The twelfth season of the American animated television series ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...

'' originally aired between November 2000 and May 2001. It began on Wednesday, November 1, 2000 with "

Treehouse of Horror XI "Treehouse of Horror XI" is the first episode of the twelfth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons'', the 249th episode overall, and the eleventh Halloween episode. The episode features "G-G-Ghost D-D-Dad", "Scary Tales ...

". The season contains four hold-over episodes from the season 11 (BABF) production line. The

showrunner A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also th ...

for the twelfth production season was

Mike Scully Michael C. Scully (born October 2, 1956) is an American television writer and producer. He is known for his work as executive producer and showrunner of the animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' from 1997 to 2001. Scully grew up in West Springfield, M ...

. The season won and was nominated for numerous awards including two

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

s wins and an

Annie Award The Annie Awards are accolades which the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, has presented each year since 1972 to recognize excellence in animation shown in cinema and television. Originally desi ...

. Season 12 was released on DVD in Region 1 on August 18, 2009, Region 2 on September 28, 2009, and Region 4 on September 2, 2009.

Production

The season's executive producer was once again

, in his last season as executive producer, while it was produced by

Gracie Films Gracie Films is an American film and television production company founded by James L. Brooks in 1986. The company is primarily responsible for producing its long-running flagship animated series ''The Simpsons'', as well as the films '' Big'', ...

and

20th Century Fox Television 20th Television (formerly 20th Century Fox Television, 20th Century-Fox Television, and TCF Television Productions, Inc.) is an American television production company that is a division of Disney Television Studios, part of The Walt Disney Compa ...

. He later returned to the series in season fourteen as a writer and executive producer for the episode " How I Spent My Strummer Vacation". Mike Scully has stated his goal during his tenure was to "not wreck the show". Don Payne,

John Frink John Frink (born May 5, 1959) is an American television writer and producer. He has written several episodes of the American animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'', many of which he co-wrote with his former writing partner Don Payne. Frink and Payne ...

and Bob Bendetson began writing for the series, while Larry Doyle, Julie Thacker and Tom Martin left following the completion of this season. Rob LaZebnik received his first sole writing credit for the episode "

Homer vs. Dignity "Homer vs. Dignity" is the fifth episode of the twelfth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 26, 2000. In the episode, Mr. Burns hires a cash-strapp ...

". LaZebnik would not get a writing credit for another episode until the 20th season, where he was credited for writing "

Father Knows Worst "Father Knows Worst" is the eighteenth episode of the twentieth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 26, 2009. In the episode, Bart and Lisa sta ...

". Shaun Cashman received his sole directing credit on the series this season (for the 250th episode "

A Tale of Two Springfields "A Tale of Two Springfields" is the second episode of the twelfth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons'', and the 250th episode of the series overall in both broadcast and production order. It originally aired on the F ...

"), while

Neil Affleck Neil Affleck is a Canadian animator, director, and actor. He has worked as an animator on ''The Simpsons'' and ''Family Guy''. As an actor, he appeared in the 1981 film ''Scanners'' and had a leading role in the 1981 film '' My Bloody Valentine' ...

received his final directorial credit (also for "Homer vs. Dignity").

Tom Gammill and Max Pross Tom Gammill and Max Pross are an American comedy writing team. Together they have written episodes for such successful shows as ''Seinfeld'', '' The Critic'', ''The Wonder Years'', ''It's Garry Shandling's Show'', and ''Monk''. They have also wo ...

have been promoted to produce this season. As of 2009, Gammill & Pross are still credited as such, along with

David Mirkin David Mirkin (born ) is an American feature film and television director, writer and producer. Mirkin grew up in Philadelphia and intended to become an electrical engineer, but abandoned this career path in favor of studying film at Loyola Mar ...

Mike Reiss Michael L. Reiss ( '; born ) is an American television comedy writer and author. He served as a show-runner, writer and producer for the animated series ''The Simpsons'' and co-created the animated series '' The Critic''. He created and wrote ...

(Al Jean's former writing partner) returned to the writing staff as a producer. The season began with the annual ''

Treehouse of Horror ''Treehouse of Horror'' is an annual series of special Halloween-themed episodes of the animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'', with 33 anthology episodes between 1990 and 2022. Also known as ''The Simpsons Halloween Specials'', each episode typica ...

'' episode, beginning a practice of starting the season with the episodes, as well as airing the episodes shortly after

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...

in November, due to

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

's coverage of the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

. This season brought back

Sideshow Bob Robert Underdunk Terwilliger Jr., PhD, better known as Sideshow Bob, is a recurring character in the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Kelsey Grammer and first appeared in the episode " The Telltale Head". Bob is a se ...

, who had not been seen since the eighth-season episode "

Brother from Another Series "Brother from Another Series" is the sixteenth episode of the eighth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 23, 1997. Sideshow Bob is released fro ...

". Ian Maxtone-Graham's episode "

Tennis the Menace "Tennis the Menace" is the twelfth episode of the twelfth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 11, 2001. In the episode, the Simpsons build a t ...

" became the second episode of the series to be animated using

digital ink and paint Traditional animation (or classical animation, cel animation, or hand-drawn animation) is an animation technique in which each frame is drawn by hand. The technique was the dominant form of animation in cinema until computer animation. Proce ...

, which had not been used since the season seven episode "

Radioactive Man Radioactive Man may refer to: *Radioactive Man (comics), a fictional character in the Marvel Comics Universe *Radioactive Man (The Simpsons), a fictional comic book superhero in ''The Simpsons'' :*''List_of_The_Simpsons_comics#Radioactive_Man, Radio ...

" and would not be used again (this time on a permanent basis) until the 14th season. The season would also have four episodes that would air the following season.

Reception

Critical reception

The twelfth season has received mostly positive reviews from critics. Matt Haigh of Den of Geek said that "The bad episodes are never really terrible, it's more that they're a bit boring and will most likely have you yawning 10 minutes in. With this in mind, season 12 ends up being very much a 50/50 affair". Nancy Basile gave a list of "Must See TV" episodes and "Not So Must See TV" episodes — with more of the former.

Awards

HOMR "HOMR" (styled as "HOMЯ") is the ninth episode of the twelfth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. The 257th episode overall, it originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 7, 2001. In the e ...

" was nominated for various awards.

Al Jean Alfred Ernest Jean III (born January 9, 1961) is an American screenwriter and producer. Jean is well known for his work on ''The Simpsons''. He was raised near Detroit, Michigan, and graduated from Harvard University in 1981. Jean began his wri ...

received a nomination for

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour) The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program is a Creative Arts Emmy Award which is given annually to an animated series. In the following list, the first titles listed in gold are the winners; those not in gold are nominees, which ...

the eleventh win for the series. Another Primetime Emmy Award nomination is for

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series. Starting in 2019, the category recognizes scripted programs. Unscripted programs compete for Music Composition for a Documentary ...

. Another win for "HOMR" is an

for Outstanding Writing in an Animated Television Production. Other Primetime Emmy Awards nominations include

Hank Azaria Henry Albert Azaria ( ; born April 25, 1964) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is known for voicing many characters in the animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), most notably Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum, Comic Book Guy, Sna ...

for "

Worst Episode Ever "Worst Episode Ever" is the eleventh episode of the twelfth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 4, 2001. In the episode, Bart and Milhous ...

Lisa Simpson Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. She is the middle child and most accomplished of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa was born as a character in ''The Tracey Ullman Sh ...

also won a Board of Directors Ongoing Commitment Award. The show also won at the 2002 Kids' Choice Awards.

Nielsen Rating

The season ranked 21st in the seasonal ratings with an average of 14.7 million viewers an episode, rising 6% from last season.

Episodes

Home media

The DVD boxset for season twelve was released by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

in the United States and Canada on Tuesday, August 18, 2009, eight years after it had completed broadcast on television. As well as every episode from the season, the DVD release feature bonus material including

deleted scene A deleted scene is footage that has been removed from the final version of a film or television show. There are various reasons why these scenes are deleted, which include time constraints, relevance, quality or a dropped story thread. A similar o ...

animatics A storyboard is a graphic organizer that consists of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence. The storyboarding process, in t ...

, and commentaries for every episode. The boxart features

Comic Book Guy Jeff Albertson, commonly known as Comic Book Guy, is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Hank Azaria and first appeared in the second-season episode " Three Men and a Comic Book", wh ...

, and a special limited edition "embossed head case" package was also released.

References

;Bibliography *

External links

Season 12
at The Simpsons.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Simpsons (season 12) Simpsons season 12 2000 American television seasons 2001 American television seasons