'The Simpsons'

'The Simpsons' Cartoon Slowly Becoming Real as Season 25 Premieres

Robert Chan 7 hours ago Fall TV

"The Simpsons" has been around so long (the show's 25th season premiere is Sunday, Sept. 29) that the line between fantasy and reality has basically become nonexistent. Not only can you now drink at Moe's, eat at Krusty Burger, and get flung around on the end of the tentacles of Kang (or is it Kodos?) at Universal Studios in Orlando, but you can also take a ride in The Homer.
Built for the 24 Hours of Le Mons (a play on the Le Mans auto race and the term for a junker car) — a race in which the cars cannot cost more than $500 — this vehicle comes with everything Homer asked for in the classic Season 2 episode, "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" Tail fins! Bubble domes! Shag carpeting (OK, not shag carpeting).

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Designed by Jeff Hermann and driven by a team including Ben Reilly (the driver in the video; his passenger was "Futurama" co-creator David X. Cohen), Reid Conti, Scott Chamberlain, and Mike Yepes, The Homer is a testament to the power of the human spirit. Or silliness. We're not sure which. Maybe both.

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If anybody else is thinking of turning "Simpsons" gags into reality, might we suggest this:

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The season kicks off Sunday with "Homerland" featuring Kristen Wiig as a Claire Danes-like FBI agent. It premieres the same night as a certain Showtime series with a very similar name and a very similar premise. Coincidence? Or conspiracy?!

Later in the season, look forward to an episode written by Judd Apatow, a couch gag directed by Guillermo del Toro for the Halloween episode, guest spots from Gordon Ramsay, Stan Lee, Daniel Radcliffe, Anderson Cooper, and a "Simpsons"/"Futurama" crossover featuring the cast of Groening's other, recently canceled (again), show.
"The Simpsons" air Sundays at 8 p.m. on Fox