This week, Mad Magazine's Casey Boyd joins us to chat about Homer the Vigilante. We'll discuss the work of John Swartzwelder at length – and how his writing has influenced a very specific type of voice in comedy. We'll also chat Conan, dog songs, and Detective Pikachu. It's the last episode of 2018 and we're glad that we get to end it with a Swartzwelder episode. Cheers!

It's our first ever solo-host show. Don't worry Allie will be back next week … the only thing you have to fear this week is – cults. Comedian Lisa Curry and Julia discuss Movementarianism, Blisstonia, and dive deep into some real life cults. Things get a little freaky, but don't worry we'll guide you along. Join us! Join Us! Join Us!

It's crazy to think we've been doing this podcast for so long and no one has picked the first episode of The Simpsons. That's all about to change! This week, Alonso Duralde relives his memories of watching "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire." You know Alonso as a film critic for the The Wrap. He's also one of panelist on "Who Shot Ya?" from Maximum Fun, and the co-host of the pod Linoleum Knife.

Most importantly for today's purposes Alonso is a Christmas expert and has a book to prove it called "Have yourself a movie little Christmas." We'll discuss how this episode was a perfect way to introduce the Simpsons to a mainstream audience. Plus, we'll sing some carols and share some last minute Christmas tips! 

This week, comedian Allen Strickland Williams dishes his favorite moments from HOMЯ. Allen has been featured on Conan, and was recently named Comedy Central Comic to watch. Make sure to keep an eye out for Allen's new Comedy Central half hour special in January. Allen explains why this episode is a lot sadder than he recalls when he first saw it as a kid. Plus, Allie explains why Bing.com is naughty and Julia discusses the joys of Shark Tank. Don't worry there's plenty of Simpsons, too! Relive the heartbreaking episode with us.

This week, Emmy-award winning voice actor Maurice LaMarche chats about his voiceover appearances in The Simpsons. If you don't know Maurice by name you certainly know his iconic voice work – he's probably best known as The Brain in "Animaniacs" and "Pinky and the Brain." His work can also be heard on "Futurama," "Disenchantment" and many other video games, animated series, television shows and films. He'll tell us the personal connection he had to the character he voiced in "What Animated Women Want." We'll spend a lot of time discussing Maurice's career including his contributions to "The Critic," and his time as a stand-up comic. He also chats about what it was like to join Julie Kavner and Dan Castellaneta in studio for his appearance in this episode. You don't want to miss this one – he'll gives us a taste of his fantastic impressions and even share some techniques if you want to make some authentic barf sounds.

The holidays are right around the corner! This week, we get in the spirit of the holidays and chat with longtime Simpsons writer Michael Price about a Christmas episode he wrote for the Simpsons back in 2003. He'll discuss his love/hate relationship Christmas specials, and give us a behind the scenes look at Simpsons writers room. He'll also explain why this episode was a breakthrough moment for him as a Simpsons writer.  Michael is also the creator of "F is for Family" – you can check out the new season on Netflix starting Nov. 30th.

With the holidays right around the corner we've got a special treat to show how thankful we are for all of you. This week, we're bringing back Al Jean! The longtime Simpsons showrunner returns to the Max Fun studios – this time around he joins us to discuss his contributions to "It's Garry Shandling's Show."  We'll get the scoop on this cult hit, which shares a lot of DNA with the Simpsons. And just like last time he'll sprinkle in some Simpsons trivia throughout our conversation.

This week, we'll welcome long-time Simpsons storyboard artist John Mathot. His credits are insane – John has been a storyboard artist for animated shows like Futurama, Family Guy, Dilbert, Phineas and Ferb, Hey Arnold, and many more. He'll talk about the collaborative process in the Simpsons writers room. And you don't wanna miss when he breaks down one of the storyboards he created in this very classic Simpsons episode. Plus, he'll tell us some of the animation quirks that tick off Matt Groening.

This week, we dig into the ECUS archives! We know people are already setting up holiday decorations… but we are still craving Halloween candy. Nick Wiger (Comedy Bang Bang, I Love You America with Sarah Silverman, Doughboys) spooks Allie and Julia with a discussion on Treehouse of Horror V!

This episode was produced before "Everything's Coming Up Simpsons" was on the Max Fun Network.

Stand-up comedian and writer Blaine Capatch joins us this week to talk about "The Mansion Family." It's not from the golden era, and it's newer episode than most episodes we usually discuss. Which is weird to say considering the episode is actually 18 years old. We'll discuss the Britney Spears cameo in this episode, why it's important to read the Hardy Boys book series, and the funniest things ever to happen in international waters. Plus, what it's like to sit in on a Simpsons table read according to Blaine!