It was six years ago, just after the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs bracket was complete that I thought it might be cool to do a The Simpsons Tapped Out bracket. Here we are in the oddest of NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs of all times due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and it’s time for our sixth TSTO Addicts Bracket Battle!
How much longer EA can keep Tapped Out going is up for debate. But what isn’t debatable is that there have been A LOT of incredible guest stars appearing as themselves in the rich history of The Simpsons universe. A rare few of these (like Stephen Hawking and Weird Al) have made their way into our games. However, hundred are still not in our little game. There is so much in fact, that it was hard just to narrow it down to 64 entries to start with. I thought of making the Bracket Battle start with 128 entries, but we’d be battling well into fall. With that in mind, we present to you TSTO Addicts’ Most Desired Real Life Celebrity Bracket Battle.
We created a Bracket of 64 awesome guest starts that would join our game as playable characters.
These 64 celebrities who have appeared in an episode of The Simpsons over the past 31 seasons will then battle each other in six rounds of head-to-head matchups, that we hope produces the most debate in the comments below. Every Saturday over summer, we’ll post that week’s matchups and your votes will determine which celebrity advances to the next round, until we’ve crowned “The Most Desired Real Life Celebrity” on Saturday September 19th.
Quickly, some general housekeeping rules and guidelines:
– The expanded landscape of The Simpsons means there are several celebrities that could have made the bracket, but ultimately just fell short. As a result, groups like Aerosmith, Green Day, and N’Sync were also excluded.
– The selected 64 celebrities have been divided into eight conferences: Singers (Female), Actors (Female), Authors/Journalists, Scientists/Activists/Entrepreneurs/Politicians, Singers (Male), Actors (Male), Athletes, and Comedians.
– Weekly matchups will be posted on Saturday and voting will remain open for around 6 days until noon EDT the following Friday.
– The schedule of matchups is as follows:
o Saturday July 11th – The 1 vs 8 matchups in all eight conferences
o Saturday July 18th – The 2 vs 7 matchups in all eight conferences
o Saturday July 25th – The 3 vs 6 matchups in all eight conferences
o Saturday August 1st – The 4 vs 5 matchups in all eight conferences
o Saturday August 8th – The 1st semifinal matchups in all eight conferences
o Saturday August 15th – The 2nd semifinal matchups in all eight conferences
o Saturday August 22nd – The championship finals matchups in all eight conferences
o Saturday August 29th – The quarterfinal matchups
o Saturday September 5th – The Final Four semifinals matchups
o Saturday September 12th – The Championship Finals matchup
o Saturday September 19th – The winner is unveiled
– Should any celebrity be released into our game over the summer, they will be replaced by the celebrity they most recently defeated.
Here’s the Bracket unveiled (click on image to view enlarged version):
Now without further ado, our first set of head-to-head matchups featuring the 1 vs 8 matchups in all eight conferences:
SINGERS (Female)
Tale of the Tape: Gaga versus the She Wolf!
Lady Gaga appears in “Angry Dad: The Movie” (S22, E14) and “Lisa Goes Gaga” (S23, E22). She is also mentioned in “Homer Scissorhands” (S22, E20) and parodied in “The Ned-liest Catch” (S22, E22). She is most remembered for an episode centered around her and Lisa, appearing on her own Gaga train, singing a few songs, wearing a meat dress Homer starts eating, and of course for kissing Marge.
Judith Owens, who happens to be married to The Simpsons voice actor Harry Shearer, appears in “The Blunder Years” (S13, E05). She is most remembered for singing and playing the piano at The Pimento Grove while the Simpson family was there.
ACTORS (Female)
Tale of the Tape: Xena versus Wonder Woman!
Lucy Lawless, often appearing in the guise of her popular TV character Xena, appears in “Mayored to the Mob” (S10, E09), “Treehouse of Horror X” (S11, E04), and “Children of a Lesser Clod” (S12, E20). She is also mentioned in “Little Girl in the Big Ten” (S13, E20), shown in a photo in “Helter Shelter” (S14, E05), and has an archival footage appearance in “Gump Roast” (S13, E17). She is most remembered for being collected by The Collector and saved by Stretch Dude and Clobber Girl.
Gal Gadot appears in “Bart’s Not Dead” (S30, E01). She is most remembered for auditioning for the role of ‘Lisa Simpson’ in the movie about Bart’s experiences in Heaven.
AUTHORS/JOURNALISTS
Tale of the Tape: Pothead versus Moneyball!
J.K. Rowling appears in “The Regina Monologues” (S15, E04). She is most remembered for meeting Lisa and the Simpsons outside a bookshop, replying “Thank you, young Muggle” to Lisa’s appreciation of the books, and sarcastically responding to what will happen in the end of the series (as her appearance predates the end of the series).
Bill James appears in “MoneyBART” (S22, E03). He is most remembered for introducing Lisa to the concept of sabermetrics, when she runs into Professor Frink and the nerds at Moe’s.
SCIENTISTS/ACTIVISTS/ENTREPRENEURS/POLITICIANS
Tale of the Tape: Tesla versus Facebook!
Elon Musk appears in “The Musk Who Fell to Earth” (S26, E12). He is also mentioned in “My Fare Lady” (S26, E14), “The Princess Guide” (S26, E15), “Flanders’ Ladder” (S29, E21), and his name is seen in “Steal This Episode” (S25, E09″). He is most remembered for befriending Homer, improving the nuclear plant with Homer, leaving for space, and playing Tapped Out in space.
Mark Zuckerberg appears in “Loan-a Lisa” (S22, E02). He is most remembered for appearing at an entrepreneurs expo, when Lisa wants to teach Nelson the value of not dropping out of school.
SINGERS (Male)
Tale of the Tape: Walrus of Love versus Sexiest Man Alive!
Barry White appears in “Whacking Day” (S04, E20) and “Krusty Gets Kancelled” (S04, E22). He is most remembered for helping Lisa and Bart save the snakes during Whacking Day festivities in Springfield.
John Legend appears, alongside his wife Chrissy Teigen, in “The Miseducation of Lisa Simpson” (S31, E12). He is most remembered for singing a song about STEM.
ACTORS (Male)
Tale of the Tape: ‘What’chu talkin’ ’bout, Willis?‘ versus ‘I pity the fool‘!
Gary Coleman appears in “Grift of the Magi” (S11, E09), “Day of the Jackanapes” (S12, E13), “Homerazzi” (S18, E16), and “Million-Dollar Abie” (S17, E16). He is also mentioned in “The Great Louse Detective” (S14, E06), appears in a clip during “Behind the Laughter” (S11, E22), and has his voice replayed in a clip during “A Tale of Two Springfields” (S12, E02). He is most remembered for being the security guard at the Funzo factory.
Mr. T appears in “Today, I am a Clown” (S15, E06). He also appears in “Homer the Great” (S06, E12), “Treehouse of Horror XII” (S13, E01), “The Old Man and the Key” (S13, E13), “I Am Furious (Yellow)” (S13, E18), “Homerazzi” (S18, E16), and “Midnight Towboy” (S19, E03), but voiced by Hank Azaria. He is also mentioned in “Homer Badman” (S06, E09) and “Marge’s Son Poisoning” (S17, E05), and is seen in a picture in “Treehouse of Horror XXX” (S31, E04). He is most remembered for being a celebrity guest as part of Krusty’s bar mitzma.
ATHLETES
Tale of the Tape: The Straw versus Wonder Boy!
Darryl Strawberry appears in “Homer at the Bat” (S03, E17). He is most remembered for taking Homer’s spot on the SNPP softball team, and being the only pro to make it to the final game.
Jeff Gordon appears in “Adventures in Baby-Getting” (S24, E03). He was also Simpsonized for a 2017 Super Bowl commercial about the 2017 Daytona 500. He is most remembered for his quick one second cameo when he comes in and says “Hi” to Moe, right after Moe randomly says his name during an interview with Kent Brockman.
COMEDIANS
Tale of the Tape: King of Late Night versus Charlie Everybody!
Johnny Carson appears in “Krusty Gets Kancelled” (S04, E22). He also is seen in “Lisa’s Pony” (S03, E08). He is most remembered for being approached to help out in Krusty’s comeback special.
Bob Newhart appears in “Bart the Fink” (S07, E15). He is most remembered for being pulled in by Troy McClure to speak at Krusty’s funeral, even though he was there waiting for another funeral.
Reminder, voting is open until noon EDT Friday July 17th.
What are your thoughts on this weeks eight matchups? Of the eight matchups above, which was the easiest decision and which was the hardest? What do you think of the bracket? Which celebrity would you have added? Are you disappointed groups like Aerosmith, Green Day, N’Sync, etc. were not included in a conference? Sound off below, you know we love hearing from you.
Carson vs Newhart was very difficult, Mr. T vs Gary Coleman next to impossible!
Those were probably my toughest two as well.
Thanks for putting this together. I’m looking forward to see the results. While I do prefer some celebs over others, I’m mostly picking those who I think would have the better in-game quest and animated jobs. Also, Lucy Lawless should win over Gal based on her multiple appearances alone.
Agree and definitely tried to take that into account. I’m a big Gal Gadot fan, but the tasks Lucy could do and the number of appearances she has gave her the #1 rank, while Gal sneaked in at #8 due to her star power.
Carson vs Newhart… tough one. This would’ve been a great Final Four matchup. Here, I think I had to flip a coin best four-out-of-seven before I finally settled on Johnny. Plus, “Balance a Buick on His Chin” would make a great four-hour visual task.
Mets fan, so I’m pulling for Darryl Steawberry to get some mileage, too…
Carson got the number 1 seed just because of that visual task.
Seeding was based on numerous factors, including number of appearances, importance to plot, memorability, actual star power, etc.
Love how much thought you put into this, Safi!
Given how many times I have mentioned spinal tap, I am very disappointed.
I am calling it here, the final will be Stan Lee vs. Leonard Nimoy.
Others that I didn’t spot on myvquick review, Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe and Mitch Marner.
Good prediction. Let’s see what happens.
For the Athletes, I tried to include as many different sports as possible. So Gretzky is in, but Howe and Marner are not. Also, Gretzky voiced himself. Marner and Howe were shown, but did not voice themselves (hence did not qualify.
What about Phil Hartman ( rip). He been part of the Simpson almost from the start. Yes it is very sad to have his cut so short. What better way to remember him than adding the lye lutz or Troy McClure.
Phil Hartman has been the focus of comments dating back to our very first Bracket Battle 6 years ago, when both Troy McClure and Lionel Hutz were not included in the most desired character Bracket Battle. For this one, I only included celebrities who appeared as themselves. I didn’t include celebrities who played someone else.
I love these bracket battles and so glad it’s back again this year! Thanks Safi 😀
Thank you. Be sure to come and vote each week this summer.
The toughest one for me was Carson..vs….Newhart…that’s tough. Had to go with Newhart.
That was the toughest Round 1 vote for me. A lot of conferences, it was extremely tough just to narrow it down to 8.
Has Trump never been a guest star on the show? I remember President Lisa Simpson’s joke about him…
No, Trump has never guest starred on the show. He’s been depicted before (maybe even voiced, but not by Trump).
Buzz Aldrin to beat Mick Jagger in the final….
Am I showing my age? 🙂
Nice prediction! Let’s see what happens.
Excellent Safi!
( In Burns’ voice, of course! )
Woohoo!
(In Homer’s voice, of course!)
BRACKET BATTLE!!!! YIPPEE 🥳 Thanks Safi!! 🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩 Happy Day Friends and Happy Tappin!!
Be sure to vote every week!
SnugsP, thank you for visiting my town the other day, it’s been quite quiet lately! Did you notice any of the changes? I’m in the midst of a redesign at the moment.
Best Bracket Ever ! Great match ups with some tough decisions to make. Just wish we could get Tom Petty added to the musicians pool.
Honestly, the musicians was the hardest, as I could have done just an entire bracket for musicians alone.
1) SINGERS (Female)
Judith Owens (what? no Lady Gaga? No, actually some of us remember Gitane Demone – who was doing the same thing – only better back in 1991!)
https://youtu.be/_ufHFYVKdDg
2) ACTORS (Female)
Lucy Lawless (I don’t hate Gal Gadot, it’s just Lucy Lawless for me!)
3) AUTHORS/JOURNALISTS
Bill James (J.K. Rowling is getting canceled)
4) SCIENTISTS/ACTIVISTS/ENTREPRENEURS/POLITICIANS
Elon Musk (the Zuck is definitely canceled!)!
5) SINGERS (Male)
Barry White (c’mon, it’s Barry White!)
6) ACTORS (Male)
Mr. T (sorry Gary Coleman)
7) ATHLETES
Jeff Gordon (not sorry Darryl Strawberry)
8) COMEDIANS
Bob Newhart (I do miss Johnny Carson, just not how he behaved in real life)
Thanks Safi – it’s great to vote in a Poll again! 🤓👍🏻
Nice votes. Let’s see how many times the majority agree with you.
Ah…so this phrase I hear..”cancel culture”…this is true from what I can tell from your list of picks. “Cancel” anything/anyone that doesn’t agree with your viewpoint. Unless it’s a celebrity of a particular ilk…such as Jimmy Fallon…anyone think he will be cancelled. Most media never covered this. One did. Pretty soon cancel culture may come after you. The Simpsons have did/said some racy things…have you?
There are only 2 referenced as canceled (not my choice, it’s just happening).
1 talkshow host who was funny in his era (but I’d never defend his alcoholism, cheating, bad behaviour, etc – some of us who worked in the entertainment industry back in the day remember who was nice and who wasn’t).
An athlete who ruined his career with narcotics (I’ll give you another example – Steve Sax – nobody to applaud over).
I could’ve chosen either actress (both are fantastic), but definitely prefer an original singer (not a copy cat) and my choice is too Independent for tv (she’s seems to be doing fine for 40 years now).
1 singer who deserved every award he got (from writing to performing).
Not sorry if I triggered you (that’s your problem) if I used canceled twice (because it’s happening – not my choice, but it is).
Could the bracket image possibly require some maintenance to allow us to ‘click on image to view enlarged version’?
I’ll have to ask the Queen, Alissa, to double check.
I’ve checked on my laptop, desktop, iPad, and iPhone, and am able to enlarge on all 4. Anyone else having a problem where they cannot enlarge the picture?
I saved it to cloud storage and it’s large enough to view on my tablet (I believe most can save it to their cloud storage and view on a computer, too). ☺️
Love a Safi bracket!
Thanks! Glad it’s appreciated.