Woo-hoo! FX app will legally stream every episode of 'The Simpsons'
Starting in August, you'll be able to watch more than 500 episodes on demand -- as long as you're already an FX subscriber.
It's pretty easy to catch reruns of "The Simpsons," which in some TV markets air twice daily. But if you want to watch the show on the go, or watch a particular episode, you're out of luck unless you buy it from your favorite app store.
That will change this summer when FX Networks begins streaming all 530(!) episodes of the long-running series via its FXNOW app, which delivers content from three networks: FX, FXX, and FXM. The app is currently available for iOS and Windows 8.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, FXX Networks in November acquired the rights to "The Simpsons" in "one of the biggest deals of its kind." The agreement allows the network to broadcast episodes from the show's first 24 seasons.
The app itself is free, and presumably the "Simpsons" library will be as well. However, as with apps like HBO Go and Watch ABC, you need to be a paid subscriber to one of the six providers that currently support FXNOW: AT&T U-verse, Comcast Xfinity, Midcontinent Communications, Optimum, Suddenlink, or WOW!
The Hollywood Reporter also notes that the app will stream some 165 film titles along with all FX and FXX original series, including "The Americans," "Justified," "Louie," and "The League."
Those and other shows will roll out in the coming months. As for "The Simpsons," expect the library to debut in August. Also on tap, according a related Quartz story: a standalone Simpsons app with "a comprehensive, beautifully-curated digital library of all things Simpsons," said FX Networks CEO John Landgraf.
Now for the important questions: How many of those 530 episodes are actually worth watching? When did the show jump the shark? Or do you think it's just as funny as ever? For me, the funny starting dropping off around season 12, and these days it's all but unwatchable. D'oh!