The thirty-third season of the American animated television series '' The Simpsons'' premiered 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''). Twelv ...

on September 26, 2021 and ended on May 22, 2022. The season consisted of twenty-two episodes. On March 3, 2021, the season was ordered alongside a 34th season. It was produced by Gracie Films and

20th Television Animation 20th Television Animation (formerly Fox Television Animation) is an American animation studio that creates, develops and produces adult animated television series and specials. It is a unit of Disney Television Studios, a subsidiary of Walt Disne ...

. Executive producer Matt Selman replaced executive producer Al Jean as primary showrunner this season although Jean continued to be showrunner for several episodes each season. Episodes this season were nominated for one

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 ...

and five Writers Guild of America Awards.

Voice cast & characters

Main cast

* Dan Castellaneta as

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 ...

, Barney Gumble, Grampa Simpson, Itchy, Sideshow Mel, Krusty the Clown, Groundskeeper Willie, Kodos, Rich Texan, Santa's Little Helper, Squeaky-Voiced Teen, Mayor Quimby, Gil Gunderson, Hans Moleman,

Louie Louie may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Louie'' (American TV series), by comedian Louis C.K. * ''Louie'' (French TV series), animated series about a young rabbit who draws pictures which come to life * "Louie" (song), by Blood Raw * ''L ...

Blue-Haired Lawyer 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 wri ...

and various others * Julie Kavner as Marge Simpson, Jacqueline Bouvier, Selma Bouvier and Patty Bouvier * Nancy Cartwright as

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'' ...

, Maggie Simpson, Nelson Muntz, Ralph Wiggum, Kearney Zzyzwicz, Todd Flanders, Database, Crystal Meth Spuckler and various others * Yeardley Smith as Lisa Simpson * Hank Azaria as Kirk Van Houten, Moe Szyslak,

Old Jewish Man 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 write ...

, Chief Wiggum, Raphael, Superintendent Chalmers, Professor Frink, Comic Book Guy, Luigi Risotto,

Disco Stu 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 write ...

, Snake,

Johnny Tightlips 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 write ...

, Duffman, Gareth Prince, Cletus Spuckler, Coach Krupt and various others * Harry Shearer as Waylon Smithers, Lenny Leonard, Jasper Beardly, Principal Skinner, Kent Brockman,

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 ...

, Rainier Wolfcastle,

Kang Kang may refer to: Places * Kang Kalan, Punjab * Kang District, Afghanistan * Kang, Botswana, a village * Kang County, Gansu, China * Kang, Isfahan, Iran, a village * Kang, Kerman, Iran, a village * Kang, Razavi Khorasan, Iran, a village * Kham ( ...

, Ned Flanders,

Otto Mann 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 write ...

, Reverend Lovejoy, Dr. J. Loren Pryor,

Legs A leg is a weight-bearing and locomotive anatomical structure, usually having a columnar shape. During locomotion, legs function as "extensible struts". The combination of movements at all joints can be modeled as a single, linear element ...

Dewey Largo 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 write ...

and various others

Supporting cast

* Pamela Hayden as Milhouse Van Houten, Jimbo Jones, Rod Flanders, Gloria Prince, Birthday Spuckler, Jitney Spuckler,

Greta Wolfcastle "The Bart Wants What it Wants" is the eleventh episode of the thirteenth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 17, 2002. In the episode, B ...

("Treehouse of Horror XXXII") and various others * Tress MacNeille as Agnes Skinner, Maya, Dolph Shapiro, Shauna Chalmers, Mama Risotto, Lindsey Naegle,

Mrs. Muntz 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 wri ...

, Brandine Spuckler, Dubya Spuckler, Whitney Spuckler,

Brunella Pommelhorst 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 write ...

, Crazy Cat Lady and various others *

Kevin Michael Richardson Kevin Michael Richardson (born October 25, 1964) is an American actor. Known for his distinctively deep voice, he has mostly voiced villainous characters in animation and video games. In film, Richardson voiced Goro in ''Mortal Kombat'' (1995) ...

as Dr. Hibbert, Bleeding Gums Murphy and various others * Kimberly Brooks as

Lewis Clark Lewis Mitchell "Mickey" Clark (November 26, 1923 – September 17, 2003) was a provincial politician from Alberta, Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1979 to 1986 sitting with the Progressive Conservative ...

and various others * Grey DeLisle as Martin Prince,

Sherri and Terri 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 write ...

and various others * Alex Désert as Carl Carlson, Officer Lou and various others * Chris Edgerly as additional characters * Dawnn Lewis as

Bernice Hibbert 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 write ...

, Female Firefighter and various others * Jonathan Lipow as the wolverine ("Pixelated and Afraid") and Axel ("Boyz N the Highlands") * Eric Lopez as Bumblebee Man and various others * Melanie Minichino as Female Scammer ("Bart's in Jail!") * Tony Rodríguez as Julio * Maggie Roswell as Helen Lovejoy,

Luann Van Houten 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 wri ...

, Miss Hoover and various others *

Jenny Yokobori Jenny Yokobori (born February 11, 1997) is an American voice actress. She is best known for voicing Yoimiya in ''Genshin Impact'' and Kuromi in '' Hello Kitty and Friends Supercute Adventures''. Career In 2014, Yokobori made began her voice act ...

as Flor ("Lisa's Belly") and Clarinet Girl ("Girls Just Shauna Have Fun") The two-part episode " A Serious Flanders" included guest stars Timothy Olyphant, Cristin Milioti, and Brian Cox.

Episodes

Production

Development

This season and the next season were ordered in March 2021. Seven episodes were holdovers from the previous season. The season was produced by Gracie Films and

, a new unit under Disney Television Studios for adult animation, replacing

20th 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 ...

. This season featured the only episode co-written by Johnny LaZebnik, which was co-written with his father Rob LaZebnik. Starting this season, executive producer Matt Selman took over as primary showrunner. Selman had been the showrunner for several episodes each season since the twenty-third season. Executive producer Al Jean continued as showrunner for approximately four episodes each season. Jean had been the primary showrunner since the thirteenth season. Selman introduced a co-showrunner system for episodes in which he was the showrunner. For each episode, a senior writer would help Selman produce the episode. Selman hired younger writers such as Broti Gupta and Christine Nangle to give the show more perspectives. He also allowed the writers to be experimental and to not rely on the show's previous success. Promoting the season at the 2021 Comic-Con@Home panel, Selman described the premiere episode, " The Star of the Backstage" as "like a Broadway musical of an episode with wall to wall music." Jean stated that the '' Treehouse of Horror'' episode of the season, " Treehouse of Horror XXXII", would feature five segments instead of the usual three. Selman stated that the two-part episode " A Serious Flanders" would be "an epic love letter to the show ''

Fargo Fargo usually refers to: * Fargo, North Dakota, United States * ''Fargo'' (1996 film), a crime film by the Coen brothers * ''Fargo'' (TV series), an American black comedy–crime drama anthology television series Fargo may also refer to: Othe ...

'' and the world of streaming television."

Casting

A new character was introduced in " Lisa's Belly", Dr. Wendy Sage, a hypnotherapist who is also a breast cancer survivor. She visibly has one of her breasts removed. She was created and voiced by Renee Ridgeley, an actress, writer, and real-life breast cancer survivor and the wife of ''Simpsons'' writer Matt Selman. On April 21, 2022, it was announced that Kerry Washington officially joined the cast in a recurring role as Bart's fourth grade teacher, Ms. Peyton, replacing the late

Mrs. Krabappel Edna Krabappel-Flanders ( Krabappel; ) is a fictional character from the American animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'', voiced by Marcia Wallace from 1990 until her death in October 2013. She was a 4th-grade teacher, who taught Bart Simpson's class a ...

. Ms. Peyton was first introduced in the episode "

My Octopus and a Teacher "My Octopus and a Teacher" is the 18th episode of the 33rd season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons'', and the 724th episode overall. It aired in the United States on Fox on April 24, 2022. The episode was directed by Rob ...

Promotional shorts

Two animated short films were released to Disney+ during this season's run, titled '' Plusaversary'', which features Homer and

Goofy Goofy is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. He is a tall, Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic dog who typically wears a turtle neck and vest, with pants, shoes, white gloves, and a tall hat originally designed as a rumpled f ...

drinking at Moe's Tavern in celebration of the streaming service's 2nd anniversary, and ''

When Billie Met Lisa ''When Billie Met Lisa'' is an animated short film based on the American singer '' Billie Eilish'' produced by Gracie Films and 20th Television Animation, debuting on the streaming service Disney+. It is the sixth short film in ''The Simpsons' ...

'', which features a guest star in singer Billie Eilish discussing life with Lisa Simpson.

Release

This season aired on Sundays during the 2021–22 television season as part of Fox's

Animation Domination Animation Domination (also called AniDom, Fox AD, and AD) is an American animated programming block which has aired in two iterations on the Fox broadcast network, featuring a lineup solely made up of prime-time animation and adult animation carr ...

programming block, along with '' The Great North'', '' Bob's Burgers'', '' Duncanville'', and ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffin family, Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter Griff ...

''. In the United States, after each episode aired, they were released on

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...

the day after. In Canada, Australia and Spain, the season aired weekly on Wednesdays on Disney+ through the

Star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...

content hub internationally and on Star+ in Latin America. The first eighteen episodes were removed from Hulu and every episode was added on Disney+ in the United States on October 5, 2022, with the final four episodes remaining on Hulu, with one episode being removed each week.

Reception

Viewing figures

For the 2021-2022 television season, the season earned a 0.7 rating in the 18-49 demographic, which was the 45th best performing show. It averaged 2.25 million viewers, which was the 98th best performing show.

Critical response

Marcus Gibson from ''Bubbleblabber'' rated the season a 7.5 out of 10 in his review:

Awards and nominations

At the 74th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, the episode " Pixelated and Afraid" was nominated for Outstanding Animated Program. Writers Elisabeth Kiernan Averick, John Frink, Loni Steele Sosthand, Jeff Westbrook, and co-writers Rob LaZebnik and Johnny LaZebnik were individually nominated for Writers Guild of America Awards for Television: Animation for episodes written this season.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Simpsons season 33 Simpsons season 33 2021 American animated television seasons 2022 American animated television seasons