The Simpsons Trailer Reveals First Simpflix Special, “A Serious Flanders”

The Simpsons has dropped the trailer for its first “Simpflix” special, “A Serious Flanders”. Described as a “dark twisted ‘Fargo’ story” by executive producer Matt Selman, the two-part “A Serious Flanders” will be The Simpsons‘ ode to the wonderful and weird (and often shockingly violent) Fargo TV series created by Noah Hawley. In this parody version, Homer and Ned Flanders get swept up into a prestige TV-style crime drama, after a “ruthless debt collector” comes to Springfield. Part 1 of “A Serious Flanders” airs on November 7th, while Part 2 will follow on November 14th. 

Guest voices for “A Serious Flanders” will include HBO’s Succession star Brian Cox, Fargo’s Cristin Milioti, Deadwood’s Timothy Olyphant, Get Shorty‘s Chris O’Dowd, and Mad Men‘s Jessica Paré.

According to Matt Selman, finally seeing Hawley’s Fargo TV series inspired him to finally have The Simpsons poke some fun at the prestige TV format: 

“We wanted to do all the tricks that these cool streaming shows get to do: Flashbacks, crazy time jumps, the feeling that anyone might die,” Selman tells Variety. “It’s all the tricks of the trade, for a semi-pretentious but also very cool kind of story. We have scenes that build tension or make fun of the idea of building tension.”

The Simpsons EP also explains why this event was necessary to split into two episodes: 

 “There’s no way we can do it in one show,” Selman explains. “We wanted the scenes to play out in a different pace, the tone and stresses. To fit that into one episode, it wouldn’t work. Most ‘Simpsons’ episodes are paced much more quickly than a streaming drama… Both half hours are like six episodes of a six-episode series.”

While “A Serious Flanders” sounds like it could get… well, serious, Selman is also quick clarify that this “Simpflix” event will not be canon – mostly in order to free up space for the show creators to have a little fun: 

“Stuff happens we won’t stick with, so think of this from a different universe, with a different tone,” he explains. “I think we did a good job of telling an interesting dramatic Flanders story.”

You can check out the loglines for the two episodes of “A Serious Flanders” below: 

1. Part I (November 7th) – “When a ruthless debt collector comes to Springfield, Homer and Ned’s lives are sucked into the artfully violent world of prestige TV.”

Part II (November 14th) – “Uff-da! Things for Ned and Homer go from bad to gosh-darn worse in the stunning conclusion of this SIMPFLIX prestige crime thriller.”