Simpsons/Futurama cross over episode!

[#160 :]

Plus points about the writer:

• He's written for both shows
• He wrote "Holidays of Future Past" which was actually a pretty decent episode of The Simpsons - the first episode I'd say qualifies as "genuinely good" in years and years
• "Holidays of Future Past" was an episode set in the future
  
• He wrote "Roswell That Ends Well" - usually regarded as the very best episode of Futurama

And the cons:

• Every other episode of The Simpsons that he's written (and there's quite a few) has been absolutely terrible, just as pretty much every episode of the show is, these days. He did write "Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind" which was slightly less terrible than usual for the show, now, but it still sucked
• All of his other Futurama credits are pretty poor:
  "My Three Suns" - usually considered to be one of season 1's weaker episodes
  "Mars University" - usually considered to be the worst of season 1
  "A Head in the Polls" - hardly one of the all-time favourites, a so-so episode
  "The Deep South" - as above
  "The Cryonic Woman" - considered by a lot of people (including myself) to be the worst episode of the original run
  "Where the Buggalo Roam" - usually considered to be one of the show's very worst
  "Neutopia" - whilst I don't mind it, personally, this is often cited as a lot of people's most-hated episodes and it generally ranks pretty lowly amongst fans

So, yeah, it could go either way, very easily. He might pull off another of his incredibly rare great episodes, or it might just add to the mass of crap that he's written. I'm a bit disappointed that they didn't hire David X. Cohen or Ken Keeler to write the episode as a freelancer, to be honest.

[#161 :]

At least most of the episodes this writer has written for Futurama have had Sci-Fi stories and were overall creative, although not all well-executed. Hopefully this at least means the episode will be very original.

[#162 :]

I'm a bit disappointed that they didn't hire David X. Cohen or Ken Keeler to write the episode as a freelancer, to be honest.

Yeah, I was kind of hoping that DXC or Ken Keeler would be writing it too.

[#163 :]

Every other episode of The Simpsons that he's written (and there's quite a few) has been absolutely terrible, just as pretty much every episode of the show is, these days.

While they're far from classics, his Simpsons episodes are generally considered by fans to be among the better outings of their respective seasons... I recall Moe Baby Blues and The Way We Weren't in particular receiving a lot of praise upon the initial airings of season 14 and 15. I also personally consider The Monkey Suit to be easily one of the best post-classic era Simpsons episodes.

[#164 :]

I'm a bit disappointed that they didn't hire David X. Cohen or Ken Keeler to write the episode as a freelancer, to be honest.

Yeah, I was kind of hoping that DXC or Ken Keeler would be writing it too.

That would've been great.

[#165 :]

They should have used a Futurama writer as well, in my opinion. A current one. I'm worried about characterisation. But I suppose Futuramas own writers haven't been perfect at that.

[#166 :]

They should have used a Futurama writer as well, in my opinion. A current one. I'm worried about characterisation.

He did write Neutopia (although the entire episode was pretty much just about the battle of the sexes) and it didn't air that long ago.
I believe he can pull it off.. and it'll probably be worth watching with involvement from DXC, Keeler and perhaps Groening himself.

But I suppose Futuramas own writers haven't been perfect at that.

I do agree, though

[#167 :]

They should have used a Futurama writer as well, in my opinion. A current one. I'm worried about characterisation.

He did write Neutopia (although the entire episode was pretty much just about the battle of the sexes) and it didn't air that long ago.

Keep in mind, however, that Neutopia is considered by many to be a very bad episode. I personally enjoyed the episode, but It was nothing special. Hopefully he does better work on Simpsorama than he did on Neutopia.

[#168 :]

It does seem like David X. Cohen is involved in some capacity, based on interviews - even if it's just Matt Groening running things by him when they meet up to talk about what to do with the future of Futurama.

Also, Matt Groening is, obviously, involved. He still works on The Simpsons. He still shows up at the offices to do his job as one of the executive producers. And given how much his heart clearly lies with Futurama, rather than The Simpsons, these days, I expect he's getting pretty involved with this one.

[#169 :]

Cyber-turnip makes a great point. Matt Groening will most defidently be involved considering the fact that he does still work for the Simpsons and has had loads of experience working with Futurama. He will cleary be getting involved a great amount with this epsiode.

[#170 :]

I'm sure Groening and Cohen would have some level of involvement, though I'm more than happy to have J Stewart Burns at the helm of this one. Roswell That Ends Well is pretty much my favourite episode.

[#171 :]

Plus points about the writer:

• He's written for both shows
• He wrote "Holidays of Future Past" which was actually a pretty decent episode of The Simpsons - the first episode I'd say qualifies as "genuinely good" in years and years
• "Holidays of Future Past" was an episode set in the future
  
• He wrote "Roswell That Ends Well" - usually regarded as the very best episode of Futurama

And the cons:

• Every other episode of The Simpsons that he's written (and there's quite a few) has been absolutely terrible, just as pretty much every episode of the show is, these days. He did write "Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind" which was slightly less terrible than usual for the show, now, but it still sucked
• All of his other Futurama credits are pretty poor:
  "My Three Suns" - usually considered to be one of season 1's weaker episodes
  "Mars University" - usually considered to be the worst of season 1
  "A Head in the Polls" - hardly one of the all-time favourites, a so-so episode
  "The Deep South" - as above
  "The Cryonic Woman" - considered by a lot of people (including myself) to be the worst episode of the original run
  "Where the Buggalo Roam" - usually considered to be one of the show's very worst
  "Neutopia" - whilst I don't mind it, personally, this is often cited as a lot of people's most-hated episodes and it generally ranks pretty lowly amongst fans

So, yeah, it could go either way, very easily. He might pull off another of his incredibly rare great episodes, or it might just add to the mass of crap that he's written. I'm a bit disappointed that they didn't hire David X. Cohen or Ken Keeler to write the episode as a freelancer, to be honest.

My Three Suns is one of my favorite episodes. And a lot of his Simpsons episodes are regarded as some of the best since the show went downhill after Season 8 (I also particularly like "The Monkey Suit").

One of his episodes has one of my favorite quotes from Futurama:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYm7DqAAQpc

[#172 :]

Keep in mind, however, that Neutopia is considered by many to be a very bad episode.

yeah, should've clarified that I didn't care for the plot.

I don't really know what writers are on The Simpsons these days,
but after looking up which episodes he wrote, they are among the better.
The Way We Weren't, in addition to those mentioned earlier, being one of them.

_{in retrospect, that episode messed a bit with canon}

[#173 :]

I'm not sure about J. Stewart Burns, as he seems to be hit or miss based on the list of things he's written.

My Three Suns is one of my all time favorites, and Mars University is one of my all time least favorites, for example.

[#174 :]

_{in retrospect, that episode messed a bit with canon}

I disagree. They kept the time period vague and neither Homer nor Marge were aware of who the other one was in the flashbacks until after telling the story. Unless you're referring to some of the side characters, but I still can't think of anything right off the bat?

[#175 :]

I disagree. They kept the time period vague and neither Homer nor Marge were aware of who the other one was in the flashbacks until after telling the story. Unless you're referring to some of the side characters, but I still can't think of anything right off the bat?

I was mainly thinking about Homer meeting Lenny, Carl and Moe. We had already seen them as children in the somewhat earlier episode The Blunder Years, but it turns out they were twelve in that one and ten in The Way We Weren't.

In Flaming Moe's, Moe says that his mother won't be home for 20 minutes. It's a throw-away remark probably, but if he was abandoned, why does he live with her when he's older? Of course that could be easily explained by it being just a joke, or that she needed someone to take care of him.

Otherwise you're right, they never really made a reference to the time period except during the 60's/70's looking kissing scene.. and because The Simpsons takes place in the present, the flashbacks cannot be consistent anyway.

[#176 :]

The episode is now officially going to air as the finale to the 25th season of The Simpsons (as opposed to the premiere of season 26).

Source.

That's cool. It means we get it 4 months earlier, or so.

I was looking at Wikipedia at The Simpsons episode list for Season 25 and couldn't see it listed, what happened?...

[#177 :]

I was looking at Wikipedia at The Simpsons episode list for Season 25 and couldn't see it listed, what happened?...

Fox have rescheduled it for season 26.

Meanwhile, The Man Who Came to Be Dinner has been pushed back to season 27.

[#178 :]

So, who thinks we'll see a clip of this at this year's Comic Con?

[#179 :]

If they do indeed show one, I doubt the general public will be allowed to see it, unless someone films it and puts it online.

[#180 :]

They played a montage of clips from Family Guy and American Dad! at their panels last year and they were uploaded online, officially, shortly afterwards, so you never know.

And even if nobody bootlegs it, there will be write-ups of what people saw and whether it's looking like it will be a good episode or the mess we all fear it might be.

I think they almost always show a clip from an upcoming episode at these things, so it just comes down to if they choose "Simpsorama" or one of the other season 26 episodes. I'd say that they're more likely to choose a "big" episode than an ordinary one and I can't see the crowd going wild for a clip from their death episode in quite the same way. Fingers crossed, anyway.

[#181 :]

Yeah, I think they'll either show a clip from Simpsorama or The Man Who Came to Be Dinner.

[#182 :]

They'll probably do a montage of the first 5-6 episodes of the Season, with a few scenes of this years "special" episodes (don't remember if they did it last year, but I definitely remember doing a montage trailer for Season 24).