The Simpsons fans who don’t already have a Disney+ membership may want to secure one. During The Simpsons panel at Disney’s D3 event in Anaheim, Matt Groening, Matt Selman, Al Jean, Mike Price, Brian Kelley, David Silverman, and Nancy Cartwright revealed that four never-before-seen episodes of the longstanding animated series would air exclusively on the streamer beginning this December. The show’s 35th season, which concluded May 19, will also land on the streamer on October 2.

The first of the four episodes that will land exclusively on the streamer is the Christmas-themed double episode “O C’mon All Ye Faithful,” premiering on December 17. “The Past and the Furious” and “Yellow Planet” will follow. The new episodes join the previously announced Halloween short that will air in October. Hulu, available to Disney+ users under a bundle option, is doing something similar and will launch two Family Guy holiday specials, which may push fans of both series to consider a bundle. Perhaps Disney is testing the waters to see if it’s worth moving these institutional shows to streaming permanently.

The Simpsons will also return to Fox for its 36th season on Sunday, September 29. Over on the network, we’ll see the season’s premiere episode kick off in a big way. Danny DeVito will be back on the series and will appear as Homer’s brother, Herb Powell, who he first voiced way back during the show’s second season. Although DeVito didn’t mention Herb’s name when speaking of the news, he said he would play “a character that he has previously played on the show.” The episode, titled “Bart’s Birthday,” will feature some big names alongside DeVito, as other guest stars include Tom Hanks, Joel McHale, John Cena, and Conan O’Brien.

The Simpsons The Simpsons is a long-running animated TV series created by Matt Groening that satirically follows a working-class family in the misfit city of Springfield. Homer, a bit of a schmoe who works at a nuclear power plant, is the provider for his family, while his wife, Marge, tries to keep sanity and reason in the house to the best of her ability. Bart is a born troublemaker, and Lisa is his super-intelligent sister who finds herself surrounded by people who can’t understand her. Finally, Maggie is the mysterious baby who acts as a deus ex machina when the series calls for it.Release Date December 17, 1989 Seasons 35 Studio Fox

How Will Exclusive Simpsons Content Impact Disney+?
Fox

So, will exclusive content drive The Simpsons fans over to Disney+? It’s hard to predict. Although viewership for the animated series has declined (the 35th season averaged 1.74 million viewers, a significant fall from its early season average of 20 million viewers), The Simpsons remains beloved. According to a report from Parrot Analytics from November 2023 analyzing a 90-day period, “The Simpsons has generated the fourth most demand of any TV show in the United States, coming in at 58.9 times the average title in the market.”

On the downside, Disney+ already carries exclusive The Simpsons content, with several shorts that haven’t been wildly successful with fans of the series. While Disney+ will exclusively feature an upcoming Halloween short, the series’ popular Treehouse of Horror feature will be back on Fox for its 25th installment (set to air on November 3). This year’s synopsis teases a politically charged episode (right in time for the US presidential election and features a stop-motion section:

”
Giant monsters created by political rage threaten to tear the town apart, a Victorian Mr. Burns is jump-scared on Thanksgiving by the ghosts of his abused workers, and Homer bonds with a pair of extra-terrestrial jeans in an unforgettable stop-motion adventure that can only be called… Denim.”

All 18 episodes of The Simpsons’ Season 35 will land on Disney+ on October 2. Check out some new artwork below.

Walt Disney Studios

The previous 34 seasons of
The Simpsons, The Simpsons Movie
, and over 10 shorts are available to stream on Disney+.