The Simpsons is two months from the start of its 33rd season, where it will continue to hold the record as longest-running scripted show in television history. (The runner-up, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, isn’t even close, with 22 so far.) It’s still worth watching and, hard it may be to believe, but there are still some things it hasn’t done. For instance, while it’s regularly embraced musical numbers, it’s never done a full-musical episode. That will chance on Sept. 26, when the show returns.
The news was revealed at this weekend’s San Diego Comic-Con, where executive producer Matthew Selman said they’ll be returning with “the most musical episode we’ve ever done” Selman said it’s “[a]lmost wall-to-wall music. It’s like a Broadway musical of an episode with all original songs.”
There’s one catch: At least one of the longtime main voice actors won’t be doing their own singing. Julie Kavner, for over three decades the scratchy voice of Marge Simpson, will be dubbed by Kristen Bell. “We all love Marge’s voice [Julie Kavner],” said Selman, “but this is the singing voice that’s different, let’s just say.”
Here’s the episode’s main plot, as Selman told Entertainment Weekly:
“Marge has amazing memories of being the stage manager of her high school musical, Y2K: The Millennium Bug, and decides to restage it with everyone 20 years later for one last show … But when her old high school nemesis comes to town, she realizes that her high school memories aren’t what she thought they were.”
Selman also went into more detail about why they’re swapping in Bell for Kavner. “The only place Marge sang beautifully was in her head, so she has a magical inside singing voice that only we can hear,” he told the publication. “When she sings, it comes out beautiful, like Kristen Bell.”
The Simpsons will be back on Sept. 26. You can watch the show’s full SDCC panel below.
(Via EW)
