{"id":911039,"date":"2026-09-27T01:22:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-27T01:22:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/911039\/"},"modified":"2026-09-27T01:22:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T01:22:12","slug":"the-simpsons-boss-teases-season-38-treehouse-of-horror-movie-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/911039\/","title":{"rendered":"The Simpsons Boss Teases Season 38, ‘Treehouse of Horror,’ Movie Update"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t\u201cThe Simpsons<\/a>\u201d returns on Sunday, Sept. 27, on Fox with a Season 38 opener (\u201cThe Children\u2019s Book Job\u201d) that parodies children\u2019s books, featuring guest voice Emma Thompson<\/a> as a beloved children\u2019s book author who comes to town for a benefit to save Springfield Elementary from closing.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut when her character \u2014 saucy British writer Constance Clavinger \u2014 turns out to be a handful (getting drunk at the airport bar, for starters), Homer struggles to get her to the school on time. They go on an adventure across town as he tries to get her, \u201cGet Him to the Greek\u201d style, to a school book fair organized by new PTA president Marge. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\tColin Jost also appears as himself, reading his own children\u2019s book to the Springfield Elementary audience, much to their indifference.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn one sequence, Homer daydreams that Springfield and its citizens have turned into settings and characters from kids\u2019 books like \u201cThe Very Hungry Caterpillar,\u201d Richard Scarry\u2019s universe, \u201cDon\u2019t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus,\u201d \u201cCaptain Underpants,\u201d \u201cDiary of a Wimpy Kid\u201d and more.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe genesis of this was, when you\u2019re lucky enough to work on \u2018The Simpsons,\u2019 you can ask yourself, \u2018What kind of cool thing can we portray in the Matt Groening\/\u2018Simpsons\u2019 style that we\u2019ve never done?\u2019\u201d says executive producer Matt Selman<\/a>. \u201cAnd one of those are classic children\u2019s books, like \u2018Make Way for Ducklings.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSelman calls the episode a \u201clove letter\u201d to that world of children\u2019s books. \u201cI love my love letters,\u201d he says. \u201cRichard Scarry, Eric Carle from \u2018The Hungry Caterpillar,\u2019 all these generational children\u2019s artists. We got really excited about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDan Vebber is the credited writer on the episode, while Matthew Nastuk is the director; Selman says Vebber and co-executive producer Mike Price cooked up the story idea, \u201ca take on the \u2018mild-mannered person has to get crazy person from \u2018Point A\u2019 to Point B\u2019 kind of story \u2026 Two people thrown together in crazy situations become friends, become enemies and then become friends again. I love a good \u201980s movie structure. So, for all the people who still love \u2018Get Him to the Greek,\u2019 this is the episode for you!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThompson\u2019s character plays a large role in the episode. \u201cIf you\u2019re going to write a giant guest part, you want an icon, a bucket list person like Emma Thompson,\u201d Selman says. \u201cAnd she threw herself into it with full gusto. It\u2019s sort of an interesting season premiere in that you\u2019re meeting a new character and it\u2019s kind of Homer\u2019s side adventure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHomer is enlisted to pick up Constance \u2014 and, realizing that he has been spending too much time ignoring his family and playing a free game on his phone, ultimately decides to make up for it by saving the day.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt makes a lot of great points about parenting and trying not to be a checked-out parent,\u201d Selman says. \u201cAnd this line I like in it, Homer says, \u2018children\u2019s books are a better parent than I\u2019ll ever be.\u2019 It\u2019s a good little bit of truthfulness there from Homer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\tAmong more upcoming episodes, \u201cDiary of a Chimpy Kid\u201d (Oct. 4) follows Bart and Lisa as they adopt a baby chimp. \u201cHomer watches a YouTube video about what adult chimps do to their human owners, which is bite off their fingers, faces and genitals,\u201d Selman says. \u201cAnd Homer becomes terrified of a baby chimp as Bart and Lisa learn how to co-parent. There\u2019s some genital mutilation comedy in that one, but I am very pleased with it!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn another upcoming episode, \u201cThe Kosmic Kruiser,\u201d Bart and Lisa are trapped in an abandoned immersive theme park experience. And \u201cTesting 1-2-3\u201d will look at the world of neurodiversity. \u201cI think it\u2019s terrific,\u201d Selman says of threading the needle on that one between being funny and being empathetic. \u201cWe\u2019re very proud of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAs for \u201cTreehouse of Horror<\/a> XXXVII\u201d (Oct. 25), the original opening is a \u201cSimpsons\u201d\/\u201cNightmare Before Christmas\u201d mashup, produced by Stoopid Buddy Stoodios \u2014 featuring \u201cSimpsons\u201d versions of the \u201cNightmare Before Christmas\u201d characters.<\/p>\n

\n\tThen, one segment is inspired by the British novel \u201cThe Husbands,\u201d by Holly Gramazio, in which Homer goes to the shed and comes out as a different husband for Marge. Suddenly, she\u2019s married to Lenny. Or Kang and Kodos. Tiffany Haddish guests as Marge\u2019s best friend in one of her new husband realities, \u201ckind of like how in rom-coms characters always have a sassy best friend,\u201d Selman notes. \u201cShe lectures Marge about dating, and it\u2019s like a stand-up set.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAnother segment is described as \u201cFreaky Friday\u201d meets \u201cPet Sematary,\u201d where \u201cHomer accidentally kills Bart and the dog and buries them, and they come back just having their bodies switched. And in the third one, \u201cHomer mysteriously vanished years ago, and the teenage versions of Bart and Lisa find out that evil witch versions of Patty and Selma have trapped him in endless murderous Driver\u2019s Ed films.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThis year\u2019s \u201cTreehouse of Horror\u201d is timed to the show\u2019s current tie-in with Jack in the Box. The fast-food chain is currently promoting a \u201cMunchie Meal of Horror,\u201d featuring six collectable glow-in the dark cups (which have already sold out at many locations).<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cOne of the great joys of this job is to do these little collabs with industries you\u2019re not part of, like fast food or video games or toys or theme parks or whatever,\u201d Selman says. \u201cThese collectible cups are just gorgeous and pretty high quality. Like everything we do, they sold out in one second. Yeah. Now they\u2019re on eBay for $200. I said, \u2018make sure you make enough cups!\u2019 And they said, \u2018we know about how many cups to make.\u2019 And guess what? They didn\u2019t!\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\tThe \u201cSimpsons\u201d meals are full of references from the show \u2014 like Bart\u2019s twin brother Hugo, from Season 8, who appears on a cup. \u201cIn that episode, Hugo would eat fish heads, and in our version of the cup, Hugo is eating the Jack in the Box fish sandwich. It\u2019s just very fun to do a 30-year fish callback.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSelman admits that \u201cI procrastinated from working on the stuff that I should be working on by working really hard on this box. And there are so many \u2018Simpsons\u2019 Easter eggs on this box that you would think it was Easter, not Halloween. You can quote me on that. Definitely quote me on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd here\u2019s perhaps the ultimate obscure Easter egg: On the \u201cMunchie Meal of Horror\u201d box, several \u201cSimpsons\u201d characters are dressed like the now-obscure 1970s era \u201cJack in the Box Bunch\u201d like the \u201cHamburgermeister,\u201d \u201cOnion Ring Thing\u201d and \u201cSecret Sauce Agent.\u201d (Those characters were eliminated in 1980, but a grown-up version of \u201cJack\u201d returned in 1994 \u2014 this time in a suit and round clown head. He\u2019s still the chain\u2019s spokesperson today.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhen I was a kid, I would go to Jack in the Box, and there was the Jack in the Box version of the McDonaldland gang that no one remembers but me. It was a very goofy bunch of fast food mascots. And so I made the bullies wear those costumes. That\u2019s what the bullies are dressed up as, and people are like, \u2018Who are they dressed as?\u2019 They\u2019re dressed as the 1970s Jack in the Box Gang: Secret Sauce Agent, Onion Ring Thing and Hamburgermeister. I haven\u2019t gone on the internet to see if anyone has figured this out! But that is a big mashup.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe meal box also includes comical gravestones with dead \u201cSimpsons\u201d favorites like Frank Grimes. \u201cI bet he didn\u2019t think he\u2019d ever be on a Munchie Meal box, right?\u201d Selman says.<\/p>\n

\n\tHe adds: \u201cThis is how hard the movie is that I\u2019m just throwing myself into these boxes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tOh yes, the movie. How\u2019s that going? The new \u201cSimpsons\u201d movie is currently slated to premiere on Sept. 3, 2027 (shifted from its original July 23 date). It\u2019s already written, and yes, it may have a title. But Selman won\u2019t share just yet.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe working title is \u2018New Simpsons Movie,\u2019 but we might have an actual title,\u201d he says. \u201cIt hasn\u2019t been approved yet. But [the movie] is going to be great! It\u2019s already \u2019S\u2019 tier.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tS tier? \u201cPeople love to rank things on the internet as part of our reductive society that we live in, right? People will rank things between F-D-C-B-A, and then S is the best. And people will do it for everything. What\u2019s the best protein drink? What\u2019s the best Alan Moore graphic novel? So, the movie\u2019s going to be S tier. That\u2019s my promise to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHere\u2019s the logline to \u201cThe Simpsons\u201d Season 38 premiere, \u201cThe Children\u2019s Book Job\u201d: \u201cMarge hopes to save Springfield Elementary by inviting a reclusive British children\u2019s author (guest star Emma Thompson) to appear at the school\u2019s book fair. But Homer botches his assignment of picking the author up at the airport, and the drunken pepper pot leads him on a desperate wild chase to get her to the school on time.\u201d The episode airs Sunday, Sept. 27, at 8 p.m. on Fox, and streams the next day on Hulu. <\/p>\n

\n\tHere\u2019s an exclusive first look at Emma Thompson in the premiere episode:<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThe Simpsons\u201d returns on Sunday, Sept. 27, on Fox with a Season 38 opener (\u201cThe Children\u2019s Book Job\u201d)…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":911040,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[49,48,36874,75,192591,89982,314678,348],"class_list":["post-911039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-emma-thompson","tag-entertainment","tag-matt-selman","tag-the-simpsons","tag-treehouse-of-horror","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/911039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=911039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/911039\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/911040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=911039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=911039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=911039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}