The twenty-first season of the American animated television series The Simpsons aired on Fox from September 27, 2009, to May 23, 2010. It was the first of two seasons that the show was renewed for by Fox,[1][2][3] and also the first season of the show to air entirely in high definition.
With this season, The Simpsons established itself as the longest-running American primetime television series surpassing Gunsmoke.[4]
The season featured eight holdover episodes from season 20’s LABF production line. John Frink was credited as an executive producer for the first time. It also featured fifteen episodes from the season’s MABF production line.
20th anniversary
In 2009, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the premiere of The Simpsons, Fox announced that a year-long celebration of the show titled "Best. 20 Years. Ever." would run from January 14, 2009 to January 14, 2010.[5]
As part of the celebration, documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock directed and produced The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special – In 3-D! On Ice!, a documentary special that examined the "cultural phenomenon of The Simpsons". Despite the title, Spurlock said the special "most likely [would] not be in 3-D nor on ice."[6] Production began at Comic-Con 2009, and the show aired on January 10, 2010 on Fox.[7][8] It included interviews with the cast and fans of the show.
For the week of November 9, 2009, several Fox shows including House, Lie to Me, Bones and Fringe featured clues and homages to the show as part of an "on-air scavenger hunt". Viewers who spotted the clues could win prizes at Fox.com.[9] Marge also appeared on the cover of the November issue of Playboy.[10]
The milestone was also celebrated in the United Kingdom with three special programmes, all twenty minutes long and entitled The Simpsons: Access All Areas, Simpsons...Mischief and Mayhem and Simpsons...Celebrity Friends respectively. They aired on Sky1 and Sky1 HD on three separate evenings from January 11 to 13, 2010. They were followed by the UK premiere of season 21's first episode, "Homer the Whopper".[11][12]
Reception
Critical reception
Robert Canning of IGN gave the season an 8.3 (improving 0.4 from the previous season) saying that it was "Impressive". He criticized the opening part of the season (other than "Homer the Whopper" and "Treehouse of Horror XX"), but praised almost every episode after "Once Upon a Time in Springfield", and considered "The Squirt and the Whale" and "The Bob Next Door" to be the season's best episodes. He also stated "the improved consistency of memorable episodes this season over years past proved that, even after 20 years, The Simpsons can still entertain".[13]
TV Fanatic called the season "great" while reviewing "Judge Me Tender",[14] while Emily St. James of The A.V. Club, while reviewing the same episode, stated "I think it's picked back up in the last few seasons and particularly in this season, which has had a lot of fun episodes in it."[15]
"The Squirt and the Whale" was also praised for its chalkboard gag, which made a reference to the controversial South Park episodes "200" and "201",[16][17] while "To Surveil with Love" was considered the "best episode in years" by Sharon Knolle of TV Squad[18] and "one of the better outings" by Ariel Ponywether of FireFox News.[19]
Ratings
In the seasonal Nielsen ratings in the 18-49 demographic, the season ranked joint 33rd with a 3.4/9 average. It also ranked 61st in the seasonal total viewers with an average of 7.208 million viewers.[20]
The most viewed and highest rated episode of the season was "Once Upon a Time in Springfield", watched by an estimated 14.62 million households and with a Nielsen rating of 6.9/17 in the 18-49 demographic.[21] The following episode, "Million Dollar Maybe", was the least viewed and lowest rated, watched by an estimated 5.110 million households and receiving a Nielsen rating of 2.4/6 in the 18-49 demographic, although this was largely down to the fact that it aired against the 2010 Grammy Awards on CBS and the 2010 Pro Bowl on ESPN.[22]
Comic Book Guy creates a new superhero called Everyman who takes powers from other superheroes. Homer is cast as the lead in the film adaptation. To get Homer into shape, the movie studio hires a celebrity fitness trainer, Lyle McCarthy to help him. Homer gets into great shape but his life falls apart when his fitness trainer quits and the movie bombs at the box office. Guest Stars: Seth Rogen, Matt Groening and Kevin Michael Richardson
Mrs. Krabappel is fired for drinking alcohol on the job (thanks to kids in her class spiking her coffee as revenge for confiscating their cell phones and BlackBerrys) and replaced with a hip, young teacher named Zachary Vaughn.
When the men and boys of Springfield become obsessed with Ultimate Fighting, Marge leads a protest against it when she catches Bart fighting in school — and ends up fighting the head of the Ultimate Fighting syndicate in order to have it banned. Guest Star: Chuck Liddell
Dial "M" for Murder or Press "#" to Return to Main Menu - In this homage to Alfred Hitchcock's suspense/murder mysteries, Lisa teams up with Bart to get revenge on their teachers after Ms. Hoover sends Lisa to detention, but the plan goes awry when Bart kills Ms. Hoover and wants Lisa to murder Mrs. Krabappel. Don't Have a Cow, Mankind - In this send-up of such dystopian apocalypse horror films as 28 Days Later and Children of Men, Krusty the Clown introduces a new hamburger that zombifies the entire town – except for Bart, whose natural immunity to the burger becomes the key to stopping the zombie attacks. There's No Business Like Moe Business - In this parody of the musical, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Moe creates a new beer that becomes a sensation — thanks to Homer being impaled on the microbrew machine and bleeding into the beer supply.
Marge becomes a sex symbol after pin-up pictures of her appear on a calendar, which embarrasses Bart and stirs lust in every man in Springfield – including Ned Flanders. Meanwhile, Carl Carlson is chosen as the Springfield Nuclear Plant's newest supervisor, and Homer gets hired as Carl's assistant.[31]
Bart tracks down an immature man named Andy Hamilton who was once hailed Springfield Elementary's best prankster, and realizes the man who was once Springfield Elementary's best prankster has no direction in his life. Meanwhile, Marge is chastised by the other mothers in her social circle for not serving healthy snacks.[31] Guest Star: Jonah Hill
Lisa befriends three practicing Wiccans and must save them from being persecuted for their beliefs. Meanwhile, Homer starts hanging out with Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel after discovering that Cletus and his friends make moonshine. Guest Star: Neve Campbell[34]
Grampa meets a human interest journalist who writes and publishes Grampa's life stories – and plots to kill Grampa for a Pulitzer. Meanwhile, Bart cares for a stuffed lamb as part of a class project. Guest Star: Mitch Albom[39]
The Krusty the Clown Show is once againretooled. This time, in a bid to get girls to watch the show, a princess character named Penelope is hired as Krusty's latest sidekick, whom Krusty hates at first – until Princess Penelope reveals that she is Krusty's biggest fan. Meanwhile, a corporate recruiter persuades Homer, Lenny, and Carl to work for a nuclear plant in Capital City, after Mr. Burns announces a moratorium on free doughnuts due to budget cuts. Guest Stars: Anne Hathaway, Gary Larson, Jackie Mason,[41] and Eartha Kitt.[42]
Homer wins the lottery, but worries when he realizes that he ditched Marge at a wedding to get the winning ticket. To cover his tracks, Homer begins spending his windfall on anonymous gifts for the family, one of which is hiring alternative rock band Coldplay to perform for Bart. Meanwhile, Lisa buys a Funtendo Zii for Grampa and his friends at the old folks' home, and the winning entry for The Simpsons create-a-character contest makes a brief cameo. Guest Star: Chris Martin[42]
The Simpsons head to the 2010 Winter Olympics where Marge and Homer compete as part of a mixed curling team and Lisa becomes addicted to collecting Olympic pins. Guest Star: Bob Costas
While going through her family history for a school project to find one Simpsons ancestor who was not an idiot, a freak, or a failure, Lisa discovers a diary of a Simpsons ancestor named Eliza whose family helped a black slave named Virgil (who looks like an African-American version of Homer) escape to freedom, but Milhouse (whose ancestors lived around the same time as Lisa's) has an alternate take on how Virgil was really treated. Guest Star: Wren T. Brown
Once again, Homer and Marge try to discipline Bart after Mrs. Krabappel tells them that Bart has not been doing his homework, but Bart has a plan to manipulate Homer's strictness and Marge's sympathetic ear.
When Mrs. Krabappel takes an extended absence her students join with the other fourth grade class where Bart falls for a girl named Nikki, who alternates between loving him and hating him. The two are seen kissing which leads to a public display of affection ban in the school. Meanwhile, First Lady Michelle Obama teaches Lisa that there is no shame in being an overachieving girl, and Nelson teaches a blind boy the art of being a schoolyard bully. Guest Stars: Sarah Silverman and Angela Bassett[42][48][49]
Ned Flanders invites the Simpson family to join him on a church retreat to Jerusalem. Homer is unappreciative of the culture, until a tour guide starts taking him around the city and a dehydrated Homer deludes himself into believing he is the Messiah.[51] Guest Stars: Sacha Baron Cohen and Yael Naim.
Smithers takes over the nuclear plant after Mr. Burns is put in jail for stealing valuable art – and starts acting like his boss when Homer and his friends begin taking advantage of his kindness.[53] Guest Stars: Joe Mantegna and Kevin Michael Richardson.
While completing his court-ordered community service (after a wrongful arrest for robbing a bank), Homer offers Chief Wiggum a sandwich and the two become friends. Meanwhile, Bart becomes addicted to a Japanese kids' game called Battle Ball, which Marge confuses for a drug addiction.[55] Guest Stars: Jane Kaczmarek, Maurice LaMarche and Joe Mantegna. Note: This is the first episode where Lisa (despite her presence) doesn't have a single line of dialogue.
Radiation seeps out of Homer's gym bag after a bomb squad blows it up and Springfield officials decide to suspend all civil liberties. Meanwhile, Lisa dyes her hair brown after being mocked for not conforming to the stereotype of the "dumb blonde."[59][60] Guest Star: Eddie Izzard[61]
Homer, Reverend Lovejoy and Apu Nahasapeemapetilon receive a letter from Moe that states he will steal one of their wives. The three get together and try to remember intimate moments between Moe and their wives. Guest Star: Don Pardo
Bart becomes convinced that their new neighbor is Sideshow Bob in disguise, but Marge does not believe him and personally takes Bart to the Springfield Maximum Security Prison to prove it. Guest Star: Kelsey Grammer.[64]
Note: The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special – In 3-D! On Ice!, which aired immediately following "Once Upon a Time in Springfield", was assigned production number LABF21 and technically counts as a component of the 20th production season (and of the 21st broadcast season). It does not, however, count towards the series' official animated episode count (i.e., it is not episode 452).
