UPDATE September 9: We honestly think Disney did this just to slight us. Anyway, today they announced the streaming premiere of Simpsons S33 is delayed from September 28 to October 5.
The Disney+ list for September 2022 is out and it’s definitely not complete. As we reported many months ago, The Simpsons Season 33 will arrive, but it was not listed on their press release.
If you recall, Disney did this exact same thing last year. We scooped many months beforehand that The Simpsons Season 32 would stream on September . When the list came out and it wasn’t there, people thought we were fools. Then weeks later, mid-September, Disney separately announced the release and it was exactly what we told you it would be. We expect history to repeat itself with the announcement probably coming on Disney+ Day.
While we cannot confirm Disney’s plans (they are changing CONSTANTLY, remember Malcolm in the Middle and Doogie Howser and the crow we ate when their staff member provided us information that became irrelevant?) we can confirm that:
The current intention is to stream Season 33 of The Simpsons on Disney+ beginning Wednesday, September 28th.
Current Season Rights
We also have the unfortunate obligation to report that for the 3rd season in a row they have chosen not to do the work to move current season episodes to Disney+. Hulu will continue to be home to The Simpsons weekly episodes while Disney+ will be forced to wait 4 months after the season ends to stream any episodes. We hope they learn how to operate their service better soon, as the ad-tier this December should be the impetus they need to properly shift content to Disney+ and live up to their “promise” that Disney+ is the streaming home to The Simpsons…
There are multiple ways they could handle this better:
- Stream in-season episodes next day on both Disney+ and Hulu
- Allow Disney+ to add episode batches as they do for all their others shows while Hulu maintains the next day episodes.
- Give Hulu 5 episodes at a time after which point they shift to Disney+
- Stream next week episodes on Disney+ while Hulu maintains next day rights.
When will it end? When Disney makes it happen either by renegotiating the contract or when the overall next day episodes rights deal between Fox and Hulu ends which Deadline reported earlier this year was “coming up.” We hope that ends soon and Disney figures out a way to gain better control over their 20th TV produced shows streaming locations and times.
Obnoxious Disney+ Marketing
Completely unrelated but we needed a place to mention how ridiculous it is that Disney+ has provided The Simpsons a 3-year long place in their hero. It’s so pathetic. It draws attention all year to the fact that they’re 1 season behind Hulu and makes it seem like Disney+ has the most shallow library of any service. We really hope they stop soon. Take the show out of the banner after it’s been streaming a month, please. Drop the rectangle banner, as well. No other service has such amateur UI. Replace it with a seamless fullscreen hero that converts to a video and consists of multiple slides. This is the standard you fail to meet.
Drew Ryan is a film, TV, and Disney geek. He has degrees in English, Student Personnel Administration, and Library & Information Science from Lawrence University, Concordia University-Wisconsin, and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Interested in the minutia and licensing of streaming service content, he is always publishing lists, suggestions, and advocating for Disney’s missing library to be added to Disney+. Drew subscribes to Disney+, Hulu, Netflix, HBO Max, and Paramount+. You can find him waxing nostalgic over classic Disney Channel or geeking out over Marvel, CW shows, & Disney on Twitter.
