LOS ANGELES: The creators of satirical animated series “The Simpsons,” who once eerily predicted Donald Trump would become US president, cannot keep pace with the comedy he is now inspiring and have decided instead to take family back to medieval times.
Bumbling Homer, housewife Marge, troublemaker Bart, prodigy Lisa and baby Maggie, who have captured the changing face of America over 28 years, become “The Serfsons” in the season 29 premiere on Fox on Sunday.
In 2000, “The Simpsons” joked in an episode titled “Bart to the Future” that Trump would enter the White House and said his presidency would ruin the economy.
But executive producer Matt Selman said the show, which takes more than a year to produce each season, cannot keep up with jokes about Trump since he won the 2016 election.
“There’s a massive industry of nothing but Trump comedy,” he said in an interview. “We can’t beat them to the punch. We can only show how Trump’s America has sadly seeped its way into Springfield.”
For the new series, the family live in a feudal medieval society where goblins, ogres and dragons exist, 8-year-old Lisa Simpson can do magic and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau from “Game of Thrones” plays Marge’s twin brother.
“The Serfsons” includes references to an array of fantasy tales, from “Game of Thrones” and “Lord of the Rings” to “Conan the Barbarian.”
“In all fantasy, there’s always analogy to the modern world,” writer-producer Brian Kelley said.
In one episode, Marge’s aging mother Mrs. Bouvier is slowly turned to ice and Homer and Marge try to find an alternate cure when they fail to get enough money for health care.
“While we were writing it, the world became much more horrifying, scary and evil,” Selman said.
“Wealth and equality and the 1 percent and health care — we just wrote those because we thought these were eternal issues, and then they turned into terrifying issues,” he added.
“The Simpsons” is the longest-running comedy on US television and will break another record in its 29th season with the most episodes for a scripted show.
Season 29 will have guests stars such as Martin Short, singer Ed Sheeran and author Neil Gaiman in a Halloween episode inspired by his works including “Coraline.”
In world of fast-paced Trump satire, ‘The Simpsons’ go medieval
In world of fast-paced Trump satire, ‘The Simpsons’ go medieval
Ilia Malinin hints at ‘inevitable crash’ amid Olympic pressure and online hate in social media post
- He says Olympic pressure and online hate have weighed on him. He described negative thoughts and past trauma flooding in during his skate
- He later congratulated the surprise champion, Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan
MILAN: Ilia Malinin posted a video on social media Monday juxtaposing images of his many triumphs with a black-and-white image of the US figure skater with his head buried in his hands, and a caption hinting at an “inevitable crash” amid the pressure of the Olympics while teasing that a “version of the story” is coming on Saturday.
That is when Malinin is expected to skate in the traditional exhibition gala to wrap up the Olympic figure skating program.
Malinin, who helped the US clinch the team gold medal early in the Winter Games, was the heavy favorite to add another gold in the individual event. But he fell twice and struggled throughout his free skate on Friday, ending up in eighth.
He acknowledged afterward that the pressure of the Olympics had worn him down, saying: “I didn’t really know how to handle it.”
Malinin alluded again to the weight he felt while competing in Milan in the caption to his social media video.
“On the world’s biggest stage, those who appear the strongest may still be fighting invisible battles on the inside,” wrote the 21-year-old Malinin. “Even your happiest memories can end up tainted by the noise. Vile online hatred attacks the mind and fear lures it into the darkness, no matter how hard you try to stay sane through the endless insurmountable pressure. It all builds up as these moments flash before your eyes, resulting in an inevitable crash.”
Malinin, who is expected to chase a third consecutive world title next month in Prague, had been unbeaten in 14 events over more than two years. Yet while Malinin always seemed to exude a preternatural calm that belied his age, the son of Olympic skaters Tatiana Malinina and Roman Skorniakov had admitted early in the Winter Games that he was feeling the pressure.
The first time came after an uneven short program in the team event, when he finished behind Yuma Kagiyama of Japan — the eventual individual silver medalist. Malinin referenced the strain of the Olympics again after the Americans had won the team gold medal.
But he seemed to be the loose, confident Malinin that his fans had come to know after winning the individual short program. He even playfully faked that he was about to do a risky backflip on the carpeted runway during his free skate introduction.
The program got off to a good start with a quad lutz, but the problems began when he bailed out of his quad axel. He ended up falling twice later in the program, and the resulting score was his worst since the US International Classic in September 2022.
Malinin was magnanimous afterward, hugging and congratulating surprise gold medalist Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan. He then answered a barrage of questions from reporters with poise and maturity that few would have had in such a situation.
“The nerves just went, so overwhelming,” he said, “and especially going into that starting pose, I just felt like all the traumatic moments of my life really just started flooding my head. So many negative thoughts that flooded into there and I could not handle it.”
“All I know is that it wasn’t my best skate,” Malinin added later, “and it was definitely something I wasn’t expecting. And it’s done, so I can’t go back and change it, even though I would love to.”
