When Disney took over Fox, one of the standout brands of the many they acquired was The Simpsons. Though the animated TV institution is known for its very un-Disney-like irreverence and satirical edge, the fact that it’s beloved by generations and stands at 31 seasons and counting made it a perfect headlining addition to the Disney Plus streaming service. And sure enough, the series has proven to be the number one trending title on the site for the past few weeks.
What’s On Disney Plus has compiled the top 25 trending titles on the service for the past seven days and The Simpsons continues its stranglehold on the top slot for the third week running. The Matt Groening-created cartoon held the number one placement for a couple of weeks in the middle of April, before Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil kicked it down a few notches for a few weeks. Ever since the final week of May, however, it’s been plain-sailing for the yellow-skinned brood.
There are a few potential reasons for its recent success. With families stuck in stuck indoors during lockdown, countless hours of The Simpsons is the perfect thing to entertain adults and kids alike. The show’s also been in the public consciousness a lot of late given the many “The Simpsons predicted it” memes going around since the start of the pandemic, concerning everything from the COVID-19 outbreak itself to the murder hornets.
There has been some controversy around the framing of the series on Disney Plus, though. Originally, it was only possible to watch the show in the now standard 16:9 ratio instead of the old-fashioned 4:3 ratio the early episodes were made for. This meant many scenes were impaired, often damaging visual gags. Thankfully, Disney just made it possible to watch the old episodes of The Simpsons as they were originally intended, and you can find out how to do that here.
