30 on 4

You know the drill by now: sometime this Autumn, most likely at some point in November based on the last few years (owing to Season 29 being one episode shorter than normal due to a last-minute pre-emption, Season 30 is an episode longer, which might tip the balance slightly, especially if there's no episodes skipped which seems possible), Channel 4 are going to show a new-to-terrestrial season of The Simpsons, originally shown by Sky a little under four years ago; the 30th season of the show overall, the 19th to debut on C4, and unless something truly seismic happens, the 15th consecutive season to debut in the familiar weekdays-at-6pm timeslot. I'll be back once they've wrapped up with a list of cuts and other oddities, but for now here's a list of things worth watching out for, including any episodes that might be dropped from the 6pm slot altogether.

Before we get started, C4's first repeat run of Season 29 took place from late August to early September, and unlike the first time round, this time the episodes were shown in the correct order, with the repeat run not being subjected to the, er, repeated last-minute switching that afflicted the premiere. "No Good Read Goes Unpunished", which was dropped from the 6pm slot during the premiere run late in the day, currently remains unaired by C4; on past form, it may turn up in a late-night slot at some point around the time C4 debut Season 30, so watch out for that.

Also, as with Season 29, Sky's timeslot for the premieres of these episodes was at 8pm, which means they escaped censorship completely. Sky moved back to earlier premiere times on Sundays for Season 33 at the beginning of this year, retaining the 8pm slot on Fridays for the first repeat, but even the premieres -- which got earlier and earlier as the season went on, sometimes in the middle of the actual afternoon -- appeared to be uncut, most notably with 'shit' remaining intact for the 6pm premiere of "The Star of the Backstage"! On the day this post goes to publish, Sky begin something very unusual -- a repeat run of Season 30, despite the fact the rights should be handed over to C4 within weeks; I can't think of any precedent for Sky doing such a thing. I'm guessing those episodes will air intact, although schedules may be subject to change due to the death of the Queen.

XABF19 Bart's Not Dead

Possible cut: the actual moment when Bart jumps off the dam; it's not graphic, but there might be concerns over imitable content (especially in the context that he's being dared to do it) and it'd probably be easy to work around.

XABF17 My Way or the Highway to Heaven

There's quite a lot of gun violence in the World War II section of this story, as well as a drugs reference (to wit, Ned Flanders as a trampoline salesman, with the tagline "Your key to getting high"); expect this episode to most likely still make it to the 6pm slot, but don't be surprised if what's left doesn't make an awful lot of sense.

XABF16 Treehouse of Horror XXIX

Season 29 saw the return of the Halloween special to the 6pm slot, after the three previous seasons' Treehouses had all been deemed unsuitable for the early-evening and aired firmly post-watershed. If C4 were OK with showing the pretty damn graphic XXVIII at this time with cuts, my guess is they'll be fine with this one, but watch out for content cuts in "Multiplisa-ty" in particular.

XABF18 Baby You Can't Drive My Car

There's a drugs reference from Homer's lawyer ("that wasn't the kind of coke I was talking about"); possibly subtle enough to pass through, but drugs references do seem to be C4's biggest bugbear with the show these days.

XABF21 Werking Mom

A line that might be a bit too close to implying the C-word for comfort:

MARGE: I can't do this. I can't do this!

JULIO: Can't? Can't? Marge, I never want to hear you use the C-A-next-Tuesday word again. You need to tap into your female warrior side.

The plot around Marge being mistaken for a drag queen is hard to gauge with regards to what C4 will make of it, although I'm guessing the single use of the word "penis" is not being allowed through, and there's one or two other possible cuts ("That's not the only surprise I've got tucked away", "I've taped my bone between my legs").

XABF22 Krusty the Clown

There's quite a lot of references to murder in the opening scene (with regards to Krusty attempting to kill a negative reviewer), which might be a bit too much given how many there are in close proximity to each other.

YABF01 Daddicus Finch

The plot begins when Homer expresses disgust at sexualised branding when taking Lisa clothes shopping; it's too important to the plot to cut altogether (and the show is actually making quite an important point about this sort of thing), but a few of the brand names (including "Ho, Sweet Ho" and "Raggedy Anorexic") might end up on the cutting room floor.

YABF02 'Tis the 30th Season

Christmas episode, which might get shifted to the end of the season so it gets shown closer to the festive period, or even given a special timeslot (season 28's Christmas episode premiered on Christmas Morning itself), the fact I'm mentioning this under its own section sort of emphasises that beyond the usual content cuts there's not a whole lot of big "this episode might get dropped altogether" stuff this time round

YABF05 The Clown Stays in the Picture

Possible drugs-related cut:

KRUSTY: Send in my anaesthesiologist so I can take a nap.

[DR. NICK enters with two gas cylinders.]

NICK: Dreams or no dreams?

KRUSTY: Surprise me!

[NICK attaches a mask to KRUSTY's face and twiddles with a valve; sound of gas hissing. KRUSTY has a vision of HOMER being crushed to death by falling scenery.]

YABF10 Bart vs. Itchy & Scratchy

I'm not sure if the "Gal Qaeda" line will be cut, but it absolutely bloody deserves to be.

YABF14 D'oh Canada

Possibly over-reacting, but...

HOMER: While the kids are bouncing around, why don't we do a little bouncing, too?

MARGE: That's even more romantic than what you said at Fort Dix.

My slightly-less-cursory-than-usual glance through this season indicates less objectionable content than usual (no "bastards", comparatively less drugs or violence, no episodes where content might lead to outright banning; I'm guessing the plot of "Crystal Blue-Haired Persuasion" will be OK since Sky took no such move), so hopefully when we reconvene here in late November/early December, we are looking at a shorter article than last time round.