Morgan Spurlock directing 'Simpsons' 20th anniversary special

By Rick Porter

    

July 13, 2009 8:22 AM ET

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"The Simpsons" is getting Super Sized to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its debut.

Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock ("Super Size Me," FX's "30 Days") has been tapped to produce and direct a special about "The Simpsons," which will air on Jan. 14, 20 years to the day after the show debuted as a weekly series. The full title is "The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special in 3-D on Ice."

(A helpful and hilarious editor's note at the end of FOX's press release about the documentary asks us to "Please note the special is neither in 3-D nor on ice.")

"When they first called me about this, I thought it was a prank and I hung up," Spurlock says. "And then my agent called back and said, 'No, no, this is for real,' at which point I fainted. Then when I woke up, I called everyone I knew because it was the coolest thing I could ever get to do in my career."

Spurlock will explore the cultural impact "The Simpsons" has had in its two decades on the air, both in the United States and around the world, and also examine how the Simpson family has seen the world in that time.

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