Australian Simpsons News
Second Half, 2000

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19th December, 2000 This is my last update for 2000. I'll be back online around the middle of January. In the meantime, I hope you all have a great Christmas and New Year. Using the Foxtel website, I've updated The Simpsons on Foxtel up to the 17th January (that's all the info they have, for now). Mostly, things continue as they have to now. The main exception is the pre-emption of 6:00pm and 7:00pm timeslots on New Year's Day to make way for an X-Files marathon. However, an episode is also skipped in the main weekday stream with the turning of the year (All Singing, All Dancing -- 5F24). More pre-emptions are expected on the 26th January because of a Buffy marathon, but without details, I haven't included this in the update. As for Ten, I won't even speculate what they're up to. My best guess is three timeslots a week, probably Friday, Saturday and Sunday. For more details, I'm afraid you'll just have to look it up in a TV guide. Sorry. I wish you all a great holiday season. Thanks for visiting in 2000.

18th December, 2000 Sorry, I somehow missed Ten's Saturday Simpsons timeslot. That's now updated, so we're back to three streams apparently. Voting on Foxtel for this weekend (1900-969-672): 23rd-24th December, 2000 No. Code Title 1 7F11 One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish 2 7F12 The Way We Was 3 7F13 Homer vs Lisa and the 8th Commandment 4 7F15 Principal Charming

14th December, 2000 Ten's bringing back its Sunday double repeat timeslot for The Simpsons on the 17th December at 6:30pm with a couple of Christmas episodes. I've no idea if this timeslot will be maintained in future weeks or if this is a once-off.

11th December, 2000 Voting on Foxtel for this weekend (1900-969-672): 16th-17th December, 2000 No. Code Title 1 7F07 Bart vs Thanksgiving 2 7F06 Bart the Daredevil 3 7F09 Itchy & Scratchy & Marge 4 7F10 "Episode 23: Bart Gets Hit By A Car"

8th December, 2000 Sorry I didn't put these up yesterday, but here's the voting on Foxtel for this weekend (1900-969-672): 9th-10th December, 2000 No. Code Title 1 7F04 "The Simpsons Halloween Special" 2 7F01 Two Cars in Every Garage, Three Eyes on Every Fish 3 7F05 Dancin’ Homer 4 7F08 Dead Putting Society

7th December, 2000 Looks like Ten's cut back to just the one Simpsons episode each week, Fridays at 7:30pm. I've updated things to reflect this change. I've also added details for Christmas Day on FOX8. Four Simpsons Christmas episodes (one of them twice) will air throughout the morning of Monday, 25th December, 2000. Regular screenings will be pre-empted on this day.

30th November, 2000 We're back to just one episode of The Simpsons on Ten over the coming week, tomorrow night. I imagine timeslots might come and go over the summer; I'll keep you updated on my Channel Ten Simpsons page.

27th November, 2000 On Foxtel in December, The Simpsons is mostly sticking to the established set of timeslots. The only exception is Monday, 25th December, when both weekday streams will be pushed back an episode in favour of a selection of Christmas episodes from FOX8's most popular shows. That includes The Simpsons Christmas Special (7G08) at 7:00am, 8:30am, 10:30am and 11:30am. In the meantime, "Simpsons By Request" is jumping back to the Season One-Season Two boundary, as indicated below. In addition to confirming December's episodes, I've made predictions for January, as usual. I'll update these again just before Christmas, using the Foxtel website, however, I won't be in a position to do a complete January update until half-way through that month -- time to get an Internet connection at home, perhaps. Voting on Foxtel for this weekend (1900-969-672): 2nd-3rd December, 2000 No. Code Title 1 7G12 Krusty Gets Busted 2 7G01 Some Enchanted Evening 3 7F03 Bart Gets An F 4 7F02 Simpson and Delilah

23rd November, 2000 With ratings ending this week, the Wednesday Simpsons repeats are disappearing next week on Ten. Other changes will probably also follow.

21st November, 2000 Voting on Foxtel for this weekend (1900-969-672): 25th-26th November, 2000 No. Code Title 1 AABF01 "The Simpsons Halloween Special IX" 2 5F19 When You Dish Upon a Star 3 AABF02 D'oh-in In The Wind 4 AABF03 Lisa Gets an A

13th November, 2000 Voting on Foxtel for this weekend (1900-969-672): 18th-19th November, 2000 No. Code Title 1 5F18 Natural Born Kissers 2 5F20 Lard of the Dance 3 5F21 The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace 4 5F22 Bart the Mother Sorry I didn't get this up last week -- I cite technical difficulties. Here are last week's candidates, for completeness: 11th-12th November, 2000 No. Code Title 1 5F15 Girly Edition 2 5F09 Trash of the Titans 3 5F16 King of the Hill 4 5F17 Lost Our Lisa

2nd November, 2000 I've finally deciphered the Simpsons scheduling mess on Ten during the Olympics, and taken the opportunity to discard old timeslots from the Channel Ten page (they still appear in the monthly archives, of course). Now things have settled down a bit, I can say that Ten seems to be screening Season Ten episodes at 7:30pm Wednesdays, together with pairs of older, merged repeats on Fridays at 7:30pm and Saturdays at 6:30pm. The Friday repeats are newer, including Season Nine episodes in the first half-hour. I should also point out I may have been mistaken in my original interpretation of the Channel Ten Internet news story, discussed below. I thought perhaps the actors might be visiting Australia for a live taping next year, but on second reading, it seems more likely a second episode will be set in Australia. Cool, either way, but not the same thing at all. Voting on Foxtel for this weekend (1900-969-672): 4th-5th November, 2000 No. Code Title 1 4F24 Lisa the Simpson 2 5F13 This Little Wiggy 3 3G04 Simpson Tide 4 5F14 The Trouble with Trillions

30th October, 2000 I've updated November on Foxtel, together with predictions for December. However, my supposed "history" sections are a little out-of-date across the board. I hope to get to those next week. Simpsons Apologise to Australia: Channel Ten's website reports that Matt Groening has apologised to Australia for its portrayal in a certain Season Six episode. In Matt's words: "We didn't know anything about Australia, we know we are going to get it wrong so we decided we'd get it wrong in every single way, that was our idea. And on behalf of everyone at The Simpsons I would like to apologise for getting it so wrong." We've heard the first part of that before, and in my opinion we've understood for some time that the episode in question was a satire of American views of Australia rather than of Australia itself. The team will apparently be "filming" an episode in Australia next year, probably similar to the UK experience earlier this year. There's even hope they might get the accents right for once...

27th October, 2000 Back from my holiday, had lots of fun, but no time to do a proper update. I've updated Ten for the next week, but not Foxtel for November. Plus there's some rearranging needs doing that will have to wait. Mind you, the only two things to note are the appearance of yet another Simpsons timeslot on Ten (Saturdays at 6:30pm), and the airing of recent Hallowe'en episodes over the next few days (starting tonight). Voting on Foxtel for this weekend (1900-969-672): 28th-29th October, 2000 No. Code Title 1 5F23 The Joy of Sect 2 5F11 Das Bus 3 5F10 The Last Temptation of Krust 4 5F12 Dumbbell Indemnity

19th October, 2000 Ten is, from tomorrow, expanding its Friday timeslot to two episodes, presumably merged. I guess I'll have to separate the two timeslots, but not today. Voting on Foxtel for this weekend (1900-969-672): 21st-22nd October, 2000 No. Code Title 1 5F06 Realty Bites 2 5F07 Miracle on Evergreen Terrace 3 5F24 All Singing, All Dancing 4 5F08 Bart Carny

9th October, 2000 Voting on Foxtel for this weekend (1900-969-672): 14th-15th October, 2000 No. Code Title 1 5F01 The Cartridge Family 2 5F03 Bart Star 3 AABF04 Homer Simpson in "Kidney Trouble" 4 5F05 Lisa the Skeptic

6th October, 2000 Voting on Foxtel for this weekend (1900-969-672): 7th-8th October, 2000 No. Code Title 1 4F22 The City of New York vs Homer Simpson 2 4F23 The Principal and the Pauper 3 3G02 Lisa’s Sax 4 5F02 "The Simpsons Halloween Special VIII"

5th October, 2000 Starting tomorrow, Ten is airing Season Ten repeats at 7:30pm Wednesdays and Fridays, the two timeslots working together. I've also updated the Episode List to include all of Season Twelve and the Foxtel episode order to include Season Eleven. I think I forgot to mention, before, Behind the Fanfest is screening tomorrow night (Friday) at 8:00pm and 2:10am. This will be a special, behind-the-scenes look at the Fanfest, including out-takes from host tapings. In other news, if you're interested in having a chat with Bill Morrison, editor and artist of the Simpsons Comics, you may want to visit Netweek. The chat will be at 10:00am AEST on Saturday, 14th October.

2nd October, 2000 Back to just Thursday nights on Ten -- no Sunday repeats for now. In any case, we won't be seeing new episodes until February.

27th September, 2000 Whoops! I overlooked the Saturday night Simpsons timeslot on FOX8, airing Season Eleven episodes at 7:30pm. Saturday nights are shaping up great, with two hours of fantastic animation. The fun starts on the 14th October with Futurama at 6:30pm.

26th September, 2000 I've updated FOX8's Simpsons schedule for October, but haven't had time to do November predictions yet. October's running pretty much as before, with a weekday stream at 8:00am, repeated 7:00pm; a weekday stream at 6:00pm; a weekend stream at 9:00am; and "Simpsons by Request" weekends at 6:00pm. I may not have time to update Channel Ten on Thursday. I'll catch up on this and the November predictions after the Olympics are over.

21st September, 2000 If you're watching the Simpsons Fanfest on FOX8, you'll have noticed that episodes are running progressively earlier during the 24 hour period starting at 4:00pm. In fact, by 3:00pm, episodes are starting as much as ten minutes early. You'll need to be aware of this if you're trying to catch a particular episode. On the plus side, this unsynchronises the ads from Seven's Olympics news. On Ten next week, just two Simpsons episodes: Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30pm.

14th September, 2000 During the Olympics, not only is FOX8 showing The Simpsons 24 hours a day, but Ten is also rearranging its schedule. Next week, The Simpsons loses its Sunday timeslot, but gets temporary, half-hour timeslots on Saturday at 8:00pm and Wednesday at 7:30pm. The Thursday 7:30pm timeslot remains, and all three episodes will be from recent seasons. For now, I've separated these out into their own table. I'll decide where to archive them later. Also worth noting is the release (in the US, at least), of Nancy Cartwright's book, My Life as a Ten Year Old Boy. Nancy does Bart's voice on The Simpsons, and it sounds like an interesting read.

7th September, 2000 Voting on Foxtel for next weekend (1900-969-672): 9th-10th September, 2000 No. Code Title 1 8F24 Kamp Krusty 2 8F18 A Streetcar Named Marge 3 9F01 Homer the Heretic 4 9F02 Lisa the Beauty Queen

29th August, 2000 Note that I won't be updating this week until Friday, since I'm off to a trade show (Interact). Voting on Foxtel for next weekend (1900-969-672): 2nd-3rd September, 2000 No. Code Title 1 8F20 Black Widower 2 8F21 The Otto Show 3 8F22 Bart’s Friend Falls In Love 4 8F23 Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?

24th August, 2000 Looks like Ten is using the Thursday timeslot for Season Ten repeats. The Simpsons 24 Hour Olympics Fanfest: Up until the Olympics, FOX8 is doing exactly as expected with The Simpsons. After that, it's wall-to-wall Simpsons! From 4:00pm, 15th September, FOX8 will be screening The Simpsons 24 hours a day, seven days a week until the end of the Olympics (more precisely, 12:00am, 2nd October). Episodes will not be screened in order, but will appear in 8 hour blocks, each block repeating twice more (except for the very last block, which will only air once). Each episode will have 30 minutes set aside for it. In addition to the normal fillers, episodes will be interspersed with occasional hosting spots by various Australian athletes. Season Eleven episodes will be included in the running order! Full details are available at my Simpsons Olympics Fanfest page. An introductory programme, Behind the Fanfest, was scheduled for Thursday, 14th September at 7:30pm and 1:45am, but will not air. Voting on Foxtel for next weekend (1900-969-672): 26th-27th August, 2000 No. Code Title 1 8F13 Homer at the Bat 2 8F15 Separate Vocations 3 8F17 Dog of Death 4 8F19 Colonel Homer

14th August, 2000 Voting on Foxtel for next weekend (1900-969-672): 19th-20th August, 2000 No. Code Title 1 8F11 Radio Bart 2 8F12 Lisa the Greek 3 8F14 Homer Alone 4 8F16 Bart the Lover The Real Simpsons Fanfest: Well, now we know what FOX8 is doing during the Olympics: screening The Simpsons! As the ad says: 17 days, 272 episodes, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. That doesn't quite add up (there's only 248 episodes to the end of Season Eleven), but it spells out a true Simpsons bonanza. I should have a few more details on Thursday.

10th August, 2000 The 6:00pm weekdays timeslot on FOX8 -- entitled Simpsons Fanfest in August -- last weekend showed itself to be a "By Request" timeslot. Starting in Season Three, each week, four consecutive episodes will be put to a viewer vote. The two favourites will be screened on Saturday and Sunday at 6:00pm, introduced by a couple of young people I've never heard of (but they're probably famous). Each week, I'll try to post the four episodes up for grabs on this page, then confirm which ones actually screened on the Foxtel and monthly pages. The number to call is: 1900-969-672. 12th-13th August, 2000 No. Code Title 1 8F07 Saturdays of Thunder 2 8F08 Flaming Moe’s 3 8F09 Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk 4 8F10 I Married Marge Here's last week's: 5th-6th August, 2000 No. Code Title 1 8F04 Homer Defined 2 8F05 Like Father, Like Clown 3 8F02 "The Simpsons Halloween Special II" 4 8F06 Lisa’s Pony Happy birthday to me (again)! Following hot on the heels of The Oz TV Gazette's second birthday, Saturday sees the close of three years for The Simpsons at Sofcom (as many people still seem to refer to it -- perhaps because I haven't found a better name). One of these days, I might even put up an "About the Site" page...

3rd August, 2000 The Simpsons Archive reports that the Season Eleven finale of The Simpsons (coming to our screens the week after next) has been nominated for an Emmy. FOX8 viewers, beware the changes to The Simpsons in the morning next week.

28th July, 2000 In August, the weekend 6:00pm Simpsons timeslots will be "By Request". I'll update the relevant pages next week. However, if anyone watches these once they commence, please pay attention to which episodes are shown, since I will periodically ask for assistance -- I won't be watching them myself and my VCR's not always reliable.

27th July, 2000 Whoops. One more change I wasn't aware of: Monday, 31st July at 6:00pm, FOX8 will air The Simpsons Christmas Special (7G08) rather than the scheduled clip show (2F33). This will lead into the remainder of Season One, therby not skipping any episodes.

24th July, 2000 I've filled in the changes occurring to The Simpsons on Foxtel in August. Here's the details: On Tuesday, 1st August, the weekday midnight repeat timeslot disappears. The following week, from Monday, 7th August, the 7:00am timeslot also disappears. This leaves a single episode airing each day, at 8:00am, repeated 7:00pm. The 6:00pm stream continues independently, but returns to the start of Season One (actually episode 2). Weekend mornings continues undisturbed, but weekend evenings at 6:00pm has been designated "Simpsons Fanfest" -- once I know what that means I'll be able to say which episodes will air. Here's my review of last week's new episode. I promise I'll do the others soon. Last Tap Dance in Springfield (BABF15): A good, solid episode, but somewhat formulaic. I also thought the two best plot-lines in the episode were never quite finished. Homer's laser surgery can be passed off as a throw-away beginning, but Bart's camp-avoidance could have been explored a little further -- I found it much more interesting than Lisa's battle with dance. In fact, I believe it dilutes the Lisa character to make her too much of a little girl (ponies are fine but dance goes too far, it seems). Ironically, over-emphasising her intellectual side (as in They Saved Lisa's Brain -- AABF18) doesn't work either. Lisa may be smart, but perhaps due to Bart's influence, she's not precisely a nerd, either. I think that's what I find so appealing about her character. Mind you, Maggie is still my favourite! Other things to look out for in this episode include the cleverly named, Cyborganizer -- "RoboCop Does the Filing" -- Marge buying Bart "Blair Witch repellant" for his camping trip, and mall cops using a customer's walker to barricade the doors. I also loved when the lion pounced on the cheese, triggering the anvil suspended above, and the Exit -- Coming Soon.

20th July, 2000 Changes on Foxtel: I received my August Foxtel Guide last night, and although I haven't had time to make a thorough analysis, it's clear that FOX8 is making a lot of changes to its line-up, including some that affect The Simpsons. Things to note initially are the disappearance of the midnight repeat timeslot at the start of the month, progressing into a contraction of the timeslot to one episode the following week -- the timeslot moves to 8:00am, repeated 7:00pm. The 6:00pm timeslot continues, but it's jumping back to Season One. Weekend evenings may also be affected -- I'm yet to determine what Simpsons Fanfest means. I'll have more details on these changes next week. Happenings on Ten: Meanwhile, Ten is showing another repeat next week. With only two new episodes remaining, it seems they're trying to drag it out before the Olympics. Simpsons on DVD: For those of us collecting The Simpsons on tape, there's some potentially big news at The Simpsons Archive. There've been reports (specifically at The Digital Bits, which looks like at excellent site, worth bookmarking, at first glance) that Fox are planning the release of some TV series on DVD. This includes The X-Files, Buffy: The Vampire Slayer and The Simpsons, amongst others. A season will be released at a time, though I'm not sure how many episodes will be on each disc (the more, the better, in my opinion). The Simpsons may appear in February next year, though Fox have not yet confirmed the dates. Great news, regardless! Simpsons Trojan Horse: In a nearby story, there's a new virus out, spread by an executable named "simpsons.exe". I hesitate to run executables sent to me in any case, but not everyone out there is as careful. Consider yourselves warned.

6th July, 2000 No update next week -- sorry. Please check your local guides for Channel Ten info. But I'll be back on the 18th July. Note that another repeat features next Thursday, but with the NSW school holidays over the following week, we should see the return of new episodes.

Australian Simpsons News Archive: First Half, 2000.