The Simpsons have incorporated a parody of The White Lotus’ opening credits in a new episode.
The nod to the Emmy-winning HBO series comes as the iconic Springfield family are back on screens, kicking off the 36th season.
Starting last Sunday (September 29) with an episode that was dubbed the “series finale”, the new season already gripped fans’ attention with the return of Conan O’Brien to the show. O’Brien formerly helped write some of the fan-favourite episodes in earlier seasons.
Now, the upcoming episode set for this weekend is certain to get the fanbase of another series talking too, as it comes as a parody of Mike White’s hit show The White Lotus.
According to a description of the plot shared by Variety, the episode sees the Simpson family travel to “The Yellow Lotus”, where they “encounter death on vacation at a high-end resort.”
Not only is the premise a nod to the award-winning HBO drama – which first aired in 2021 and has already had two seasons – but the opening credits also come as a parody to those of the original series.
Written and sung by Kara Talve, who has also composed for The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Faraway Downs, The Simpsons’ intro comes more inspired by the intro to season two of The White Lotus. Instead of incorporating the tribal-influenced sound of the first season, the Springfield edition pays homage to ancient Rome and mythicism.
Unlike the original series’ opening credits, The Simpsons’ version has lyrics included. “Hot bodies, and murder / Rich, sexy people behaving badly / Makes you feel better about being broke and unknown,” Talve sings. “Symbolic statues and endless brunch / How do they eat like that and still look great naked / Are they on ozempic?”
Set to air on Fox this Sunday (October 6) at 8pm ET, Variety has also confirmed that the episode will see Kelsey Grammer reprise his role as Sideshow Bob, while SNL star Chloe Fineman also guest stars.
The theme song for The White Lotus season one is titled ‘Aloha’ and composed by Cristobal Tapia de Veer. It won several Emmys in 2022, with de Veer taking home trophies for Original Main Title Theme Music and Music Composition for a Limited or Anthology Series, Movie or Special.
The theme for the second season was called ‘Renaissance’, and saw the original theme song reworked by Katrina Crawford and Mark Bashore. Check out the season one intro above and the season two intro below.
Other parodies reportedly incorporated in this season of The Simpsons will include spoofs of Venom and a trio of stories inspired by the author Ray Bradbury.
As yet, Fox hasn’t renewed The Simpsons for a 37th season and speculation about the future of the show has been heated in recent months.
In other Simpsons news, Hank Azaria, the voice behind series’ character Chief Wiggum, recently responded to Donald Trump‘s false claim that people are eating pets in a town called Springfield.
In a clip, which went viral, Azaria, as Wiggum in character, takes a call from a local Springfield resident concerned about people “eating dogs and cats”.
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