Live TV shows, or at least episodes, are enjoying a renaissance at the moment: soaps, sitcoms and dramas have used them, and networks are seeing big ratings for musicals such as the recent Grease: Live. But The Simpsons? Surely an animated show can't pull that off? Before you say boo-urns and worry about the state of the animators' wrists, the world's most famous animated family is going to attempt it.
Talking to executive producer Al Jean, The Wrap ferreted out details of how it'll work. It won't be the full episode, just a chunk of it, with additional voice over from cast regular Dan Castellaneta as Homer.
The final three minutes of the episode to be broadcast on May 15 across the pond will be turned over to a live version of Homer, who will be brought to life via motion capture technology to answer topical fan questions submitted over Twitter before the show airs. Castellaneta will be improvising responses, with Jean and the other writers around to throw in lines as needed.
You'll be able to send in questions between May 1 and May 4 using the hashtag #HomerLive, and different questions will be answered during the airtime of the show on the East and West Coast of the US. Which version will make it over here (where The Simpsons is shown on Sky 1) remains to be seen. And it's not like the series hasn't done stunts before; in earlier years, it was famous for embracing the likes of early 3D animation and a Dallas-style mystery spread across two episodes.