At 809 episodes and counting, The Simpsons has parodied just about every pop culture phenomenon imaginable, a truism best summed up in the South Park episode “Simpsons Already Did It.” One of the show’s longest-running traditions is the “Treehouse of Horror” Halloween specials, spooky one-offs that heavily reference Rod Serling’s famous horror anthologies like The Twilight Zone.
While The Simpsons’ latest special isn’t technically part of the “Treehouse of Horror,” it may as well be. “Yellow Mirror” is a Black Mirror parody that has made a big splash on Disney Plus, becoming the most-watched program on the streaming platform. It’s a two-part, 26-minute episode that begins with Bart doing a Twilight Zone-style monologue, as he introduces “two tales of the curious and bizarre.”
The first part, “The Way He Wasn’t,” centers on Homer having a conversation with a lamp about the nature of reality. The second, “I Have No Tablet But I Must Stream” (a reference to a famous Harlan Ellison short story), focuses on the horrors of iPad kids as an AI-powered tablet manipulates Maggie.
On top of generating an impressive amount of buzz for a TV show in its 37th season, “Yellow Mirror” is sitting at a solid 7.5 rating on IMDB, well over this season’s 6.9 average. While that’s nowhere near the show’s highest-rated episodes, like “Treehouse of Horror V” with its 9.2 rating, that’s still a solid score for a modern episode of The Simpsons.
When Was The Simpsons’ Golden Age?
Decades later, The Simpsons fans continue to debate when the show’s “Golden Age” really took place. While it’s only one measure, a convenient Reddit graphic breaks down the show’s IMDB ratings over time, showing how after peaking in seasons three through eight, the show’s average episode score begins to decline after season nine. And then the series aired almost 30 more seasons.
The series’ 38th season is set to premiere on Fox on Sept. 27, 2026. Like “Yellow Mirror,” several episodes will stream exclusively on Disney Plus. The aptly titled The New Simpsons Movie will be released on Sept. 3, 2027, more than 20 years after the first film in the series.