the simpsons 20th anniversary

I've been holding this interview for almost six months, but I think it was worth it. When I was in Pasadena last summer for the TCA press tour (whose winter edition I'll be leaving for on Friday morning... eep!), I spoke to Morgan Spurlock about the 20th anniversary film he was making about The Simpsons. FOX has finally decided to air that film, entitled The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special -- In 3-D! On Ice!, on January 10, along with the venerable cartoon's 450th episode.

Spurlock was just in the initial stages of filming the documentary when I talked to him, but his views on the show, how it and the perception of it has changed over the years, and some of the interesting things he learned about the show made for a fun interview. Since I didn't know how long the movie was going to be, I start the talk by expressing some surprise about its length.

Think you can identify every Simpsons character ever in the history of the known universe? Be our guest.

Fox has unveiled a huge new poster of all of the show's characters in the last 20 years. You can see a bigger image of the breathtaking new poster here.

It's actually quite detailed and goes well beyond the two decade long scope of the actual show. A quick scan of the characters turned up a shot of Marge and Homer from their short days on The Tracey Ullman Show.

As you know, we're in the middle of the 20th anniversary of FOX's The Simpsons, and the network has a special contest that actually starts during tonight's episode of House.

It's a scavenger hunt, and here's how it works. During this entire week (November 9-13) the network will scatter references to the show throughout their lineup. And this isn't something that will show up in just a few shows here and there, you're going to find a reference to The Simpsons in every FOX prime time show.