The Simpsons kicked off its 36th season with a star-studded premiere. Episode 1, titled “Bart’s Birthday”, aired Sunday night, September 29th on Fox. The animated premiere special featured guest stars John Cena and Conan O’Brien. Tom Hanks and Danny DeVito also appeared in the premiere episode, with DeVito having previously guest starred in The Simpsons as Homer’s long-lost half-brother, Herb. WWE legend John Cena made his Simpsons debut in the opener, and it has now been revealed what he got up to when joining the residents of Springfield.
Having already dominated the wrestling world and Hollywood, Cena entered the world of The Simpsons to demonstrate his affinity for…delivering babies. In the episode, Cena enters the scene just as Comic Book Guy and his wife Kumiko suddenly find themselves in labor in the comic book store. While they panic, Cena walks in and reveals himself to be a licensed midwife as well as a 16-time WWE world champion. You can check out the scene below courtesy of X/Twitter user @FadeAwayContent.
While Cena is new to the animation world, he’s no stranger to the screen with roles in the television series Peacemaker, 2021’s The Suicide Squad, and The Fast and Furious franchise. O’Brien, a former writer for The Simpsons, returns, having guest-starred before as an animated version of himself in Season 5’s “Bart Gets Famous.” The show dubbed the premiere its “series finale” with an animated Conan O’Brien hosting the Dolby Theatre-esque event. His opening monologue begins:
“It’s such an honor to be with you all for the series finale of ‘The Simpsons,’” O’Brien said in his opening monologue. “I knew I was the right man for the job because I’ve hosted the last episode of three of my own shows and counting… Well, it’s true. Fox has decided to end the Simpsons. This show was such a special part of my early career, so being here means the world to me. Also. I left a sweater in the writer’s room in 1993 this is the only way they’ll let me get it back.”
Did He Say The Simpsons ‘Series Finale’?
Many fans will be relieved to learn that, no, that wasn’t really the series finale. Though the Season 36 premiere of The Simpsons initially confused a lot of fans. However, more episodes of the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning comedy series are coming, with The Simpsons one of the many franchises returning this Fall for FOX’s Animation Domination block. Season 15 of Emmy Award-winning series Bob’s Burgers and Season 2 of Emmy Award-winning series Krapopolis are set to return, with new episodes of The Simpsons due to air Sundays at 8 p.m. and then be available for streaming the next day.
While Fox has yet to pick up the show for Season 37, additional Simpsons projects are coming. On August 10th, at the D23 Disney fan event, it was announced that four new episodes of The Simpsons would be produced exclusively for Disney+. The streamer already offers all the previous seasons, 2007’s The Simpsons Movie, and several animated shorts in their “Simpsons Collection.”
Thus, Disney+ will premiere a Halloween-themed short this October. These exclusive episodes are titled “The Past and the Furious,” “Yellow Planet,” and a Christmas-themed double episode titled “O C’mon All Ye Faithful” that premieres December 17th. This announcement added fuel to the speculation about the future of the series, with Variety noting at the time what this, along with the lack of a season 37 announcement, might mean for the series.
“But this reps the first time “The Simpsons” has produced an entire exclusive episode for Disney+ — which might stir some further questions about the future of the show on Fox.
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The Simpsons
Season 36 premiere on Hulu and
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