Ned Flanders Metal Band Okilly Dokilly Appear In The Simpsons Episode

Cameos on The Simpsons are reserved for the world's most famous names - Katy Perry, Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger have all had their turn on the animated series.

So imagine how made up Ned Flanders-themed metal band 'Okilly Dokilly' were to get a call from makers of the show asking them to appear.

As the end credits rolled on Sunday's episode, the screen cut away from the usual black to the sight of the four men having it, smashing up glasses and instruments - all while dressed like Ned Flanders.

The Arizona five piece pay homage to Homer's Christian neighbour and describe their sound as 'Nedal'. For those of us who are real fans of The Simpsons, you'll notice the band drop in various references to the characters most famous lines.

In their appearance, the lead singer sings the lyrics: "You only live once/give me a white wine spritzer" - taken from 1999 episode 'Viva Ned Flanders'.

Speaking to Rolling Stone, frontman Head Ned said: "I'm very much in disbelief. It's like this is just a strange alternate universe and I'm gonna wake up the next day and it's just like, 'No, you didn't start the Ned Flanders band, you still work in accounting.

"And I'll be like, 'Well alright, at least my imagination knows how to have a good time'."

What started out as a joke between four friends has landed them a nice big 15 minutes of fame, as well as the fact they've been immortalised on one of the world's most popular TV shows.

"We saw the video and knew they had to be on the show," Simpsons showrunner Al Jean said. "We do not endorse their message of indiscriminate drinking of white wine spritzers."

The Simpsons has been on for well over 20 years now and so obviously it's bound to have had its ups and downs. One guy, however, has taken it upon himself to work out that there are now more 'bad' episodes then good.

Twitter/Sol Harris

Let me just be clear here - as a big fan of the show, I wholeheartedly disagree with this, and think they are actually getting funnier.

But to give him credit where it's due, Sol Harris showed massive commitment to the cause when he watched every single Simpsons episode, ranked them out of ten, and then came up with a graph to help us visualise what he calls 'The Decline of The Simpsons'.

Long story short, he thinks that season 23 onwards is when The Simpsons finally became 'bad television'. Couldn't disagree more.

Topics: TV and Film, the simpsons, US Entertainment

Amelia Ward

Amelia is a journalist at LADbible. After studying journalism at Liverpool John Moores and Salford Uni (don't ask), she went into PR and then the world of music. She spent a few years working on festivals and events before joining LADbible. In her spare time, Amelia likes music and spending good, quality time with her cat, Paul. You can contact Amelia at [email protected].

@ameliasward