‘The Simpsons’ Season 38 Episode 4 Release Date, Time, Where to Watch and Preview

‘The Simpsons’ returns to Fox on Sunday, October 25, at 8 PM ET with an installment titled ‘Treehouse of Horror XXXVII’. The episode is the show’s annual Halloween anthology, and Fox has now confirmed most of the practical details viewers need before tuning in. Here is what is known about the The Simpsons new episode release date and how to catch it.

The episode arrives after an unusual stretch on the calendar. Fox’s animated sitcom took a week off ahead of its Halloween programming, and a full length slasher story arrived in Springfield a week ahead of the traditional anthology. That gives horror fans two Halloween outings from the same series in one month.

Release Date for the New ‘The Simpsons’ Episode

Fox lists the episode for Sunday, October 25, 2026, and TheTVDB gives the same date for ‘Treehouse of Horror XXXVII’. Wikisimpsons counts it as the 813th episode of the series overall. The date is consistent across the listings checked for this piece.

The episode was directed by David Silverman and written by Joel H. Cohen, Jessica Conrad and Tim Long. Silverman’s credit is a notable one for fans who follow the creative teams behind each Halloween special. The writing trio gives the anthology a three person team behind its three stories.

The run so far has followed a clear path. The season opened on September 27 with ‘The Children’s Book Job’ and continued on October 4 with ‘Diary of a Chimpy Kid’, before the first Halloween flavored episode, ‘Treehouse of Horror Presents: The Revengening’, aired on October 18.

Viewers wondering what comes next will not wait long. TheTVDB lists a follow up episode on November 1 and another titled ‘The Kosmic Kruiser’ on November 8. These later dates are listings rather than confirmed network announcements, so they may shift.

Air Time and Schedule on Fox

Episodes of the show premiere at 8 PM ET and PT on Sundays. Coverage of the Halloween special also lists an 8 p.m. start on October 25. Because the time is the same on both coasts, East Coast and West Coast viewers can tune in at the same clock time.

The series airs as part of Fox’s Animation Domination block alongside ‘Animal Control’, ‘Grimsburg’ and ‘Universal Basic Guys’. That placement gives the Halloween episode a built in audience of viewers who stay for the full animated lineup. It also means the anthology competes for attention with a crowded Sunday night.

The current run is part of a four season order that Fox announced on April 2, 2025, with fifteen episodes planned for each season. Matt Selman remains the primary showrunner. His steady hand has shaped the show’s tone through this stretch.

The next few seasons each include two Disney+ exclusive episodes that sit outside the regular Fox count. Those episodes will not affect the October 25 broadcast. They do matter for viewers who plan to follow the full run on streaming.

Where to Watch the Halloween Special

The simplest option is the live Fox broadcast on Sunday night. For viewers without cable, Tom’s Guide notes that the season can be streamed on Fox One, which offers a trial period. That route lets cord cutters watch at the same time as everyone else.

Streaming plans appear to center on Hulu and Disney+. The official poster carries the Hulu on Disney+ logo and a line addressed to Hulu and bundle subscribers, while Disney+ lists a Treehouse of Horror playlist among its Halloween playlists that are coming soon. Those details point to a next day or near term streaming arrival for subscribers.

Timing for this exact episode is not yet confirmed. Reports say the main Halloween special will be available on Hulu the following day, but listings do not confirm the streaming date, so it is worth checking Hulu after the broadcast. Rotten Tomatoes lists the season as available with a subscription on Disney+ or Hulu.

International viewers have fewer certainties. Tom’s Guide says Disney+ is the place to watch outside the United States, although no official release date has been given. In Canada the season premiere aired on Citytv, and Reelgood lists Disney+ as the home for Australian viewers.

Preview of the Story and Segments

Rotten Tomatoes describes an episode in which Marge gets a horrifying new perspective on marriage, Bart and Santa’s Little Helper embark on a bone chilling adventure, and Homer takes a driving lesson. That short summary sets up three separate stories in the usual anthology format. Each one leans on a familiar horror premise.

In the first segment, Homer goes to the shed and comes out as a different husband for Marge, who is suddenly married to Lenny, or to Kang and Kodos. In the second, Homer accidentally kills Bart and Santa’s Little Helper and buries them, only for the pair to return with their bodies switched.

The third segment finds the teenage versions of Bart and Lisa discovering that evil witch versions of Patty and Selma have trapped Homer, who vanished years ago, in endless murderous Driver’s Ed films. The poster shows Patty and Selma as witches in DMV traffic cone hats beside a car, with Homer holding a shovel over a grave. The imagery fits the story well.

Fox is also opening the Halloween run with a stop motion parody of ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’, with Bart as Jack Skellington, Marge as Sally and Homer as the Mayor of Halloween Town. The tone of the season has drawn a measured response so far. IGN gave the new season a 6 out of 10 and said it does nothing especially noteworthy to mark the occasion, which leaves room for the anthology to win viewers back, so do you think Homer’s endless Driver’s Ed nightmare or Marge’s swapped husbands will turn out to be the standout of this year’s ‘Treehouse of Horror’?