The fourteenth season of the American animated television series '' The Simpsons'' was originally broadcast on the

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 ...

network in the United States between November 3, 2002, and May 18, 2003, and was produced by Gracie Films 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 ...

. The show runner for the fourteenth production season was Al Jean, who executive produced 21 of 22 episodes. The other episode, "

How I Spent My Strummer Vacation "How I Spent My Strummer Vacation" is the second episode of the fourteenth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 10, 2002. It was intended to be the ...

", was run by Mike Scully. The season was the first to use digital ink-and-paint for most of its episodes, though four episodes ("How I Spent My Strummer Vacation", "Bart vs. Lisa vs. the Third Grade", "Large Marge" and "Helter Shelter") were hold-overs from season 13's production run and used traditional ink-and-paint. A fifth season 13 holdover episode ("Treehouse of Horror XIII"), which was the first episode of season 14, used digital ink-and paint like the rest of the season. The fourteenth season has met with mostly positive reviews and won 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, including

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 ...

, four

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 ...

s and a

Writers Guild of America Award 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 Th ...

. This season contains the show's 300th episode, "

Barting Over "Barting Over" is the eleventh episode of the The Simpsons (season 14), fourteenth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons'', advertised by Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox, and indicated on-screen to be the 300th episode of ...

". Writers credited with episodes in the fourteenth season included

J. Stewart Burns Joseph Stewart Burns (born December 4, 1969), better known as J. Stewart Burns or simply just Stewart Burns is a television writer and producer most notable for his work on ''The Simpsons'', '' Futurama'', and ''Unhappily Ever After''. Educatio ...

Kevin Curran Kevin Curran may refer to: * Kevin Curran (cricketer) (1959–2012), Zimbabwean cricketer * Kevin Curran (cricketer, born 1928) (1928–2017), Zimbabwean cricketer * Kevin Curran (footballer, born 1919) (1919–1986), Australian rules footballer ...

, John Frink & Don Payne, Dana Gould, Dan Greaney, Brian Kelley, Tim Long,

Ian Maxtone-Graham Ian Howes Maxtone-Graham is an American television writer and producer. He has formerly written for ''Saturday Night Live'' (1992–1995) and ''The Simpsons'' (1995–2012), as well as serving as a co-executive producer and consulting producer ...

Carolyn Omine Carolyn Omine is an American television writer. She won four Emmy Awards for her writing work on ''The Simpsons''. Writing credits ''The Simpsons'' episodes Omine has written the following episodes: *"Little Big Mom" (2000) *"Treehouse of ...

, Mike Scully, Matt Selman,

John Swartzwelder John Joseph Swartzwelder Jr. (born February 8, 1949) is an American comedy writer and novelist, best known for his work on the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. Born in Seattle, Washington, Swartzwelder began his career working in adv ...

Matt Warburton Matt Warburton (born February 7, 1978) is an American television writer. Early life Warburton grew up in northern Ohio and attended Strongsville High School. He has a degree in cognitive neuroscience from Harvard University. Career Warburton ...

and

Marc Wilmore Marc Edward Wilmore (May 4, 1963 – January 30, 2021) was an American television writer, producer, actor, and comedian. He wrote and performed for shows such as ''In Living Color'', ''The PJs'', ''The Simpsons'', and ''F Is for Family''. Wilmore ...

. Freelance writers included Brian Pollack & Mert Rich, Sam O'Neal & Neal Boushall, Dennis Snee and Allen Glazier. Animation directors included Bob Anderson,

Mike B. Anderson Mike B. Anderson, sometimes credited as Mikel B. Anderson, is an American television director who works on ''The Simpsons'' and has directed numerous episodes of the show, and was animated in "The Secret War of Lisa Simpson" as cadet Anderson. W ...

, Chris Clements, Mark Kirkland,

Lance Kramer Lance Kramer is an animation director on ''The Simpsons'' and ''Futurama''. He was as an additional sequence director for ''The Simpsons Movie''. He also worked as an assistant animator on '' Tom and Jerry: The Movie'' and served as a storyboard a ...

, Nancy Kruse, Lauren MacMullan, Pete Michels,

Steven Dean Moore Steven Dean Moore is an American animation director. His credits include 65 episodes of the animated television series ''The Simpsons'' and several episodes of the Nickelodeon series ''Rugrats'' (1991–2004). Moore was also one of four sequence ...

, Matthew Nastuk, Michael Polcino, Jim Reardon and David Silverman. The main cast consisted of Dan Castellaneta (

Homer Simpson Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the American animated sitcom ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared, along with the rest of his family, in ''The Tracey Ullman Show'' short "G ...

, Grampa Simpson, Krusty the Clown, among others), Julie Kavner ( Marge Simpson), Nancy Cartwright (

Bart Simpson Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional character in the American animated television series ''The Simpsons'' and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in ''The Tracey Ullman Show'' ...

, Ralph Wiggum, Nelson Muntz), Yeardley Smith ( Lisa Simpson), Hank Azaria ( Moe Szyslak,

Apu APU or Apu may refer to: Film and television * ''The Apu Trilogy'', a series of three Bengali films, directed by Satyajit Ray, with the fictional character Apu Roy, comprising: ** ''Pather Panchali'' (''Song of the Little Road'') (1955), the first ...

, Chief Wiggum, among others) and Harry Shearer ( Ned Flanders,

Mr. Burns Charles Montgomery Plantagenet Schicklgruber "Monty" Burns, usually referred to as Mr. Burns, Monty, or C. Montgomery Burns, is a recurring character and the main antagonist of the animated television series ''The Simpsons'', voiced initially by ...

, Principal Skinner, among others). Other cast members included Marcia Wallace ( Edna Krabappel),

Pamela Hayden Pamela Hayden (born November 28, 1953) is an American actress and voice actress, known for providing various voices for the animated television show ''The Simpsons'', such as Milhouse Van Houten. Biography Hayden provides voices for characters ...

(

Milhouse Van Houten Milhouse Mussolini Van Houten is a recurring character in the Fox animated television series ''The Simpsons'' voiced by Pamela Hayden and created by Matt Groening. Milhouse is Bart Simpson's best friend in Mrs. Krabappel's fourth grade class at ...

, among others), Tress MacNeille ( Agnes Skinner, among others),

Russi Taylor Russi Taylor (May 4, 1944 – July 26, 2019) was an American voice actress. She is best remembered as the official voice of Minnie Mouse from 1986 to 2019, and was notably married to voice actor Wayne Allwine, the voice of Mickey Mouse, until his ...

( Martin Prince) and

Karl Wiedergott Karl Wiedergott (born Karl Aloysious Treaton; February 8, 1969) is a German-born American actor. He is noted for his voice work on the sitcom ''The Simpsons'' from 1998 to 2010, voicing background characters and some celebrities such as John Trav ...

(Additional Voices). This season also saw the return of voice actress

Maggie Roswell Maggie Roswell is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer from Los Angeles, California. She is well known for her voice work on the Fox network's animated television series ''The Simpsons'', in which she has played recurring characters ...

(

Helen Lovejoy The American animated television series ''The Simpsons'' contains a wide range of minor and supporting characters like co-workers, teachers, students, family friends, extended relatives, townspeople, local celebrities, and even animals. The writ ...

, Maude Flanders, among others), who had left the show during

season 11 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

because of a contract dispute. "

", which aired February 16, 2003, was promoted as the show's milestone 300th episode by Fox. However, "

The Strong Arms of the Ma "The Strong Arms of the Ma" is the ninth episode of the fourteenth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 2, 2003. It is the 300th episode to be ...

" was the 300th episode to be broadcast. According to

Ben Rayner Ben Rayner is a music critic and writer for the ''Toronto Star'' since 1998. His commentary on artists is extensively cited across the industry. Indie88 considers him "of the most respected industry professionals around." In 2012, he served on t ...

of the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'', "It's very difficult to find a straight answer why milestone status has been bestowed on Barting Over" Some rationalize that the 300 figure doesn't account for two early holiday specials, Fox maintains that there was some discrepancy between the original, scheduled broadcast date- deep in the heart of the ratings-mad February sweeps- and the number of episodes that were eventually aired leading up to it." "Barting Over" refers to the error when Marge tells Lisa "I can't count the number of times (Homer) has done something crazy like this." Lisa responds that it is 300, to which Marge replies that she "could have sworn it's been 302".

Reception

Season 14 received generally positive reviews. High-Def Digest was positive recommending the set and writing "The show has numerous moments that make you laugh." and gave it 3.5/5 stars. Blu-ray.com also gave season 14 3.5/5 stars who thought "After rewatching all of it for the first time since this batch of episodes originally aired, I have to say—season fourteen has a pretty good laugh-per- minute ratio." Casey Broadwater also felt it was an improvement over the Scully seasons and season 13. Collider gave the season a B−. The reviewer thought "As far as the overall quality of the season, it isn't as consistently good as some earlier seasons but in the evolution of the show and the characters, it's solid.". Jackson Cresswell thought "C.E.D'oh" was the best of the season along with "Pray Anything" and "Brake My Wife, Please" while citing "Three Gays of the Condo", "Large Marge", and "Helter Shelter" as the worst. Ryan Keefer of DVD Talk gave it a 4/5 calling it "a good spot to start brushing up on things".

Awards

Episodes of the fourteenth season won several awards, including two

s. " Three Gays of the Condo" became the eighth episode of the series to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming less than One Hour). Hank Azaria won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for voicing various characters in the episode "

Moe Baby Blues "Moe Baby Blues" is the twenty-second and final episode of the fourteenth season of the American television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 18, 2003. Moe, unhappy and suicidal, inadverten ...

". It was Azaria's third Emmy in that category. The song "Everybody Hates Ned Flanders" (music by

Alf Clausen Alf Heiberg Clausen (born March 28, 1941) is an American film and television composer. He is best known for his work scoring many episodes of ''The Simpsons'', for which he was the sole composer between 1990 and 2017. Clausen has scored or orc ...

, lyrics by

and Ken Keeler) from "

Dude, Where's My Ranch? "Dude, Where's My Ranch?" is the eighteenth episode of the fourteenth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 27, 2003. It was written by Ian Maxto ...

" received a nomination for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music and Lyrics. The show also won four

s, including its 12th consecutive in the Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Television Production category. The other awards won were Best Directing in an Animated Television Production (

for

'Scuse Me While I Miss the Sky "Scuse Me While I Miss the Sky" is the sixteenth episode of the fourteenth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 30, 2003. Plot Declan Desmond, an ...

"), Best Music in an Animated Television Production (

, Ken Keeler and

for "

") and Best Writing in an Animated Television Production (

for " Three Gays of the Condo"). "

The Dad Who Knew Too Little "The Dad Who Knew Too Little" is the eighth episode of the fourteenth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 12, 2003. In the episode, Homer disa ...

" (written by Matt Selman) won a

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

in the animation category. "

", written by

, was also nominated in the category. The series was nominated for the

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

for Best Musical or Comedy Series in

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

. It was the first time ''The Simpsons'' had been nominated for the award. The episode Scuse Me While I Miss the Sky", nominated for an Environmental Media Award for Best Television Episodic Comedy. Chris Ledesma was nominated for the Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing in Television Animation – Music for his work on "

Large Marge "Large Marge" is the fourth episode of the fourteenth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 24, 2002. In the episode, Marge decides to get lipo ...

Episodes

Blu-ray and DVD release

The DVD and Blu-ray boxset for season fourteen was released by

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment 20th Century Studios Home Entertainment (commonly referred to as 20th Home Video, or 20th Home Entertainment, formerly known as 20th Century-Fox Video, CBS/Fox Video, Fox Video, and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment) is a home video label of Wa ...

in the United States and Canada on Tuesday, December 6, 2011, eight years after it had completed broadcast on television. As well as every episode from the season, the Blu-ray and DVD releases 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 ...

s, animatics, and commentaries for every episode. The boxart features Kang, and a special limited edition "embossed head case" package was also released.

References

Bibliography * * *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Simpsons season 14 Simpsons season 14 2002 American animated television seasons 2003 American animated television seasons