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A character from The Simpsons is to be revealed as gay, sparking a mystery among fans over who it will be. "We have a show where, to raise money, Springfield legalises gay marriage," producer Al Jean told fans at a comic book convention. "Homer becomes a minister by going on the internet and filling out a form. A long-time character comes out of the closet, but I'm not saying who." The last mystery Simpsons storyline involved killing off a character. After weeks of speculation it was revealed Maude, the wife of Homer Simpson's neighbour Ned Flanders, was the unlucky...

SOMEONE on "The Simpsons" is coming out of the closet and could get married. "Simpson" producers, including creator Matt Groening, let the news slip out at the San Diego Comic Conven tion over the weekend. But they did not say who it would be. The way-too obvious choice would be Waylon Smithers, evil nuclear-power tycoon Montgomery Burns' timid toady — who for years has harbored a not-so-secret love for his fragile, scheming century- old boss...

EPISODE 239 Instead of listening to late night talk radio, I turned on one of the few TV shows I ever watch -- THE SIMPSONS. I guess I tuned in for the right episode. At the very end, a Clinton character admits -- "Hey, I'm a pretty lousy president." That episode first aired in Feb. 2000.

Anyone who has recently scanned the list of papers presented to academic and learned societies in the arts quickly notices two things. They are written in a language that seems designed to exclude the general reader, and they deal with pop-cultural phenomena as much as, if not more than, they do classic works of art or literature. But publishers are at last beginning to bridge the gap between the language and the subject matter of contemporary scholarship. Most prominent in this enterprise is Open Court Publishing Co. of Chicago, whose series on "Popular Culture and Philosophy," under the general editorship...

'Simpsons' cast gets more D'oh! LOS ANGELES (AP) — A month after stalled contract renewal talks led the voices of The Simpsons to stop work, both the actors and Fox are getting more "D'oh!" Terms of the deal were not announced for the actors who provide the voices for Homer and Marge Simpson and other characters on the long-running animated series. The loss of even a few episodes of The Simpsons, would be financially painful for the network. Fox "We couldn't be happier to have reached a multiyear deal with the enormously talented cast of The Simpsons, " series producer...

NEW YORK - Lisa Simpson will still be 8 when "The Simpsons" movie comes out - but we'll be a lot older.Writers are working now, but the voice of Lisa Simpson, Yeardley Smith, said the film won't be made until the series is over, and it still has at least two seasons to go. Smith said it will then take three years to make the movie because "animation takes forever."Despite the lengthy process, Smith says she's glad to hear about the movie. "My wish for the show is that it go out with a bang and not a pimple," Smith...

LONDON (AP) -- Thou shalt not have a cow. So says the gospel according to The Simpsons. America's famous dysfunctional cartoon family will be the subject of a series of evening classes by the Rev. Robin Spittle on the Christian message in the popular show. "They are a churchgoing family and they make moral decisions, some of which I agree with, some of which I don't, but either way they are a great way to open up a discussion," said Spittle. Churchgoers at All Saints Church in Kesgrave, northeast of London, have been invited to attend four classes from the...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The actors who provide the voices for the cartoon characters on the long-running TV show "The Simpsons" have stopped work in a bid to force a settlement of lengthy contract renewal talks, Daily Variety reported in its Thursday edition. The Hollywood trade paper said the six actors have not shown up for two script readings in the past few weeks, holding up production on the hit satire's upcoming 16th season. It quoted insiders as saying each cast member is asking for about $360,000 an episode, or $8 million for a 22-episode season. Each member currently earns...

<p>KANSAS CITY, Mo.  — Somewhere in Springfield, state unknown, Bart Simpson is in detention, filling a chalkboard with the words "I will not write a fake letter to Dear Abby."</p> <p>Well, it probably wasn't Bart's handiwork, but he'd no doubt approve of the prank that forced Dear Abby's editors to pull next Monday's advice column, which included a letter that mirrored an episode of "The Simpsons."</p>

The Prime Minister Tony Blair will make his debut in 'The Simpsons' on Sunday. Mr Blair, who is said to be a big fan of the show, recorded his dialogue in April for an episode in which Homer Simpson meets him in London. The episode reportedly sees Homer crash a Mini Cooper through the gates of Buckingham Palace catapulting the Queen out of her horse-drawn carriage. Actor Sir Ian McKellen and Harry Potter author JK Rowling appear alongside him in the show, called 'The Regina Monologues'. The episode will be on TV in January in the UK.

EU Carnivale Simpsons-style politics is on its way across the pond. In one of the greatest moments in Simpsons history, two giant, slimy, space aliens — Kang and Kodos — take the forms of Bob Dole and Bill Clinton, rival candidates in the 1996 presidential election, as a prelude to taking over the planet. Newcomers to American politics, needless to say, the aliens are less polished then your typical pol. But the body snatcher Dole is a fast learner. At a debate he takes the stand and booms in a rich baritone: "Abortions for all!" The crowd boos. "Very well,"...

An Oregon scientist inspired by Homer Simpson has successfully created "tomacco" -- a tomato plant that contains nicotine. But Rob Baur is now worried that he has produced "the ultimate Frankenfood" and that it could, in fact, be deadly to eat. Mr. Baur says the idea to cross-breed tomatoes and tobacco came from an episode of The Simpsons that first aired in 1999. After inadvertently challenging a southern colonel to a pistols-at-dawn duel, the Simpson patriarch decides to flee to his childhood farm with his family to live off the land. He accidentally mixes tomato and tobacco seeds and after...

Ok, I know that I am extremely late to the party...but I have to admit it...I have become a hardened fan of (bite lip and hope for the best) - "The Simpsons". I had never watched on a regular basis for the majority of the time that they had been on the air. Then I interviewed the author of "The Gospel According to the Simpsons" last year. The interview was ok as interviews go but in the author's telling of HOW the episode is put together each week fascinated me. Each epsiode take possibly up to 3 years to put...

Doh! "The Simpsons" creator Matt Groening may have crossed the line with his comment last week to National Public Radio's Terry Gross that Fox media empire almost sued itself. (Now that takes some talent!) The story goes that Fox News Channel execs were none too thrilled last year when the wildly popular cartoon, which is on Fox Broadcasting, featured a fake news ticker mocking the station's conservative rep. The headlines included gems such as: "Do Democrats Cause Cancer? . . . Study: 92 percent of Democrats are gay . . . JFK posthumously joins Republican Party . . ." ***snip****...

The creators of "The Simpsons," the long-running cartoon sitcom, recently parodied the Fox News Channel, and Rupert Murdoch was none too happy. Matt Groening, the show's creator, ran a scrolling headline on The Simpsons' fictional news channel, with headlines that played to the sentiments of a leftist view of Republicans, and fit the perception that Fox News is somehow right-wing, pro Republican, or whatever nonsense those jealous of FNC's ratings like to spout. In fact, the Agence France-Presse article in which this story originally appeared included a line claiming that The Simpsons news channel "parodied the [Fox News] channel's anti-Democrat...

Fox News Channel threatened to sue the producers of The Simpsons following an episode that poked fun of the "crawl" items that are superimposed over the channel's newscasts, Simpsons creator Matt Groening said during an interview on National Public Radio Tuesday. The Simpsons airs on the Fox television network, a corporate sibling of FNC. "Fox said they would sue the show. And we called their bluff because we didn't think Rupert Murdoch would pay for Fox to sue itself. We got away with it," Groening said. (Among the items on the crawl: "Do Democrats cause cancer? Find out at foxnews.com...

Aye Carumba! Homer Simpson, the beer-drinking, donut-scarfing, bumbling nuclear-power plant technician of the Fox cartoon "The Simpsons" is the leading choice in an online poll to be named the "greatest American." The animated buffoon ranks ahead of real-life heroes including Presidents Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington. The poll is part of an upcoming broadcast by the British Broadcasting Corporation which will "confront the critical question at the heart of the 21st century – what does the world think of America?" The program, which airs Tuesday night in the UK and will be available for download from the BBC...

<p>Recently, in a radio interview, the host asked me if, despite all of its problems, there was any way to get much in the way of real use out of the International Space Station.</p> <p>I have to admit that I was stumped.</p>

WINNIPEG -- City hall is about to honour television's most beloved and buffoonish dad for being a real homer -- just in time for Father's Day. Homer Simpson will be made an official honorary citizen of the city this Friday -- a follow-up to last year's revelation that the main character of TV's longest-running animated sitcom is based on a real-life Winnipeg native, The Simpsons creator Matt Groening's father. "Homer is coming to TD Centre," Heather McIntyre, CanWest Global's local manager of production and operations, said yesterday of the honour to be bestowed outside the city's tallest tower. Coun. Jenny...

Did anyone see the Simpsons ending tonight? They had a big fight scene at the Springfield stadium between most of the town folk. One character yelled to play the US National Anthem to stop the fight and another character replies it was too vilent, play the Canadian anthem. Then all those fighting formed a maple leaf and Bart said something to the effect of "war never solved anything except all of America's problems". I was really offended. I have enjoyed the Simpsons for a decade now and have laughed over most of their politcal humor. I hate to take it...