If you're a cable subscriber, you can now stream and watch every single episode of The Simpsons on your computer, tablet, or Xbox, so long as your provider supports the FXX Now app. Every single episode!
In theory, this is phenomenal. Unlimited digital access to the greatest television show ever made? A chance to watch and rewatch all the classic episodes you missed during that FXX marathon back in August? The opportunity to finally understand why your co-workers keep breaking out into the Stonecutters song? Amazing.
But the app needs some work. Last night, I downloaded and played around with Simpsons World on Xbox 360, and while it certainly delivers on the promise of "every Simpsons episode ever," it's got some annoying problems.
For one, there are the technical snags—in addition to maintaining the wrong aspect ratio for many older episodes, the new Simpsons World app runs into some other snafus. One episode I watched—Krusty Gets Kancelled—actually had commercial breaks in the wrong places: the episode cut to commercial about three seconds before the break, leading to hilarious moments where Krusty would just be interrupted mid-sentence by someone screaming about beef jerky.
Speaking of commercial breaks... did you know that the Simpsons World app has commercials? Lots and lots of commercials? I took out a stopwatch for this one. When you start an episode, there's a 30-second commercial. Then you see the intro sequence. Then there's 90 seconds of commercials. Then the episode starts. The first break is 60 seconds, and the second break is 30.
This would perhaps not be so bad if it wasn't the same damn commercials for every single episode. I watched four or five episodes last night and by the end I'd memorized that Evil Within trailer and those Jack Link's beef jerky spots, which I can confirm do not get funny no matter how many times you watch them.
It would also perhaps not be so bad if the app wasn't designed to have commercials play at a volume exponentially louder than the actual show, so you'll have to keep reaching for your remote if you don't want to blow out your ears with promos about how Great FXX is.
So as it is right now, the Simpsons World app is, sadly, not conducive to binge-watching, which really defeats the purpose.