The will-they won’t-they nature of the NFL’s flex scheduling decisions always seem to get attention this time of year.
As certain teams play themselves into playoff contention and other teams play their way out, flex scheduling has become a crucial tool for the league to ensure that fans get to see the best games possible every week.
Some schedule watchers had identified the Week 14 matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys on Monday Night Football as a potential candidate for a flex, considering the Cowboys will be without star quarterback Dak Prescott for the rest of the year and the Bengals’ playoff hopes took a significant hit Sunday night after a backbreaking loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
That, however, cannot happen for a unique reason.
Week 14’s Bengals-Cowboys matchup is set to feature an alternate telecast of a fully animated game with characters from The Simpsons. And as was detailed in the original announcement, many elements of this broadcast will be prerecorded.
For those asking, the Bengals-Cowboys MNF game is not eligible to be flexed out because of all the drawings, voiceovers and other work that has been done for The Simpsons alt-cast that will air that night.
— Jay Morrison (@ByJayMorrison) November 18, 2024
Voice actors Hank Azaria, Nancy Cartwright, Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner and Yeardley Smith will feature in prerecorded skits during the alt-cast. The Simpsons‘ creators will incorporate skits featuring ESPN personalities like Stephen A. Smith, and ManningCast stars Peyton and Eli. There will also be prerecorded segments with players on both teams.
All of these broadcast elements are already in production, and it would likely be borderline impossible to redo them with two new teams in time for Week 14’s game. ESPN released a teaser trailer for the game on Monday.
Woo-hoo! The NFL is coming to Springfield! 🙌📺
@TheSimpsons Funday Football streams live Dec. 9 on @DisneyPlus and @ESPNPlus pic.twitter.com/9dCEARGLn7— ESPN (@espn) November 18, 2024
It’s not the first time an NFL broadcast partner has produced a live animated alt-cast. Last year, ESPN did a similar Toy Story themed telecast that won three Sports Emmys for it. They also produced the Big City Greens alt-cast during the last NHL season. Similarly, Nickelodeon has broadcast several NFL games in recent years, though not in the fully animated way that ESPN has.
ESPN is likely feeling a little bummed that this matchup isn’t what it looked to be on paper earlier in the season. Oddly, that could prove to be a benefit for The Simpsons alt-cast. With two teams that could likely be out of the playoff picture by Week 14, some viewers may be more amenable to trying out an alternate telecast. It’s hard to imagine a hardcore NFL fan would want to tune into a Simpsons-themed broadcast during a game with real stakes.
Unfortunately for fans, it means that one of the more attractive Sunday games can’t be flexed into the Monday night slot.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.