THE SIMPSONS’ Al Jean Picks His Favorite ‘Treehouse of Horror’ Segments

With THE SIMPSONS’ “Treehouse of Horror” airing its 31st installment on Sunday, November 1, the long-running animated comedy will have told nearly 100 mini-stories, ranging from original tales to parodies of beloved horror tales.

But picking favorite installments within the episodes isn’t an easy task, even for THE SIMPSONS executive producer Al Jean.

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THE SIMPSONS: Al Jean Previews the Ambitious ‘Treehouse of Horror XXXI’

THE SIMPSONS gets in the Halloween spirit with its annual “Treehouse of Horror” episode on Sunday, October 18.

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‘The Simpsons Guy’: Rich Appel and Steve Callaghan Tease the FAMILY GUY-THE SIMPSONS Crossover

FAMILY GUY and THE SIMPSONS’ highly-anticipated crossover finally airs tonight, and while fans of the shows may have been waiting for this for years, there was a good reason to delay the Simpsons and Griffins from meeting: “You couldn’t do a crossover like this until FAMILY GUY had become an institution itself,” FAMILY GUY executive producer Rich Appel pointed out to a small group of reporters earlier this week.

And, yes, while “The Simpsons Guy” is a crossover hour, this is, technically, an episode of FAMILY GUY.

“It’s an episode of FAMILY GUY,” FAMILY GUY executive producer Steve Callaghan explained. “It’s a premiere of FAMILY GUY. And [THE SIMPSONS producers] very kindly, and generously let us invade Springfield.”

In “invading” Springfield, the crossover expanded far beyond the two central families meeting — a whole bunch of Springfield regulars pop up in “The Simpsons Guy.”

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THE SIMPSONS: Al Jean on the Premiere Death and the Show’s Future

THE SIMPSONS will lose a character in tonight’s season 26 premiere, but showrunner Al Jean admitted on a recent conference call that the death “may have been a little overhyped.”

“That being said, I think it’s a wonderful episode and I think it works along the parameters we originally set out,” Jean shared. “I think that people will really like it.”

(For the record, the death was exactly who I thought it would be, and I wasn’t disappointed by how the show played it out.)

And while animated series have a little bit of flexibility in terms of bending reality — and FAMILY GUY infamously killed off and then revived Brian last season — Jean promised the death that occurs in “Clown in the Dumps” will stick.

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In Case You Missed It…CASTLE, BONES, COSMOS, and More!

THE SIMPSONS: Al Jean on The Homer, the Very Special Season 25, and More

Last week, THE SIMPSONS executive producers got to experience the real-life version of The Homer car (which Homer Simpson “created” in the show’s second season), and part of that was actually getting to ride in the car…which just so happened to be made for racing.

I spoke with THE SIMPSONS executive producer Al Jean before and after his ride in the car to get his take on it, the upcoming 25th season (including the 550th episode!), and more…

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