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Roger Goodell and NFL fans everywhere must be saying “D'oh!” upon hearing this news — the lackluster Week 14 Monday Night Football matchup between the Bengals and Cowboys can't be flexed because of… The Simpsons of all things.
Now, before getting too angry at the first family of animated comedy, remember that The Simpsons has given us some priceless sports-themed episodic memories over the years, not to mention some great crossover entertainment programming.
The MLB star-studded, softball-themed season three gem Homer at the Bat, depicting an epic grudge match between the Springfield and Shelbyville Nuclear Power Plant teams, is an all-time classic.
And that premiered just a few episodes after another epic sporty Simpsons favorite, Lisa the Greek, where the Simpsons takes on the Super Bowl.
In an interactive twist that was well ahead of its time, the Simpsons bet heavily on Washington (still called the Redskins at the time) to beat the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl Super Bowl XXVI — with nothing short of Lisa's love for her father Homer at stake! Luckily, it all worked out in Springfield — unless of course you're a Bills fan, in which case it was another heartbreaking reminder of your team's futility in the big game.
The Simpsons later updated the episode, re-dubbing the audio anytime the “Washington Redskins” or “Buffalo Bills” were mentioned and instead inserted the names of the teams in the Super Bowl the following years for its reruns and syndication re-airings.
That in itself became a bit of an inside-Simpsons joke when the re-dubbing sounded so poor some years that they ultimately had to make a new Super Bowl episode poking fun at themselves.
In Season 10 The Simpsons created their second Super Bowl-themed episode, Sunday, Cruddy Sunday, where every time the names of the two teams in the Super Bowl that year got mentioned — the Denver Broncos and Atlanta Falcons — the audio is exaggeratedly and self-consciously dubbed miserably in reference to the show's earlier follies in that department.
All this is to say, The Simpsons has given us some priceless sports memories over the years, so if they need something from us as football fans in return once in a while — the least we could do is cut them a break.
Especially when it involves our favorite Springfielders putting on one of those animated alternate telecasts of an NFL game for our viewing pleasure.
No one complained when the gang from Toy Story did it, and that was mostly for the kids, but a Simpsons-themed broadcast aired in conjunction with the ESPN main broadcast promises to have some fun gags for adults too.
Some of which have to be written and animated ahead of time, and are dependent on the two teams playing on screen being the Bengals and Cowboys.
So if we want a better matchup for this one measly Monday Night Football game, then we don't get to see The Simpsons Funday Football. If we can put up with Cincinnati and Dallas rounding out Week 14, we get to see Homer and company's signature spin on the game. I for one vote for The Simpsons, and it seems the NFL has no choice but to as well.
