"The Simpsons" Celebrates 25 Years & Creator Groening Comes To Santa Barbara

Marathon Screening of The Simpsons on FXX Channel Celebrates Show's 25th Anniversary; Series Creator Matt Groening to Make Rare Appearance Oct. 10 in Santa Barbara

Cable channel FXX will mark the 25th anniversary of The Simpsons with a marathon screening of all 500-plus episodes in the show's history beginning Wed., Aug. 20 and running through Mon., Sept. 1. That's a lot of "Cowabunga, dude!"

In the Santa Barbara area, cable subscribers can turn their dials to FXX Channel 78 starting at 10 a.m. PST. The shows will be aired in chronological order, 24 hours a day through the entire run.

UCSB Arts & Lectures will feature Matt Groening, the famed creator of The Simpsons, in a rare appearance titled An Evening with Matt Groening & Lynda Barry on Fri., Oct. 10 at 8 p.m. at the Arlington Theatre. The only West Coast appearance of the two cartoonists (Barry is the renowned creator of the comic strip, Ernie Pook's Comeek) is subtitled Love, Hate & Comics: The Friendship That Would Not Die. The pair met and became friends more than 35 years ago while students at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash.

For tickets or more information to the UCSB Arts & Lectures event, call (805) 893-3535 or purchase online at www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu.

UCSB Arts & Lectures thanks lynda.com for its major corporate support of the 2013-2014 season.