Podcast Corner: Simpsons Declassified needs to find its voice

'Marge vs. the Monorail' is the twelfth episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on January 14, 1993

There was a brilliant book released by Alan Siegel earlier this year: Stupid TV, Be More Funny: How the Golden Era of The Simpsons Changed Television — and America — Forever. As you might guess, it’s focused on The Simpsons in the early years of its existence — the late 1980s to early 90s.

The show is still going — indeed reviews in recent season seem to be more generous than for most of the 21st century Springfield output — and is currently in its 36th season. While many of us might have checked out on the series itself, the lore of the Simpsons is like catnip; we can never get enough about the Monorail, the Stonecutters, Mr Plow... I could go on.

Talking Sopranos and Office Ladies offered episode-by-episode rewatch podcasts hosted by the stars themselves. Yet The Simpsons has never had an equivalent.

Sadly Simpsons Declassified, co-hosted by Nancy Cartwright — voice of Bart and many others — and Sofia Kurtz, doesn’t fill that void. She says in the trailer: “What really happens behind the scenes of the
longest running sitcom in history? On Simpsons Declassified we pull back the curtain like never before.”

The first two episodes feature Chris Edgerly, “the show’s secret vocal chameleon… who gives producers and writers the full Simpsons experience before the real recording begins”, and ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic, who has appeared in, er, three episodes of the Simpsons. Not quite the A-list vocal material fans might be hoping for.

Cartwright does reveal that Conan O’Brien, one of the most revered writers in the history of the show, could fill in with any voice at the table reads — as refreshing as a cold Duff at Moe’s Tavern. Instead we get ‘Wheel of Voices’, where Edgerly shows off his impressions, from Patrick from Spongebob Squarepants to Antonio Banderas. It’s cute, but hardly ‘Declassified’.

Like the show it celebrates, Simpsons Declassified may need time to find its voice.

Culture Pigs

Culture Pigs — hosted by Kate Demolder and Rory Cashin

Meanwhile, closer to home, Kate Demolder, who features regularly in the Irish Examiner, has started a new culture-focused podcast with movie expert Rory Cashin. They say Culture Pigs, produced by Dee Reddy for Poddle Audio, tackles lowbrow things in a highbrow way and highbrow things in a lowbrow way. They hit their 10th episode this week, having started as Oasis came to Dublin — the subject of their opening show.

So far they’ve done deep dives on the origins of nepo-babies, the 20th anniversary of Twilight and millennial nostalgia, and a segment on celebrity (hoax) deaths. Demolder and Cashin have a rapport from the outset and the fun chats flow smoothly. You’ll feel like a culture pig in…