28 on 4

In the ever-changing and increasingly uncertain world in which we live, here's one thing we can rely on: at some point between now and mid-November, Channel 4 will have the terrestrial premiere of Season 28 of The Simpsons, first shown in the UK on Sky One four years ago. Last year's post predicting what episodes might be cut or even dropped together, and the subsequent comparisons of my guesswork against reality, seemed to go down quite well, so they're back for a second year running. As ever, keep an eye on the Simpsons Archive's UK & Ireland Schedules page for exact scheduling details.

VABF18 Friends and Family
Possible cut from when Burns is in the medical complex:

FIRST DOCTOR: Hip joints! Who wants a hip joint?
SECOND DOCTOR: Eyeballs! Can't see without your eyeballs!
THIRD DOCTOR: Euthanasia! Sweet, sweet euthanasia!
MR BURNS: Ooh! Can I buy it as a gift?
THIRD DOCTOR: No!

VABF17 The Town
The opening scene in Moe's Tavern features use of the word "frigging" and "knobs" as a euphemism, although it would be hard to cut and I don't recall if either of those words have been an issue for C4 before.

VABF16 Treehouse of Horror XXVII
The last two Halloween specials have both been dropped from the usual 6pm premiere slot by Channel 4 due to concerns over content; THOH XXV turned up in a post-midnight slot, but XXVI has yet to do so. XXVII, with objectionable-to-C4 content in all three segments and the opening sequence, is surely destined to follow suit.

This episode was shown in a later-than-usual slot for its premiere on Sky, presumably because there was no way to show it in the usual slot without reducing it to a blipvert, but the fact that it was also the landmark 600th episode may also have played a part in that, which does raise an interesting point -- will C4 really want to skip over or air at 1am on Friday morning such an important episode? Maybe we could get this one at 9pm on Halloween night itself or something? Probably not, but it's a nice idea, isn't it?

VABF22 There Will Be Buds
There is a recurring joke in this episode about peoples' arms breaking, which may be cut depending on who edits this one and how squeamish they are about it (it passed uncut on Sky, so I'm probably being over-cautious).

VABF19 Havana Wild Weekend
There are several drugs references in this one which might get cut, although IIRC they're not crucial to the plot as they were in the previous season's "Gal of Constant Sorrow". Fidel Castro also figures into the plot; he died 12 days after this episode originally aired in the US, although the references to him were still intact in the Sky One premiere which was after he'd died.

The chalkboard gag for this episode is "Being right sucks", in reference to the result of the 2016 Presidential election which was 'predicted' in Season 11's "Bart to the Future", which occurred five days before this episode originally aired. Last-minute additions like this can sometimes be missing from international copies, so possibly worth checking it's still there on C4's version.

WABF01 Dad Behavior
This episode features this nonstandard opening sequence; there's no blood, but some of the family's fates might be a bit too much for C4.

WABF04/05 The Great Phatsby
This is an hour-long episode (the first, and to date, only such one in the show's history), although a two-part version for international airings and syndication also exists -- something which apparently very few people knew about until Disney+ launched this year, and that edit was the one available there.

I would have presumed that one would be what C4 would go with, but at the moment Hollyoaks is only running four nights a week due to the impact of COVID-19 on production, meaning we get a double-bill of The Simpsons on Fridays. So it may be the case that we do get the original, double-length episode after all if that gap in the schedules is still there by November.

WABF08 The Cad and the Hat
There is a "hilarious" joke about Buzz Cola eating through Bart's insides in this episode, which it does so visibly at one point; not cut by Sky, but a potential casualty of C4's scissors, as is Bart's manifestation of his guilt being killed by the manifestation of his denial.

Also, just for one of the most anal notes ever: several of the chess board scenes from this episode's subplot had the pieces rearranged for US network repeats. I would guess C4 will have the revised version, but I honestly don't care much either way.

WABF10 22 for 30
There's a fair bit of violence and other potentially objectionable content in this one, including Homer getting tasered, Bart randomly having blood all over his face as the result of an otherwise off-screen incident, and the show getting about as close as it can to full-frontal nudity; this could well end up being the most heavily-censored episode of the season.

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So, there are probably a few omissions, but those are the most "interesting" / at-risk-of-censorship episodes from this season. Check back around December for the aftermath, in any event.