Changes are Coming to the Talking Simpsons and What A Cartoon! Schedules in 2020

No, no! The Talking Simpsons Network has not disbanded! It's the end of another great year of podcasts for us here, and we've had the chance to sit down and think about 2020, and what it means for our shows.

In December alone, we're releasing 17 episodes. That's a lot of content! And while we're happy to provide it, towards the end of the year we started feeling like we're spreading ourselves a little thin. And, since starting the Talking Simpsons Network, we've each gone through (and are continuing to go through) some significant life changes that reduced our free time. Ultimately, we're most concerned with quality—and hitting deadlines—so we came up with a plan that will help us allocate our podcasting resources more responsibly.

What does this mean for you? The last week of every month will change in a way that won't disrupt our flow, and will also lighten our load a bit so we can concentrate on live shows, interviews, traveling to record with remote guests, and all of the other assorted duties that go into running a podcast network. That said, here's what's in store for each show in 2020.

Talking Simpsons: The last episode of every month will be replaced by the latest episode of Talk to the Audience?!?, our community podcast. While we'll still exclusively take comments and questions from the Patreon, we thought we'd make the community-cast free in order to give everyone out there a taste of how great our Patreon community is. There are other places to discuss our podcast on the internet, but the best (and most) discussions happen right here on the Patreon!

What A Cartoon!: The last episode of every month will be replaced by an extended preview of the newest episode of What A Cartoon Movie! While we love WAC Movie! (and you clearly love it too), producing one WAC Movie takes three times as long as one WAC! We'd like everything to release as scheduled without the possibility of delays, and we'll be beefing up these WAC Movie! previews from 20 minutes to 45 or more, so this change is definitely in our—and your—best interests.

We've also produced nearly 100 episodes of WAC! to date, which means we've also produced nearly 100 complete histories of different cartoon series. Digging deep into cartoon history is one of the best parts of our job, but this heavy research eats up valuable recording and editing time. To resolve this issue, once a month—and twice if said month has five Mondays—we'll be revisiting a series we've already covered on WAC!, so we can cut straight to the meat of the episode (since the history section has already been taken care of). 

We'll still be covering two new series every month, but you'll also get to hear takes on new episodes from series we've already covered. That means if you were were hoping for a different episode to be picked from a series we podcasted about, now there's a chance it'll happen!

To sum things up:

• The last episode of Talking Simpsons each month will be replaced by Talk to the Audience?!?, which will now be free.
• The last episode of What A Cartoon! each month will be replaced by a free 45-minute (or longer) preview of that month's episode of What A Cartoon Movie!
• We'll be revisiting a new episode from a previously-covered series once a month on What A Cartoon!, and twice if said month has five Mondays.
• Super-concise summary: There will still be new releases at the end of the month—the content will just be slightly different.

We hope you're on board with our changes for 2020! We still have so much great stuff coming up next year, like a live show in January—with more to come—two new miniseries, and lots of surprise guests on all of our shows! As always, let us know if you have any questions or concerns in the comments below. Thanks for a fantastic 2019!

- Bob and Henry