The twenty-first 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, ...

'' aired on

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 ...

from September 27, 2009, to May 23, 2010. It was the first of two seasons that the show was renewed for by Fox, 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 ''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centers on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central character ...

''. The season received mainly positive reviews from critics, with many praising "

The Squirt and the Whale "The Squirt and the Whale" is the nineteenth episode of the twenty-first season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. The 460th episode of the series overall, it originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on A ...

", " To Surveil with Love" and "

The Bob Next Door "The Bob Next Door" is the twenty-second and penultimate episode of the twenty-first season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 16, 2010. In the episode, ...

". The show moved up 16 positions in the

Nielsen ratings Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

from the previous season and received numerous award nominations, winning two — an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

for

Anne Hathaway Anne Jacqueline Hathaway (born November 12, 1982) is an American actress. The recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award, she was among the world's highest-paid actresses in 2 ...

for her voicing in "

Once Upon a Time in Springfield "Once Upon a Time in Springfield" is the tenth episode of the twenty-first season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 10, 2010. It was promoted as the ...

", 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 ...

for "

Treehouse of Horror XX "Treehouse of Horror XX" is the fourth episode of the twenty-first season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 18, 2009. This is the twentieth "Treehouse of ...

Production

The season featured eight holdover episodes from season 20’s LABF production line.

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 ...

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. As part of the celebration, documentary filmmaker

Morgan Spurlock Morgan Valentine Spurlock (born November 7, 1970) is an American documentary filmmaker, humorist, television producer, screenwriter and playwright. Spurlock's films include '' Super Size Me'' (2004), '' Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?'' ( ...

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

ould Ould is an English surname and an Arabic name ( ar, ولد). In some Arabic dialects, particularly Hassaniya Arabic, ولد‎ (the patronymic, meaning "son of") is transliterated as Ould. Most Mauritanians have patronymic surnames. Notable p ...

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 A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

'', ''

Lie to Me ''Lie to Me'' (stylized as ''Lie to me*'') is an American crime drama television series. It originally ran on the Fox network from January 21, 2009, to January 31, 2011. In the show, Dr. Cal Lightman (Tim Roth) and his colleagues in The Lightma ...

'', ''

Bones A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, a ...

'' and ''

Fringe Fringe may refer to: Arts * Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest arts festival, known as "the Fringe" * Adelaide Fringe, the world's second-largest annual arts festival * Fringe theatre, a name for alternative theatre * The Fringe, the ...

'' 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 ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

''. The milestone was also celebrated in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

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 Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

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 "Homer the Whopper" is the twenty-first season premiere of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on September 27, 2009. In the episode, Comic Book Guy creates a new s ...

Reception

Critical reception

Robert Canning of

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

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 "

" and "

"), but praised almost every episode after "

", and considered "

" and "

" 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 "Judge Me Tender" is the twenty-third and final episode of the twenty-first season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. The 464th episode of the series overall, it originally aired on the Fox network in the United States ...

", while Emily VanDerWerff of

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

, 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 ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boys Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand th ...

'' episodes " 200" and " 201", while "To Surveil with Love" was considered the "best episode in years" by Sharon Knolle of

TV Squad Weblogs, Inc. was a blog network that published content on a variety of subjects, including tech news, video games, automobiles and pop culture. At one point, the network had as many as 90 blogs, although the vast majority of its traffic could be ...

and "one of the better outings" by Ariel Ponywether of FireFox News.

Ratings

In the seasonal

Nielsen rating Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rati ...

s 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 "

", 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 CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

and the 2010 Pro Bowl on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

Awards

won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for voicing Princess Penelope in "

", while

Dan Castellaneta Daniel Louis Castellaneta (; born October 29, 1957) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is best known for voicing Homer Simpson on the animated series ''The Simpsons'' (as well as other characters on the show such as Abraham "Grampa" ...

and

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 ...

were also nominated for " Thursdays with Abie" and "

Moe Letter Blues "Moe Letter Blues" is the twenty-first episode of the twenty-first season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 9, 2010. In this episode, Homer, Reverend Lov ...

" respectively. "

" won for Writing in a Television Production at the

Annie Awards 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 Film, cinema and television. Originally ...

. "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.Nominations: Official Primetime Emmy Award Nominees
Emmys.tv (July 8, 2010). The show was also once again nominated for Favorite Cartoon at the

2010 Kids' Choice Awards The 23rd Annual Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards was held on March 27, 2010, on the Nell and John Wooden Court of Pauley Pavilion, on the campus of UCLA in Los Angeles, California with Kevin James as host. With the launch of Nickelodeon Canada ...

. The season is currently nominated for three awards at the 2010

Writers Guild of America Awards The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility The ...

. Stephanie Gills is nominated for writing "

" as well as

Matt Selman Matt Selman (born }) is an American writer and producer. Early life Selman is a native of Watertown, Massachusetts. He graduated from Beaver Country Day School in 1989 and the University of Pennsylvania in 1993. Career After considering a car ...

who is nominated for " Oh Brother, Where Bart Thou?". ''The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special — In 3-D! On Ice!'' is also nominated for Comedy/Variety – Music, Awards, Tributes – Specials.

Episodes

Note: ''

The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special – In 3-D! On Ice! ''The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special – In 3-D! On Ice!'' is a documentary special that examined the "cultural phenomenon" of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United ...

'', which aired immediately following "

", 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).

References

;Bibliography *

External links

Season 21
at The Simpsons.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Simpsons (Season 21), The Simpsons season 21 2009 American television seasons 2010 American television seasons