Corporate synergy is the name of the game at the Walt Disney Company. Now that it is the corporate parent of FOX Studios, Disney owns The Simpsons, which has always been ripe with celebrity cameos and guest voices. On Sunday night, The Simpsons crossed corporate streams with fellow Disney property ESPN.
Adam Schefter voices himself in an episode titled “The Longest Marge,” which is about the family’s relationship with Grayson Mathers, a fictitious football prodigy. Schefter’s scene features ESPN’s NFL insider reporting on information happening inside the Simpson home.
Joe Lucia of Awful Announcing pointed out just how much care went into the animation of the scene. He noted “the Michigan-logo blocks behind Schefter in his video hit” and “the ticker with betting odds (of course)”.
Schefter’s appearance wasn’t the only time that The Simpsons and the NFL crossed paths on Sunday. Matt Selman, who produced the season ten episode “Sunday Cruddy Sunday,” tweeted a tribute to John Madden. The late coach and broadcaster appeared in the episode, which aired after Super Bowl XXXII, alongside his late partner Pat Summerall.
Disney has imposed its other properties on The Simpsons multiple times. Disney+ is full of specials that include Simpsons-themed takes on Star Wars and The Avengers. Could Schfter be just the beginning of ESPN setting up shop in Springfield?
