The TV Addict 

Is anyone else finding the new season of THE SIMPSONS incredibly unfunny. Is it possible that after eighteen years, the show that made animation cool again has just run out of ideas? Take last night’s episode for instance. How many times have we seen Bart steal Lisa’s limelight (Kidz News Anyone?). While I’m sure some die-hard Jazz fan will point to the fact that the episode was really a brilliant satire of the ‘Jazz World’ - I for one was just bored, and frankly, don’t care about the world of Jazz. Is it too early to say ‘Worst Season Ever….’

THE SIMPSONS starts it’s 18th season this Sunday at 8PM (a nice change from the recent trend of starting the season in November after baseball). But if you can’t wait two days to get your Homer Fix (mmmm, Homer), FOX is releasing the start of the episode early.

The first seven minutes will be streamed on a bevy of sites owned by the network’s News Corp. parent, including MySpace.com, Fox.com and igntv.com. As Homer is one to say “mmmmm, corporate synergy.”

Leading up to the new Fall Season, theTVaddict.com will be posting the new TV schedule. Including the TV addict’s picks for MUST SEE TV (and yes, I realize that term is ’so 1995′).

THE SIMPSONS (8PM FOX, Returns Sept. 10): Heading into its 18th season, expect the usual parade of celebrity and high brow literary guest stars. Including: Tom Wolfe, Gore Vidal, Michael Chabon, and Jonathan Franzen. The annual Halloween Extravanganza will feature Fran Drescher, Richard Lewis and Dr. Phil. Okay, perhaps with the inclusion of The Nanny and Dr. Phil throwing around the terms ‘celebrity’ and ‘high brow’ are a bit of a stretch.

DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES (9PM ABC, Returns Sept. 24): In an interview with Entertainment Weekly Creator Marc Cherry says, “The women are going to be involved in the mystery right from the start. They were disconnected for too long [in season 2].” Cherry promises that DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES will return to its first season roots of humour and dramatic unity. I’ll settle for entertainment, an intriguing mystery and a halfway decent story for Teri Hatcher (Susan).

BROTHERS & SISTERS (10PM ABC, Debuts Sept. 24): Scoring the high profile post-HOUSEWIVES slot, a lot is expected from BROTHERS & SISTERS. Yet the return to TV for Boston’s skinniest lawyer (Calista Flockhart) has not been smooth. Since May, the series has been plagued by cast changes and an executive shuffle. Fortunately, EVERWOOD creator Greg Berlanti has recently agreed to serve as a consultant on the series (until a permanent showrunner can be found). Now with Berlanti guiding the ship, the only question up in the air is if the show is any good? With an all-star cast including Calista Flockhart, Ron Rifkin, Rachel Griffiths, Patricia Wettig and Balthazar Getty this TV addict will definitely be tuning in to find out.

Just thought I’d start your day off with a laugh. The first footage from THE SIMPSONS movie has surfaced online. It was ’secretly recorded’ at Comic Con 2006, so check it out before it’s removed off youtube!

A quick sidebar about Comic Con. Before any video is shown, the announcer in the theatre always warns everyone to put away their recording devices. I firmly believe that studios and execs actually hope that this footage leaks online to create buzz and generate internet chatter! If the footage was really that secret there is no way the powers that be would risk showing it to a room filled with internet/video/photo nerds.