:50 +0000 UTC View Post
Bust out your vegemite sandwiches for the most Australian episode of The Critic to date! Jeremy's twin sister Olivia comes to New York City, putting Jay's relationship with Alice to the test. Along the way, we get a savaging of Saturday Night Live, learn about Doris' secret lust for Duke, and watch The Critic's writers finally w...
2017-11-10 16:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
We head to the land down under for some giant beers, spoon against knives, and mucus-filled marsupials. Learn a ton about Australia in what is probably the best international trip the Simpsons have as they face a booting thanks to draining. Wanna go smell-- I mean, wanna go listen?
2017-11-08 09:48:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Originally posted on October 22, 2015, here's another newly ad-free classic episode of Talking Simpsons which (through no fault of our own) has stopped appearing on the free podcast feed! And this one is all about Homer getting some hair and finding success based entirely on his looks. This success will last forever, right? I me...
2017-11-07 07:50:18 +0000 UTC View Post
Jay and Marty get yet another makeover in this very familiar episode of The Critic. Marty's new look (and size) causes him to face the horrors of being popular and attractive, while Jay deals with a much more serious problem: being targeted for death by the action movie star John-Paul Le Pope. This might not be the greatest epis...
2017-11-03 20:22:05 +0000 UTC View Post
I'm seeing double here - FOUR podcasts! We're doing one of the funniest Simpsons episodes ever, with Seattle, speed holes, Italian stereotypes, and (of course) gigantic asses. Listen and laugh along with the hosts during this total classic installment!
2017-11-01 05:43:49 +0000 UTC View Post
As classic episodes of our podcast leave the free feeds, we're adding them here for posterity, eventually putting all our old episodes on Patreon with the ads removed! And we're starting with the first free episode we ever did (first released October 16, 2015)!
Bart is an underachiever and not so proud of it in the second seas...
2017-10-31 17:11:38 +0000 UTC View Post
It's a brand-new Talking Simpsons community podcast, just in time for Halloween! (Note: this episode has very little to do with Halloween.) Listen in as we discuss our respective travels to the Portland Retro Gaming Expo and New York Comic-Con, get grossed out by a segment from the latest Treehouse of Horror, and gab about The S...
2017-10-30 04:15:31 +0000 UTC View Post
Jay's sister Margo takes the spotlight in this episode as she falls for Johnny Wrath, lead singer of the very Nirvana-esque grunge band, Nuns in a Blender. Meanwhile, Alice's new status as a working mom causes her to seek out a pre-school for Penny away from Doris' bad influence. Will Margo find true love? Will Alice find a scho...
2017-10-27 15:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Que sera, sera, it's time for us to do what some argue is the greatest episode of The Simpsons ever. We've got Butzilla, perverted arts, the Super Friends, barnyard guessing games and SO MUCH MORE in this absolutely essential Simpsons chronicle. Enjoy this podcast and remember, democracy simply doesn't work.
2017-10-25 05:52:12 +0000 UTC View Post
Ian Jones-Quartey is yakking it up on the old yak box with Bob and Henry this week! Ian is the creator of the new Cartoon Network series OK KO, and he graciously chatted with us about the show, such as the influence games, anime, and The Simpsons had on it, as well as what it's like to direct Captain Planet, animating Sonic the ...
2017-10-24 17:34:02 +0000 UTC View Post
It's The Critic's first (and only) flashback episode! Jay takes us back to the magical year of 1991, when he became an unwitting news correspondent—and later a POW—during the first Iraq War. This time capsule within a time capsule reveals the lighter side of Operation Desert Storm, years before we realized it'd have a sequel...
2017-10-20 19:16:07 +0000 UTC View Post
