‘Monday Night Football’ to Air Alternate ‘The Simpsons’-Themed Telecast
Monday Night Football is getting The Simpsons treatment. The Cowboys-Bengals game on December 9 will offer an animated broadcast Simpsons-style featuring voice talent from the long-running Fox show.
Fans of Homer and co. will be delighted to learn that action from the Dallas-Cincinnati clash will be transformed in real-time and The Simpsons version of the game will be set in the Atoms Stadium in Springfield. The Funday Football alternate presentation will use Sony’s Beyond Sports Technology.
The traditional Monday Night Football telecast will be available on ESPN, ABC, and ESPN Deportes, beginning at 8 pm ET.
According to Disney, the legendary Simpsons creators have collaborated on the look, sound, and feel with ESPN and the NFL to ensure the authenticity of the longest-running primetime scripted series. The game will see Bart side with Joe Burrow and the Bengals while Homer aligns with Dak Prescott and the Cowboys.
Bart and Homer will let their new Bengals and Cowboys teammates manage the action for most of the game, but the father and son duo won’t sit on the sidelines for the entire time. Each will select key opportunities to play offense and/or defense, replacing a player and joining his other ten teammates on the field.
Disney/ESPN
In addition, Marge and Lisa will interview players during the game, and Maggie will fly the SkyCam, while popular characters, show references, and aesthetics will bring a real Sunday-night-with-the-Simpsons feel to Monday Night Football.
Characters expected to appear include Krusty the Clown, Nelson, Milhouse, Ralph, Moe, and more. Long-time Simpsons voice actors Hank Azaria, Nancy Cartwright, Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, and Yeardley Smith will voice several of their characters in prerecorded bits and skits.
There will also be animated segments incorporating Stephen A. Smith, Peyton and Eli Manning and more, with their segments written by the Simpsons creators. Bengals and Cowboys Players will also feature in prerecorded skits with famous Simpsons characters.
ESPN’s Simpsons enthusiasts Mina Kimes and Dan Orlovsky will provide football strategy discussion with Drew Carter calling the game action. All three pundits will be animated in the style of the Simpsons.
The technology will be handled by NFL’s Next Gen Stats and Sony’s Beyond Sports, combined with Sony’s Hawk-Eye Innovations’ optical tracking, which will allow each Bengals and Cowboys player to appear as a motion-enabled, animated player for the special primetime matchup.
The Simpsons Funday Football, Monday, December 9, 8 pm ET, Disney+ and ESPN+
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