The Simpsons season 21

Voice cast & characters

Main article: List of The Simpsons characters

Main cast

• Dan Castellaneta as Homer Simpson, Krusty the Clown, Mr. Teeny, Itchy, Santa's Little Helper, Squeaky-Voiced Teen, Groundskeeper Willie, Sideshow Mel, Blue-Haired Lawyer, Barney Gumble, Hans Moleman, Grampa Simpson, Kodos, Louie, Frankie the Squealer, Mayor Quimby, Lance Murdock, Snowball II, Rich Texan and various others
• Julie Kavner as Marge Simpson, Selma Bouvier, Patty Bouvier and Jacqueline Bouvier
• Nancy Cartwright as Bart Simpson, Nelson Muntz, Kearney Zzyzwicz, Ralph Wiggum, Todd Flanders, and various others
• Yeardley Smith as Lisa Simpson
• Hank Azaria as Comic Book Guy, Carl Carlson, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Moe Szyslak, Disco Stu, Drederick Tatum, Akira Kurosawa, Chief Wiggum, Julio, Cletus Spuckler, Johnny Tightlips, Superintendent Chalmers, Old Jewish Man, Coach Krupt, Bumblebee Man, Lou, Kirk Van Houten, Snake, Duffman, The Parson, Dr. Nick Riviera and various others
• Harry Shearer as Lenny Leonard, Scratchy, Dr. Hibbert, Dewey Largo, Principal Skinner, Ned Flanders, Otto Mann, Mr. Burns, Kent Brockman, Rainier Wolfcastle, Reverend Lovejoy, Kang, Judge Snyder, Jasper Beardly, Waylon Smithers, Eddie and various others

Supporting cast

• Pamela Hayden as Milhouse Van Houten, Jimbo Jones, Sarah Wiggum, Rod Flanders, Janey Powell and various others
• Tress MacNeille as Crazy Cat Lady, Bernice Hibbert, Dolph Shapiro, Agnes Skinner, Mrs. Muntz, Manjula Nahasapeemapetilon, Brandine Spuckler, Dubya Spuckler, Whitney Spuckler, Medicine Woman, Cookie Kwan, Lunchlady Dora, Miss Springfield, Shauna Chalmers, Lindsay Naegle and various others
• Karl Wiedergott as additional characters
• Russi Taylor as Martin Prince, Sherri, Terri and Üter Zörker
• Maggie Roswell as Luann Van Houten, Helen Lovejoy, Elizabeth Hoover, Maude Flanders and various others

Episodes

Guest Stars: Seth Rogen, Matt Groening and Kevin Michael Richardson Guest Star: Chuck Liddell

• "Dial "M" for Murder or Press "#" to Return to Main Menu": Lisa conspires with Bart to get revenge on their teachers after Ms. Hoover sends Lisa to detention. However, when Bart kills Hoover, but Lisa does not kill Mrs. Krabappel, he tries to blackmail her. To stop him, Lisa chases Bart with a knife until she declares she is not a murderer. She throws the knife away, but it flies back and kills Bart.

• "Don't Have a Cow, Mankind": Krusty the Clown introduces a new hamburger made from cows that have eaten other cows. The burgers turn the townsfolk into zombies, but the Simpsons have survived. When they learn Bart is immune, the family make their way to a safe zone to develop a cure. Upon arrival, Bart is made to bathe in people's food to gain immunity.

• "There's No Business Like Moe Business": Moe creates a new beer that becomes a sensation thanks to Homer being impaled on the microbrew machine and bleeding into the beer supply. Moe tries to woo Marge by saying Homer left her, but Homer returns and hurls Moe away to reunite with Marge. Guest Star: Jonah Hill Guest Star: Neve Campbell Guest Stars: Eli Manning, Peyton Manning, Cooper Manning, Kim Cattrall, Jordan Nagai, Huell Howser and the Smothers Brothers Guest Star: Mitch Albom Guest Stars: Anne Hathaway, Gary Larson, Jackie Mason, and Eartha Kitt. Guest Star: Chris Martin Guest Star: Bob Costas Guest Star: Wren T. Brown Guest Stars: Sarah Silverman and Angela Bassett Guest Stars: Sacha Baron Cohen and Yael Naim. Guest Stars: Joe Mantegna and Kevin Michael Richardson. 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. Guest Star: Eddie Izzard Guest Star: Don Pardo Guest Star: Kelsey Grammer. Guest Stars: Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson, Ellen DeGeneres, Kara DioGuardi, Ryan Seacrest and Rupert Murdoch.

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).

Production

This season and the previous season were ordered in February 2009. Al Jean remained as showrunner, a role he had since the thirteenth season. 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.

The season premiered with an episode written by guest writers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. It also featured the final episode written by Daniel Chun before he left to join the American version of the television series The Office.

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.

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." Production began at Comic-Con 2009, and the show aired on January 10, 2010 on Fox. 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. Marge also appeared on the cover of the November issue of Playboy.

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".

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".

TV Fanatic called the season "great" while reviewing "Judge Me Tender", 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."

"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", while "To Surveil with Love" was considered the "best episode in years" by Sharon Knolle of TV Squad and "one of the better outings" by Ariel Ponywether of FireFox News.

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.

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. 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.

Awards

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by The Simpsons

Anne Hathaway won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for voicing Princess Penelope in "Once Upon a Time in Springfield", while Dan Castellaneta and Hank Azaria were also nominated for "Thursdays with Abie" and "Moe Letter Blues" respectively. "Treehouse of Horror XX" won for Writing in a Television Production at the Annie Awards. "Once Upon a Time in Springfield" also received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Animated Program, while The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special - In 3-D! On Ice! was nominated for Outstanding Nonfiction Special. The show was also once again nominated for Favorite Cartoon at the 2010 Kids' Choice Awards. The season was also nominated for three awards at the 2010 Writers Guild of America Awards. Stephanie Gills was nominated for writing "Moe Letter Blues", and Matt Selman was nominated for "O Brother, Where Bart Thou?". The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special — In 3-D! On Ice! was also nominated for Comedy/Variety – Music, Awards, Tributes – Specials.

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