The twentieth season of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons aired on Fox between September 28, 2008, and May 17, 2009. The season was produced by Gracie Films and 20th Century Fox Television. The showrunner for the season was Al Jean. With this season, the show tied Gunsmoke as the longest-running American primetime television series in terms of total number of seasons. The season was released on Blu-ray on January 12, 2010, making this the first season to be released on Blu-ray as well as the only one to contain both 16:9 widescreen and high-definition episodes. It was released on DVD in Region 1 on January 12, 2010, and in Region 4 on January 20, 2010. The season was only released on DVD in Region 2 on September 17, 2010, in a few areas.

Voice cast & characters

Main cast Dan Castellaneta as Homer Simpson, Mayor Quimby, The Leprechaun, Barney Gumble, Rich Texan, Groundskeeper Willie, Krusty the Clown, Sideshow Mel, Santa's Little Helper, Grampa Simpson, Blue-Haired Lawyer, Squeaky-Voiced Teen, Mr. Teeny, Gil Gunderson, Louie, and various others Julie Kavner as Marge Simpson, Patty Bouvier, and Selma Bouvier Nancy Cartwright as Bart Simpson, Nelson Muntz, Kearney Zzyzwicz, Ralph Wiggum, and various others Yeardley Smith as Lisa Simpson Hank Azaria as Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum, Snake, Superintendent Chalmers, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Carl Carlson, Disco Stu, Officer Lou, Comic Book Guy, Old Jewish Man, Cletus Spuckler, Wiseguy, Julio, Professor Frink, Bumblebee Man, Luigi Risotto, Coach Krupt, Sea Captain, Dr. Nick Riviera, Kirk Van Houten, Johnny Tightlips, Chazz Busby, Duffman, Ron Rabinowitz, and various others Harry Shearer as Mr. Burns, Judge Snyder, Ned Flanders, Principal Skinner, Dr. Hibbert, Rainier Wolfcastle, Lenny Leonard, Waylon Smithers, Scratchy, Otto Mann, Kent Brockman, Principal Dondelinger, Reverend Lovejoy, Jasper Beardsley, Marty, Dewey Largo, Officer Eddie, and various others

Supporting cast Tress MacNeille as Agnes Skinner, Dolph Shapiro, Brandine Spuckler, Lindsey Naegle, Cookie Kwan, Lewis, Mrs. Muntz, Crazy Cat Lady, Bernice Hibbert, Manjula Nahasapeemapetilon, Shauna Chalmers, Lunchlady Dora, and various others Karl Wiedergott as additional characters Pamela Hayden as Milhouse Van Houten, Jimbo Jones, Janey Powell, and various others Russi Taylor as Wendell Borton, Martin Prince, Sherri, Terri, and various others Maggie Roswell as Maude Flanders, Helen Lovejoy, Luann Van Houten, Elizabeth Hoover, and various others

Special guest cast

Guest stars for the season included: Marcia Wallace as Edna Krabappel (4 episodes) Maurice LaMarche as Cap'n Crunch, Trix Rabbit, Toucan Sam and various other voices (3 episodes) Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Gloria ("Sex, Pies and Idiot Scrapes") Robert Forster as Lucky Jim ("Sex, Pies and Idiot Scrapes") Joe Mantegna as Fat Tony ("Sex, Pies and Idiot Scrapes") Denis Leary as himself ("Lost Verizon") Brian Grazer as himself ("Lost Verizon") Joe Montana as himself ("Double, Double, Boy in Trouble") Merl Reagle as himself ("Homer and Lisa Exchange Cross Words") Will Shortz as himself ("Homer and Lisa Exchange Cross Words") Scott Thompson as Grady ("Homer and Lisa Exchange Cross Words") Shohreh Aghdashloo as Mina ("Mypods and Broomsticks") Mark Cuban as himself ("The Burns and the Bees") Jeff Bezos as himself ("The Burns and the Bees") Marv Albert as himself ("The Burns and the Bees") Emily Blunt as Juliet Hobbes ("Lisa the Drama Queen") Fall Out Boy as themselves ("Lisa the Drama Queen") Ed Begley Jr. as himself ("Gone Maggie Gone") Colm Meaney as Tom O'Flanagan ("In the Name of the Grandfather") Glen Hansard as Street musician ("In the Name of the Grandfather") Markéta Irglová as Eastern European woman ("In the Name of the Grandfather") Kelsey Grammer as Sideshow Bob ("Wedding for Disaster") Anne Hathaway as Jenny ("The Good, the Sad and the Drugly"). Elliot Page as Alaska Nebraska ("Waverly Hills, 9-0-2-1-D'oh") Jodie Foster as Maggie Simpson ("Four Great Women and a Manicure")

Episodes

Production The season contained nine holdover episodes from season 19’s KABF production line, which all ended up being the nine standard-definition episodes of the season. Al Jean continued his role as showrunner, a role he had since the thirteenth season.

Production on the season was delayed because of contract negotiations with the six main voice actors. The dispute was resolved, and the actors' salary was raised to US$400,000 per episode. The delay in production caused the planned 22 episodes to be shortened to 20. In addition, voice actor Dan Castellaneta was credited as a consulting producer for the first time.

The Simpsons began high-definition production in season 20. The first episode in HD, "Take My Life, Please", aired on February 15, 2009. It is also the first to feature the new opening sequence.

More episodes were given the TV-14 rating than any previous 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 and "Best. Couch Gag. Ever." where fans created their own live-action couch gag video.

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.

Reception Critical response 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."

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. 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". The award was won by Joel H. Cohen.

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. The most viewed episode was "Treehouse of Horror XIX", with 12.48 million watching it and a 4.9 Nielsen rating. 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".

Blu-ray and DVD release The DVD and Blu-ray boxset for season twenty was released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment 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 DetailsSpecial Features 21 episodes 4-disc set (DVD) 2-disc set (Blu-ray) 4:3 1.33:1 Full Screen (episodes 1–9)16:9 1.78:1 Widescreen (episodes 10–21) AUDIO (DVD) English 5.1 Dolby Digital Spanish 2.0 Dolby Surround French 2.0 Dolby Surround Portuguese 2.0 Dolby Surround AUDIO (Blu-Ray) English 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital French 5.1 Dolby Digital Portuguese 5.1 Dolby Digital SUBTITLES English SDH Spanish Portuguese Hand-drawn menus by Matt Groening Preview of The 20th Anniversary Special Release Dates Region 1 Region 2 Region 4 January 12, 2010 September 17, 2010 January 20, 2010

References

Bibliography

External links