How to watch The Simpsons
The show has found a new home in the UK.
After two decades on air, The Simpsons is leaving Channel 4.
The animated sitcom which follows a dysfunctional family featuring Homer, Marge, Lisa, Bart and Maggie, has been running since 1989.
Since 2004, UK viewers have been able to tune into Channel 4 each night at 6.30pm to watch the series, but that’s all about to change as the show moves to a new home.
The news was announced this week on the show’s 35th anniversary.
So how will viewers in the UK be able to watch The Simpsons going forward? Read on for everything you need to know.
How to watch The Simpsons
New episodes of The Simpsons will stream exclusively on Disney Plus first in the UK.
For those who don’t subscribe to Disney Plus, free-to-air TV will still receive some episodes, but they’ll be a few seasons behind.
In January, Channel 4’s sister channel E4 will become the only home of the show on linear TV from January 2025, with episodes from season 32 airing on the channel.
After that, episodes will become available to stream on Channel 4’s online platform ‘for a limited time’, before being held exclusively by Disney Plus.
Disney Plus will start airing episodes from season 36 in the spring at the same time as the US. Every episode of The Simpsons is already available on the streamer.
Meanwhile, in the US, new episodes of The Simpsons air on Fox, before becoming available to stream on Hulu the following day. Episodes also become available on Disney Plus at a later date.
What is The Simpsons about?
America's favourite dysfunctional family is made up or Marge, a blue-haired housewife and mother, her husband Homer - who has had a variety of jobs including working at a beer factory and more recently (and dangerously) working at Mr Burns' nuclear power plant, and their three children Lisa, Bart and Maggie.
Lisa is a genius and a jazz addict, whilst Bart is the ultimate rebel and Maggie, the baby... well she's just a baby, who couldn't be more unlike her Family Guy counterpart Stewie.
Who voices the characters in The Simpsons?
The main cast members are Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Dan Castellaneta, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, and Harry Shearer.
Kavner's main roles are Marge and her sisters Patty and Selma, whilst Cartright voices Bart Simpson - that's right, Bart is voiced by a woman! - and other children including Ralph Wiggum and the school bully Nelson Muntz.
Castenella voices Homer and Grampa Simpsons, Krusty the Clown, and other male characters, and Smith voices Lisa Simpson.
Azaria and Shearer voice the majority of the other residents of Springfield including Apu Nahasapeemapetilon and Mr Burns.
The Simpsons was created by Matt Groening, and he and Sam Simon worked on the show with an original team of writers made up of John Swartzwelder, Jon Vitti, George Meyer, Jeff Martin, Al Jean, Mike Reiss, Jay Kogen and Wallace Wolodarsky.
Other writers have joined and left the team over the show's 30 year run, but out of everyone that's joined since the show began, Swartzwelder holds the record for the most episodes written.
What has The Simpsons predicted?
The Simpsons has 'predicted the future' many times, including most notably guessing that Donald Trump would become president of the US. But the show's producers have never claimed to have a magic crystal ball - it's just that the series has been running for so long and has made so many predictions about the future that some of them are bound to be accurate.
But still, the faulty voting machine's attempt to stop Homer from voting from Barak Obama is very spooky when one considers that one election cycle later, a voting booth in Pennsylvania actually did this in 2012.
Why are The Simpsons yellow?
The Simpsons are yellow because it makes them stand out on TV, as no other show uses their instantly recognisable bright yellow skin tone.
The Simpsons' creator Matt Groening told the BBC that when an animator suggested the idea to him, and showed him a rough sketch, "I said 'This is the answer!' because when you're flicking through channels with your remote control, and a flash of yellow goes by, you'll know you're watching The Simpsons."
The Simpsons is available to stream on Disney Plus. Sign up to Disney Plus from £4.99 a month.
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Authors
Molly Moss is a Trends Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest trends across TV, film and more. She has an MA in Newspaper Journalism and has previously written for publications including The Guardian, The Times and The Sun Online.
