“The Simpsons” has been in an experimental mode as of late, trying big swings like its “series finale” Season 36 premiere and its recent, spot-on parody of “The White Lotus.” This week, the show is once again playing with its format — via the sketch comedy-inspired “Women in Shorts” episode.
Variety has a first look (scroll down below) at one of the bits. Rather than a single storyline, the “Women in Shorts” episode will contain around 15 different vignettes. Writer Christine Nangle, who penned the episode, has a sketch background (“Saturday Night Live,” “Inside Amy Schumer,” “Kroll Show”) and hails from the Upright Citizens Brigade, so trying it on “The Simpsons” made sense.
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“Our showrunner, Matt Selman, has been really encouraging us to take risks and break format a little bit more,” Nangle said. “I thought it would be cool to do an episode that feels a little bit like a sketch show, and delving into the lives of the women of the town.”
The twist starts at the beginning, when Lisa is seen in the opening writing on the blackboard instead of Bart. “And then throughout, we kind of play with different animation styles, different types of scenes, and then we have the song.”
As seen in the clip shared with Variety, Homer (Dan Castellaneta) is too chicken to buy feminine hygiene products for Marge (Julie Kavner) — and the store clerks (voiced by Dawnn Lewis and Tony Rodriguez) shame him via song and dance, in “Incompetent Husband,” a number composed by Kara Talve.
The entire episode is about “the unseen lives of the women of Springfield,” and other sketches includes Malibu Stacy’s visit to the real world, Luann’s friends helping her break her addiction to wine merch, Bernice Hibbert’s “creative attempt” at saving her marriage, and a take on the opening credits to the sitcom “The Nanny”— but for a pilot about Luigi’s mother, who heads back to law school (it’s called “Mama at Law”).
“I really do miss sketch comedy,” Nangle said. “It felt very cool to return to to it.” Nangle worked closely with producer Brian Kelley on the episode, while first-time director Eric Koenig helmed it.
“Matt Selman, our showrunner, is so innovative, and he trusts us so much to take things in new directions,” she said. “So in a lot of ways, you don’t feel beholden to the fact that it’s been around for so long. It never gets boring.”
“The Simpsons” has played with the vignette style in the past, including the landmark Season 7 episode “22 Short Films About Springfield.” Nangle compares this to the Season 34 episode “Lisa the Boy Scout,” which begins with a normal story but then turns into an anthology as two anonymous masked hackers hijack the episode.
Here’s a first look at the “Incompetent Husband” segment from “Women in Shorts,” set to air as this Sunday’s “The Simpsons” episode at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.
And here are a few more photos from the episode:
