The Simpsonswill put a hip-hop twist on The Great Gatsbyin an upcoming episode that will feature guest stars Taraji P. Henson and Keegan-Michael Key, Entertainment Weeklyreports.
The episode, aptly titled The Great Phatsby, will air January 2017, and also marks the sitcoms first to clock in at 60 minutes.
The story will center around the friendship and feud of Mr. Burns and a rap mogul named Jay G. The two become friends during a summer in the Springfield Hamptons, during which Jay G ropes the cantankerous Mr. Burns into his excessive, glamorous lifestyle, ultimately bankrupting the tycoon and taking over his nuclear plant.
This was just going to be a regular episode, but the table read went so well, in a fit of passion and excitement and ambition and excess, we decided to supersize it, said Simpsonsexecutive producer Matt Selman. And we havent done a huge amount of stories in the world of hip-hop and rap culture, so we just went for it.
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Homer will serve as the episodes Nick Carraway, narrating Burns and Jay Gs story while also becoming entangled in it. Elsewhere, Lisa begins dating a wealthy boy and Marge opens a boutique store. Henson, meanwhile, will voice Praline, Jay Gs ex-wife and essentially a Simpsonsversion of the actress Empire character, Cookie.
She teams up with Burns and Homer and Bart and our all-star team of rappers to help get revenge on Jay G, Selman said. Among the rappers is Jazzy James, voiced by Keegan-Michael Key, an old Jay G collaborator also out for vengeance. The Great Phatsby will also feature original music written by Jim Beanz, who produces the music for Empire.
Its a tale of greed, excess, betrayal, revenge, and ruthlessness, said Selman, and theres a hilarious goose in it. The goose is really funny.
The Simpsonswill return to Fox for its 28th season on September 25th.