In Depth

Sunday's 'Simpsons' Goes HD, Updates Title Sequence

"The Simpsons" is finally going HD—and, in what some fans might consider an even bigger development, getting a new opening title sequence as well.

Both events will take place Sunday, Fox said during a promo for "The Simpsons" that aired as part of Wednesday night's "American Idol." The network actually made a low-key announcement of the news late last month, casually mentioning the developments as part of its episodic listings of various shows.

According to Fox, Sunday's "Simpsons"—entitled "Take My Life, Please"—will include the first full, permanent revamp of the show's opening titles since its premiere in 1989. The last few seconds of the title sequence have long featured a different weekly "couch gag." Fox also airs both a full-length and an abbreviated version of the credits.

While "The Simpsons" has never aired in high-def, Sunday's episode won't be the first time fans of the show have been able to see Homer and Co. in their full digital splendor on television. HBO aired "The Simpsons Movie" in HD last year.

While most live-action scripted network shows now air in HD, animation hasn't been as quick to make the leap, although that's starting to change. The producers of "South Park" recently announced their Comedy Central series would go HD starting with its 13th season, which bows March 11.


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Comments 41

roy

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Fox verrry quietly aired King of the Hill in HD last Sunday

pachi Martínez

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Don't kill "The Simpsons" leave it as is please! :(

The Chairman

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Pay no attention to the rabid fanboy in the corner.

90s

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have mercy, kill this show

Emily

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They should have added Lisa's segment, while she is riding her bike and carrying a stack of books.

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Over-bloated and don't know when to quit? Why am I *NOT* surprise?

Carlos

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From Spain...This new opening is...wouh! I don´t know how explain it...in spanish ok?? sorry my inglish isn´t very good... well this is my comment (in spanish): esta nueva intro está realmente bien, pero prefiero la antigua, será por que estoy más acostumbrado... un saludo desde España!! (A greeting from Spain!!)

gibberishtwist

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This...this is horrible. I agree with the "have mercy, kill this show" statement 100%. The Simpsons used to be TV perfection, now it's just embarrassing.

Darran

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Me no likey

humtake

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That was awesome! Don't listen to the people above. There's always people who hate change. The Simpsons is a great show and I can't wait to finally watch it in hd every week.

conor

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dear god. if ever there was a sign that this show should be cancelled this is it. RIP simpsons

jojo

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I agree with you, humtake, this opening is awesome!

char

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i love it.

MrB

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Awesome. They updated and upgraded it maintaining its spirit. Thumbs up!

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Nah, not having it. Looks rubbish, too long. Shows a bit meh at this stage anyway.

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Very cool - This will help pump more life into the show for the next generation.

Armworth

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Changing the opening sequence will not improve this rather embarrassing and poorly written show.
Maybe they need to give the writers a "new sequence" - sadly, that won't help either.

Kill this show before it starts to bleed!

Oh wait, it's too late for that.

Dumbmook

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Errrr... yeah. When will the show end?

LtMarvel

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Before you tell them to kill the show, look at the drek that's already been canceled. This is the stuff you'll replace The Simpsons with.

So please don't kill The Simpsons... the next good show on after The Simpsons is Robot Chicken...

Gazzoo

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Wonder if the family will continue to have an HDTV in the show...

carlos hater

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Carlos your comment sucks ass. Why bother writing it if you cant articulate it to be understood. Who cares you added your "greeting from Spain" on the end.. we don't know you, you are one of billions of people in the world. THe world is a small place now and with the internet.. which you are posting on.. we see people from all over the world whenever we want. It's not a big deal. The context of this of you posting on a page about the simpsons in english, despite explaining how you are unable to do so.. why bother. Luckily, your post along with mine will get buried in a sea of replies. Your effort in bothering to make your post is as stuipd and futile as my effort in deriding it. You are a .. I dont know how to say this in a language sorry.. sdfkjhsdjfhsdhfsjd .. greetings to you.

Carlos

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@Carlos

"esta nueva intro está realmente bien, pero prefiero la antigua, será por que estoy más acostumbrado... un saludo desde España!!"

This new intro is really good, but I prefer the old [intro] because I am accustomed to the old one. Hello from Spain.

My Spanish sucks, so take the translation with a grain of salt.

fuhlman

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super, great, cool

grüße aus Deutschland "Germany"

Simpson forever in HD

CM

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I agree with Carlos, they shouldn't have changed the opening credits, we are too used to it.

P.S.@ Carlos, your English is really good so far and you should definitely continue with it :-)

simpsons

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you idiots complaining about the show? STFU! this show is funnier than most of the stupid, inane "comedies" on television today.

gibberishtwist

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You really think this show is still funny? Watch an episode from the last season, and compare it to any episode from the 1-7th season and tell me this is still worth watching. It's not about hating change, it's about acknowledging when a show is no longer funny, relevant, or needed. If the replacements for the Simpsons are too terrible to watch, pick up a book or go outside.

annie

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i don't really understand all the criticism about the title sequence, the show may be a little less funny, but imo the sequence is really cool, it's just a bit too long in this episode because of the couch gag.

Jason

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I like it. I love the fact the we have both this and KOTH in HD now.

Just Some Random Guy

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I agree with you gibberishtwist this show SUCKS now. It's not even worth the time wasted on it.

Ricky ybarra

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Everybody has to accept the fact that the simpsons are a franchise like Disney or Warner bros. It seems to me that the new intro means they aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

We will always have the good old classic episodes.
But do you really think that the simpsons at so bad you'd rather
See it replaced with Fox's "when bears attack" or some fake reality show?

If you don't like it stop watching and pretend the show ended 5- 7 years ago.

Ryan

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wow. just wow. although... when season 20 is released on dvd it will be a bit odd to have the first 9 episodes standard ratio and then have it in widescreen HD for the rest. but i think this is great. the show has changed so much over the last 20 years. Everyone wants it to end but this is just the beginning. of a new age. bye, bye 4:3 SD cartoons and hello 16:9 HD. I think this is the right move for such a great show

dmc

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How do ye all know the simpsons is terrible? If its terrible then ye obviously dont watch it so how can you watch a terrible show! nd if ye do watch it its people like ye who keep the ratings up and keep it on tv

simpsons suck now

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@MG: Your mom.

dannii

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Esto el GENIAL!!, En la pared esta escrito "EL BARTO" aguante HD!

Dan

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People do not know what they are talking about. They will find any reason to hate a show just because it's been there too long. I have watched the old and new Simpsons and I see no real difference. If you hate the show so much, stop watching it and get over yourself. Your stupid argument of "the old episodes were better" or "R.I.P Simpsons" won't change the mind of anyone who likes it. This will always happen. Some new show will come out, people will like it, and if the show stays too long, they start complaining that the show is dead but still somehow have the need to go to videos, forums, and discussions about that certain show and complain about how much it sucks. Leave us alone and go watch your stupid Family Guy or so called "next generation of television".

Phil

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Easy Simpsons formula:

The worse the quality of the animation, the better the quality of the episode.

It's so easy to tell which episodes are good and which are bad from the quality of animation. For the record, Seasons 1-7 are amazing, 8-9 are decent, 10+ are unwatchable.

Simpsons_suck

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The old episodes were good because they actually had a storyline to them. Every episode now is just scrambled storylines and flashbacks to Homer when he was in high school

Inspector_swearword

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The new simpsons post season 10 is simply a pantomime of slapstick designed to entertain the less discerning (lower) demographic. Stupid, slow, boring, mundane people will not be able to tell the difference between new and the classic old (seasons 1-7). They see the simpsons and they see a comic strip, they never read any deeper into the storylines, humour, subtle wit or intelligent writing style of the old to know any different. Not to mention there is a new generation of people out there who only really know the latest seasons, and to whom the nuances of the time the old simpsons were made are lost. Kill the simpsons now. Before it gets any more embarassing - before it becomes any more of a show that is designed solely for 12 and unders. Put a once cleverly done show, which satirised the way life happens to the common man, out of its crass, witless, poorly done misery.

alex

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make more simpsons we need more the old ones are getting boreing

Luke Saunders

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In 20 years time we'll rember these ones as the naff ones!

Max Power

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Inspector Swearword has it right on the money, though I'd extend the period of acceptable Simpsons programming up to Season 13. 10 or perhaps 11 was the last great season, however. The 14-16 stretch was a major disappointment. 17+ was unwatchable.

Here's to the days of sensitive, sensible storylines unencumbered by a million riduculous and uncharacteristic twists pandering to young fans with nonexistent attention spans brought up by the likes of Family Guy and American Dad.