‘The Simpsons’ Season 38 Episode 2 Release Date, Time, Preview, and Where to Watch

Springfield’s longest running family is settling back into its Sunday night rhythm, and fans who caught the season premiere are already looking ahead to what comes next. The thirty-eighth season of The Simpsons premiered on Fox on September 27, 2026, with 15 broadcast episodes planned for the run. The second episode of the season is now on the horizon, and it promises a very different kind of Springfield chaos than the one Homer stumbled into during the premiere.

This new episode leans into a classic sitcom setup involving a mismatched pet and a household that cannot agree on how to raise it. Anyone who wants to know exactly when ‘The Simpsons’ returns, what the episode is about, and how to catch it live or later will find everything laid out below.

When Does ‘The Simpsons’ Season 38 Episode 2 Air

The second episode of the season is titled ‘Diary of a Chimpy Kid,’ and it has a confirmed premiere date that fans can pencil into their weekend plans. The episode is scheduled to premiere on October 4, 2026. That keeps the show on its familiar weekly cadence, arriving exactly one week after the season opener introduced Emma Thompson’s guest character to Springfield Elementary.

As for timing, ‘The Simpsons’ has not moved from the slot it has occupied for years. New episodes air Sunday nights at 8 in the Eastern and Pacific time zones, which puts the show at the front of Fox’s Animation Domination block. Viewers on Central and Mountain time should adjust accordingly, since the 8/7c designation means the episode airs an hour earlier in those zones relative to the Eastern feed.

Fox has also kept the show’s night intact around it. The Simpsons leads into the return of Animal Control and the continuation of Universal Basic Guys, maintaining the same Sunday animation lineup that has anchored the network’s fall schedule. That consistency matters for a show that has relied on a stable timeslot to hold its audience through nearly four decades on the air.

Episode numbering can sometimes get confusing this early in a season, but the sourcing here is straightforward. TV Guide lists the October 4 episode as the second installment of Season 38, confirming its place directly after the premiere. That aligns with the broader rollout plan Fox has followed for the show’s recent seasons.

A Preview of ‘Diary of a Chimpy Kid’

The premise of episode two centers on an unusual addition to the Simpson household. Bart and Lisa adopt an abandoned baby chimpanzee and quickly find themselves at odds over how it should be raised, a disagreement that plays out before the animal is eventually taken by a private zoo. It is a setup that gives the two siblings a rare shared storyline, even if their approaches to parenting a primate diverge almost immediately.

Homer’s role in the episode leans into his usual instincts for self preservation. According to TV Guide, Homer spends much of the episode worried that the chimp will rip off his face, a fear that colors his reaction to the new houseguest. That detail suggests the episode will lean on physical comedy and Homer’s chronic bad luck with animals, a well worn but reliable vein of humor for the series.

The broader shape of the story, a family taking in an animal that ultimately cannot stay, is a familiar sitcom structure, but the specifics here are distinctly Simpsons. Bart and Lisa’s clashing philosophies on caretaking give the episode a chance to explore their sibling dynamic outside of school or Springfield Elementary, where much of the premiere took place.

There is no indication yet of major guest stars attached to this particular episode, unlike the premiere’s use of Emma Thompson. The focus appears to sit squarely on the core family, with the chimp itself functioning as the catalyst for the plot rather than a vehicle for celebrity casting.

Where to Watch ‘The Simpsons’ Season 38 Online

For viewers who want to watch live, Fox remains the exclusive home for the episode’s first airing. The Simpsons Season 38 premieres on Fox and becomes available the next day on Hulu, a pattern that should hold for episode two as well. That means cord cutters without a live television package will need to wait until the Monday after broadcast to stream ‘Diary of a Chimpy Kid’ on Hulu.

Streaming access has become an increasingly important part of how the show reaches its audience. Beyond the Fox broadcast season, several episodes this year were ordered specifically for Disney+, where they are set to be released exclusively through that service. Episode two does not appear to be one of those Disney+ exclusives, since it is confirmed as part of the standard Fox broadcast run.

For viewers outside the United States, availability will vary by region and streaming partner, as has been the case in past seasons. Those who track the show closely should expect regional platforms to pick up new episodes on a delay similar to the domestic Hulu rollout, though exact timing outside the US can differ from market to market.

Anyone relying on a traditional antenna or cable subscription will have the simplest path, since Fox’s Sunday night lineup requires no additional login or subscription. That straightforward access has likely helped the show remain one of the more consistently available long running series on broadcast television.

How ‘The Simpsons’ Season 38 Has Performed So Far

The season premiere gave an early read on how audiences are responding to this stretch of episodes. The season premiere drew a 1.4 rating in the 18 to 49 demographic and 3.364 million viewers, which was down slightly from the prior year’s premiere in the ratings but up in total viewership. Despite the mixed comparison to last year, the numbers were enough to make the show the top performer across all of Fox’s Sunday lineup.

That kind of network leverage still matters for a series in its thirty eighth year. The Simpsons was the only Fox show that night to clear the three million viewer mark, and it also placed second outside of sports programming among the 18 to 49 demographic. For a series many assumed would have faded from relevance years ago, that kind of standing on a competitive night says something about its staying power.

Showrunner Matt Selman has also offered some insight into how the season will unfold from here. According to TVInsider, the show will air its 15 episodes sequentially through the fall and winter months rather than splitting the season with a long midyear break. That should give fans a more predictable weekly release pattern than some recent seasons have offered.

With a shorter Fox order this year and additional Disney+ exclusives layered into the schedule, the way ‘The Simpsons’ distributes its content continues to evolve even as the core creative team stays largely the same. Episode two will be an early test of whether the animal centric storyline can hold the momentum the premiere built.

Given how often Bart and Lisa end up on opposite sides of a decision, what does the internet think a chimpanzee will do to that sibling dynamic once it lands in the Simpson house.