The long-cherished aspiration I had since I turned 12 – a television station airing only “The Simpsons” around the clock, every day of the week – has now become a tangible reality.
That’s because Disney+ announced they are adding a 24/7 stream of The Simpsons episodes to their lineup of live programming. According to the press release, at launch the channel will show “767 episodes across seasons 1-35 programmed in chronological order.”
(Yes, there are now almost 300 hours of Simpsons episodes.)
Absolutely, each episode from The Simpsons is readily accessible on demand through Disney+. You’re free to select the episodes you fancy watching in whatever sequence you prefer. However, with 767 episodes to choose from, deciding which one to start can be overwhelming. To eliminate that dilemma, simply press play and keep streaming as long as your Disney+ subscription remains active.
The statement within the press release further reveals that the content streaming on the “The Simpsons” channel will undergo a monthly update. It’s accessible only to the premium members who have subscribed to Disney.
Disney+’s 24/7 Simpsons stream launches today. Other streams available for Premium Disney+ subscribers include “Hits & Heroes” (which has Marvel movies and assorted action franchises), “Throwbacs” (nostalgic Disney content), and “Real Life” (documentaries and biopics). There are also streams for ABC News and shows for younger viewers that are available for ll Disney+ users.
Disney+ has now added the most recent Academy Award winner, “Nomadland”, which is an excellent movie that you might enjoy watching on Disney+. You could also pair it with “Cinderella” to make a thematically fitting double feature.
Sign up for Disney+ here.
Obscure Streaming TV Shows You Might Not Have Heard Of
A.P. Bio
NBC and Peacock’s tragically short-lived classroom comedy A.P. Bio never got the attention it deserved when it was airing, despite its comedy pedigree of stars (Glenn Howerton, Patton Oswalt) and producers (Lorne Michaels, Seth Meyers). Howerton stars as Jack Griffin, a former Harvard philosophy professor who returns to his hometown after losing his prestigious job, and agrees to take on teaching his local high school’s Advanced Placement high school biology class. Constantly scheming ways to get back at those who did him wrong, he announces to his class that he will be teaching them zero biology, and attempts to use their honor roll smarts to take revenge on his enemies.
Horror director Fede Álvarez is the credited creator for the American version of Calls, an almost totally audio-based show in which the audience can merely listen to phone communications between characters whose personal conflicts are interrupted or exacerbated by a looming catastrophic crisis. An early-ish Apple TV+ project and an adaptation of a French series with a similar structure, the show stars the voices of everyone from Lily Collins to Danny Pudi to Clancy Brown to Pedro Pascal, and each episode is a self-contained storyline with ramifications for an overarching seemingly supernatural plot.
Mosaic
Every now and then Steven Soderbergh dips a toe into television, and the results, even the ones that don’t quite work, are nevertheless always fascinating. Mosaic came about around the time when tech companies and streaming services in particular were attempting to figure out the next big “thing” in entertainment (never forget Quibi), and Mosaic was one of those experiments. The murder mystery show was delivered mainly via app, with the user able to control which perspective they used to view each event, with the ability to travel back and forth along the maze-like plotline to find out exactly what each character is doing and when. Because no one really wants to put that much effort into watching a TV show, it was later released on HBO as in a more traditional episodic format.
Mrs. Davis
Maybe it was the Peacock of it all that kept Mrs. Davis from finding a big enough audience, but it is as wild and imaginative as anything you’d expect from co-creator Damon Lindelof. The limited series stars Betty Gilpin as Sister Simone, a nun whose nemesis is an artificially intelligent app called Mrs. Davis that has benevolently taken over the world. Believing that the app is the reason for her father’s death, Sister Simone demands that Mrs. Davis delete itself, and the app agrees on one condition: Sister Simone must find the Holy Grail. Cowboys, quack magicians, evil Germans, giant whales, and Arthurian myth combine to tell such an ingenious tale you’d hardly believe the whole thing fits inside just 8 episodes.
Red Oaks
Set in mid-1980s New York and New Jersey, Red Oaks follows the exploits of David Myers (Submarine’s Craig Roberts), who gets a job as a tennis instructor at a Jewish country club on his college summer break. Set mostly at the Red Oaks club, the show marks the transitional period where adolescence becomes adulthood, charting the various relationships and changes that David, his family, his friends, and his coworkers experience during a volatile historical period. The show counts Steven Soderbergh among its executive producers, as well as David Gordon Green of Eastbound and Down and Vice Principals.
Scavengers Reign
It’s always the best stuff that never gets appreciated in its time, and unfortunately for Scavengers Reign it’s still a relatively obscure animated sci-fi series, despite the fact that its first and only season is available on both Max and Netflix. The show follows the adventures of a group of survivors from a damaged spaceship marooned on an alien planet full of hostile, apparently fungal-based life. As the human refugees navigate the dangerous landscape, they each start to discover that the planet’s lifeforms exist in a delicate balance in danger of being disrupted by the fear, violence, and greed of human presence.
Sugar
We can’t spoil exactly what makes Sugar so unique, but suffice it to say that you will not see it coming. Colin Farrell stars in this neo-noir series about private detective John Sugar, avid fan of classic movies and cool antique cars, who gets in over his head while investigating the disappearance of a famous film producer’s granddaughter. The show has the sheen of an old-fashioned detective yarn, until about three-fourths of the way through, after which it reveals itself to be something entirely different.
Sunny
In the narrative of Colin O’Sullivan’s novel “The Dark Manual” from 2018, I find myself in the shoes of Suzie Sakamoto, a woman who lost her husband and son in a tragic plane crash. As if my life wasn’t already complicated enough, I start receiving a domestic robot named Sunny from my late husband’s robotics company. Ironically, I had no idea he was even involved with robotics. As I delve deeper into his enigmatic past, with the occasional assistance from Sunny, I gradually uncover a chilling conspiracy involving robots that could put my life in grave danger.
Tales From the Loop
Denizens of Tumblr may recall the intriguing, atmospheric images of Simon Stålenhag, whose retro-futuristic digital paintings often featured rusted robot behemoths from some prior period of wartime conflict or technological utopia in the middle of vast natural landscapes. The art book Tales From the Loop collecting these images was optioned for a streaming show by Amazon Prime, whose episodes crafted a narrative surrounding a small town that’s home to an experimental research facility. Its episodes are only loosely connected and it only got a single season, but its moody atmosphere alone makes it worth a watch.
Too Old to Die Young
Thriller director Nicolas Winding Refn took to television for Too Old to Die Young, a neon-drenched neo-noir series starring Miles Teller as a cop forced to work alongside the man who shot his partner to uncover a vast and violent plot involving Mexican cartels, yakuza gangs, and the Russian mafia. Refn’s stylized direction saves the show from its machismo fantasy leanings, though its plot was maybe too convoluted and strange for audiences to keep up, and it only lasted for one season. Refn completists will know what they’re in for, and the rest may be charmed by the endless, episode-long car chase where Teller is stalked by a pair of seedy pornographers.
