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Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET
Woo-hoo! Time to call in for a four-day weekend: Simpsons World is now live on the Web and in app form in the FXNow app.
Among other things, that means you can watch all 552 episodes (and counting) of the TV series, on-demand, free of charge, pretty much anywhere and everywhere. That’s the first 25 seasons; you can watch each episode of season 26 the day after it airs.
Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET
There’s just one catch: you’ll need to prove you’re a current US cable subscriber, which you can do by signing into your account from within the app. (Sorry, cord-cutters and people from other countries.) You’ll also have to sit through commercials during the breaks.
Even if you don’t have an account, Simpsons World serves up loads of goodies, starting with a random clip or full episode that starts playing the moment you arrive.
From there you’ll find an episode-popularity guide; an “Everything Simpsons” section with upcoming episodes, fun facts and the like; feature articles; curated playlists; and tons more. A tap of the onscreen donut provides access to a search tool, where you can look up episodes and clips featuring specific characters or guest stars.
Given that all this just launched last night, it’s not too surprising that everything seems to be a little slow to load, even a little glitchy here and there. In the app, for example, there doesn’t seem to be a way to switch to full-screen viewing of the auto-play clip/episode. And when I tried to queue up certain episodes, they simply wouldn’t play.
But no matter. Even if your “Simpsons” love has waned in recent years, you’ll want to get this app and get it now — if only to revisit gems like this one.
