The Simpsons season 20
The Simpsons | |
---|---|
Season 20 | |
No. of episodes | 21 |
Release | |
Original network | Fox |
Original release | September 28, 2008 May 17, 2009 | –
Season chronology | |
The Simpsons' twentieth season aired on Fox from September 28, 2008 to May 17, 2009.[1] With this season, the show tied Gunsmoke as the longest-running American primetime television series in terms of total number of seasons.[2] The season was released on Blu-ray on January 12, 2010, making this the first season to be released on Blu-ray. It was released on DVD in Region 1 on January 12, 2010, and in Region 4 on January 20, 2010.[3] The season was only released on DVD in Region 2 on September 17, 2010 in a few areas.
Production
It contained nine holdover episodes from the season 19 (KABF) production line.[4]
Production on the season was delayed because of contract negotiations with the six main voice actors.[5] The dispute was resolved, and the actors' salary was raised to $400,000 (US) per episode. The delay in production caused the planned 22 episodes to be shortened to 20.[6] In addition, voice actor Dan Castellaneta was credited as a consulting producer for the first time.[6] The main cast consisted of Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, and Harry Shearer. The recurring cast consisted of Marcia Wallace, Pamela Hayden, Tress MacNeille, Russi Taylor, and Karl Wiedergott.
The Simpsons began high-definition production in season 20. The first episode in HD, "Take My Life, Please", aired on February 15, 2009. "Take My Life, Please" is also the first to feature the new opening sequence.
Also, more episodes were given the TV-14 rating than any other season. The episodes that were given this rating were "Sex, Pies and Idiot Scrapes", "Treehouse of Horror XIX", "Gone Maggie Gone", "No Loan Again, Naturally", "Dangerous Curves", "Wedding For Disaster", and "Four Great Women and a Manicure".
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. Several contests were run, including the "Unleash Your Yellow" contest in which entrants designed a poster for the show[7] and "Best. Couch Gag. Ever." where fans created their own live-action couch gag video.[8]
As part of the celebration, the Irish-themed episode "In the Name of the Grandfather" premiered on Sky1 in the United Kingdom and Ireland on March 17, 2009. It was the first-ever episode of the show to air in Europe before being seen in the United States. The American debut of the episode was on March 22.[9]
Reception
Critical reception
Robert Canning of IGN gave the season a 7.9 out of 10 improving 1.3 from the past season. He gave it a positive review saying that it was "Good" and that "With at least two more years of The Simpsons guaranteed, this unexpected but very welcome resurgence has come at a perfect time. If they can keep the momentum moving, the series is primed to once again approach perfection and go out at the top of its game."[10]
Awards
Episodes from the twentieth season received five Primetime Emmy Award nominations. "Gone Maggie Gone" was nominated for Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming less than One Hour) and Outstanding Music Composition for a Series. Dan Castellaneta won the Outstanding Voice-Over Performance Emmy for voicing Homer in the episode "Father Knows Worst"; Hank Azaria and Harry Shearer were also nominated for the episodes "Eeny Teeny Maya Moe" and "The Burns and the Bees", respectively. The winners were announced on September 12, 2009.[11] The Simpsons was the only series to be nominated in the Animation category at the Writers Guild of America Awards in 2010. The nominees were: Stephanie Gillis for "The Burns and the Bees", John Frink for "Eeny Teeny Maya, Moe", Billy Kimball & Ian Maxtone-Graham for Gone Maggie Gone", Don Payne for "Take My Life, Please", and Joel H. Cohen for "Wedding for Disaster".[12] The award was won by Joel H. Cohen.[13]
Nielsen ratings
The season ranked 77th in ratings with an average of 6.93 million viewers and an 18/49 rating of 3.4/9 and the rerun timeslot ranking 113th.[14] The most viewed episode was "Treehouse of Horror XIX", with 12.48 million watching it and a 4.9 Nielsen rating.[15] The least viewed episode was "Four Great Women and a Manicure" which is the second-least-viewed episode of the series, after Season 21's "Million Dollar Maybe".[16]
Episodes
Blu-ray and DVD release
The DVD and Blu-ray boxset for season twenty was released by 20th Century Fox in the United States and Canada on January 12, 2010, eight months after it had completed broadcast on television. As well as every episode from the season, the Blu-ray and DVD releases feature hand-drawn menus by Matt Groening.
The Complete Twentieth Season | |||
Set Details | Special Features | ||
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Release Dates | |||
Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | |
January 12, 2010 |
September 17, 2010[38] |
January 20, 2010 |
Notes
References
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
FF
was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Keveney, Bill (2008-09-28). "'The Simpsons' Hits a Landmark". ABC. Retrieved 2008-10-02.
- ^ "The Simpsons DVD news: Announcement for The Simpsons — The Complete 20th Season". TvShowsOnDVD. 2009-10-28. Archived from the original on 2009-10-31. Retrieved 2009-10-28.
- ^ "Fox Announces Primetime Slate for 2008–2009". FoxFlash. 2008-05-15. Archived from the original on 2008-11-22. Retrieved 2008-05-15.
- ^ Michael Schneider (2008-05-19). "Still no deal for 'Simpsons' cast". Variety. Retrieved 2008-05-20.
- ^ a b "Simpsons cast sign new pay deal". BBC News. 2008-06-03. Retrieved 2008-09-08.
- ^ Wallace, Lewis (2009-01-13). "Simpsons Poster Contest Will Have Fans Seeing Yellow". Wired. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
- ^ "Unleashe more of your yellow with "The Simpsons" video contest". Archived from the original on 2010-01-17. Retrieved 2009-04-07.
- ^ Schneider, Michael (2009-03-16). "Ireland, U.K. to air 'The Simpsons'". Variety. Retrieved 2009-03-17.
- ^ The Simpsons: Season 20 Review - IGN Entertainment
- ^ "The 61st Primetime Emmy Awards and 2009 Creative Arts Emmy Awards Nominees are..." Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. 2009-07-16. Archived from the original on July 18, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-16.
- ^ "2010 Writers Guild Awards Television, Radio, News, Promotional Writing, and Graphic Animation Nominees Announced". Writers Guild of America. 2009-12-14. Archived from the original on October 19, 2013. Retrieved 2010-01-12.
- ^ "Awards Winners". Writers Guild of America. Archived from the original on 2010-07-03. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
- ^ ABC Medianet Archived January 31, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "TV Ratings: NFL, 'Simpsons' Lead the Way Sunday". Zap2it. 2008-11-03. Retrieved 2008-11-03.
- ^ Ratings: Four Great Women and Another All Time Low! Archived July 13, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Bierly, Mandy (2008-09-29). "Ratings: 'Desperate Housewives' returns to win Sunday night". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 2008-09-30. Retrieved 2008-09-29.
- ^ Bill Gorman (2008-10-06). "Sunday Ratings: Desperate Housewives, 60 Minutes Win, CW Crashes". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved 2008-10-06.
- ^ Ratings: Double, Double, Boy in Trouble Simpsons Channel. Retrieved October 20, 2008. Archived October 23, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ unknown (3 November 2008). "Ratings: Treehouse Of Horror XIX". Posted by Adam. Simpsons Channel. Archived from the original on November 17, 2011. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
- ^ Robert Seidman (November 10, 2008). "Football Wins for CBS and NBC, Family Guy for Fox". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on June 17, 2009. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
- ^ Mitovich, Matt (2008-11-17). "Ratings: Obama Is a Winner for 60 Minutes". TV Guide. Retrieved 2013-07-27.
- ^ Seidman, Robert. "Top Fox Primetime Shows, November 24–30, 2008". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on December 23, 2008. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
- ^ Seidman, Robert (2008-12-08). "Sunday Ratings: NFL, 60 Minutes, Housewives and Hallmark Movie". TV By the Numbers. Retrieved 2008-12-08.
- ^ "Ratings: Drama Queen's All Time Low | Simpsons Channel". Simpsonschannel.com. 2009-01-27. Archived from the original on March 2, 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
- ^ Fienberg, Daniel (2009-02-16). "TV Ratings: ABC splits sluggish Sunday with CBS". HitFix. Archived from the original on 2009-02-22. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
- ^ Seidman, Robert (March 3, 2009). "Top Fox Primetime Shows, February 23 to March 1, 2009". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
- ^ Robert Seidman (March 9, 2009). "Sunday Ratings: Low-ish Desperate Housewives wins the night". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved September 30, 2012.
- ^ (March 9, 2009) TV Ratings: CBS and ABC split Sunday Zap2it Retrieved 2010-06-25
- ^ "TV ratings: NCAA, '60 Minutes' score Sunday". Zap2It. 2009-03-23. Retrieved 2009-03-23.
- ^ Simpsons Channel | Your Source For Simpsons News Archived February 13, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "TV Listings for - April 5, 2009". TV Tango. 2009-04-05. Retrieved 2016-09-15.
- ^ Gorman, Bill (2009-04-20). "Housewives Keys ABC Win; Sit Down, Shut Up Premieres Mixed". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
- ^ "TV ratings: Another split verdict for CBS, ABC". Zap2It. Retrieved 2009-04-27.
- ^ Seidman, Robert (2009-05-06). "Desperate Housewives win delayed Sunday". TVByTheNumbers.com. Retrieved 2009-05-06.
- ^ Ratings: Four Great Women and Another All Time Low! Archived February 9, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Ratings: Coming to Homerica". SimpsonChannel. Archived from the original on July 23, 2012.
- ^ "Die Simpsons - Die komplette Season 20: 20 Jahre Simpsons 4 DVDs: Amazon.de: Matt Groening, Mark Kirkland, Steven Dean Moore: DVD & Blu-ray". Amazon.de. 2016-08-14. Retrieved 2016-09-15.
- Bibliography
- Turner, Chris (2004). Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation. Foreword by Douglas Coupland. (1st ed.). Toronto: Random House Canada. ISBN 978-0-679-31318-2. OCLC 55682258.
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External links
- Season 20 at The Simpsons.com