‘The Simpsons’ Will Feature the ‘Girls’ Cast, Spoof ‘Boyhood’

Diane Gordon July 11, 2015, 5:51 pm

The Simpsons Nancy Cartwright — Ethan Miller/Getty Images

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Diehard fans of The Simpsons got a lot of treats at the show’s Comic-Con panel, including a list of upcoming guest stars: all of the girls from Girls, SNL‘s Kate McKinnon, Stephen Merchant and Michael York—plus the return of Spiderpig, as well as Kelsey Grammer as Sideshow Bob.

The session’s lineup consisted of creator Matt Groening, executive producers Al Jean and Matt Selman, supervising director Mike Anderson, long-time director David Silverman and Nancy Cartwright—the woman behind Bart Simpson, Nelson Muntz and Ralph Wiggum—who entered clad all in black with a shiny purple cape and mask. s it was Cartwright’s debut at SDCC, the rest of the panel made her do some Wiggum lines; she blurted out “I’m Idaho! There’s the leprechaun–he tells me to burn things! When I grow up, I wanna be a principal or a caterpillar!”

The hour opened with two previously released clips. First, Homer and Marge sitting under a banner that read “Together Forever,” with Marge addressing “the baseless rumors” of their split that was reported all over the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd4icOrzUJM

Homer apologizes to Marge for all his actions and then Baby Maggie-as-Cupid shot Homer with an arrow. The clip closed with “Harry’s Back, Too!” –a reference to Harry Shearer returning after saying several weeks ago that he was quitting the show. Next, the Donald Trump clip that has Homer and the mogul tussling over his hair:

Surprise guest Guillermo Del Toro arrived to talk about his work on a past “Treehouse of Horrors” opener that featured horror icons from Hitchcock to Stephen King. Del Toro said his inspirations for it were “many many lonely nights as a kid. I wanted to honor the great love for horror that we all have. They said there were no limits, so I went apes–t.” He also said, “We talked about me directing a “Treehouse of Horrors” episode – I came up with a disgusting and perverted idea but no matter what I pitched, they’d done it.” Later, del Toro said he’s been asking to play Bumblebee Man’s brother. “There’s a Bumblebee Man taco truck at Universal,” Groening said, to which del Toro replied, “I can apply for that.”

Other moments of note:

An episode spoofing the movie Boyhood was especially difficult for Cartwright, who had to voice Bart at various ages from 2 to 40.
One of the upcoming episodes will touch on bullying. “I was bullied all the time. I hope we don’t lose the ability to make fun stuff because everything becomes PC,” Jean said.
An upcoming couch gag will be the work of Ren and Stimpy creator John Kricfalusi.
Groening made the Q&A more fun by handing out Simpsons swag to questioners, including figurines in the likeness of guest stars Mark Hamill, Leonard Nimoy, Lucy Lawless, Weird Al and Stan Lee; a Bender ski cap; and a Duff beer bag.
When asked about another Futurama/Simpsons crossover, Groening said, “I’ll have to talk to myself about that – it’s possible. The fans of Futurama are still watching the show on Netflix. Everything gets rebooted. Futurama will get rebooted someday.”
Will supervillain Hank Scorpio return? Al Jean said he didn’t know about that but that Albert Brooks would return “because he’s the funniest.”