The third season of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons aired on Fox between September 19, 1991, and August 27, 1992. The showrunners for the third production season were Al Jean and Mike Reiss who executive produced 22 episodes for the season, while two other episodes were produced by James L. Brooks, Matt Groening, and Sam Simon. An additional episode, "Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?", aired on August 27, 1992, after the official end of the third season and is included on the Season 3 DVD set. Season three won six Primetime Emmy Awards for "Outstanding Voice-Over Performance" and also received a nomination for "Outstanding Animated Program" for the episode "Radio Bart". The complete season was released on DVD in Region 1 on August 26, 2003, Region 2 on October 6, 2003, and in Region 4 on October 22, 2003.
Production Al Jean and Mike Reiss, who had written for The Simpsons since the start of the show, took over as showrunners this season. Their first episode as showrunners was "Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington" and they felt a lot of pressure about running the show.Jean, Al & Reiss, Mike. (2003). Commentary for "Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington", in The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox. They also ran the following season and Jean would return as executive producer in season 13. There were two episodes, "Kamp Krusty" and "A Streetcar Named Marge", that were produced at the same time, but aired during season four as holdover episodes. Two episodes that aired during this season, "Stark Raving Dad" and "When Flanders Failed", were executive produced during the previous season by James L. Brooks, Matt Groening and Sam Simon. This was also the first season where Hank Azaria is credited as a main cast member instead of being a featured player (as he was in the first two seasons).
Carlos Baeza and Jeffrey Lynch received their first directing credits this season.Lynch, Jeffrey. (2003). Commentary for "Like Father, Like Clown", in The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox. Alan Smart, an assistant director and layout artist, would receive his only directing credit. One-time writers from this season include Robert Cohen, Howard Gewirtz, Ken Levine and David Isaacs. Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein, who would later become story editors, became a part of the writing staff to replace Jay Kogen and Wallace Wolodarsky both of whom had decided to leave the next season.Oakley, Bill & Weinstein, Josh. (2006). Easter egg Commentary for "Lisa the Simpson", in The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox. The current arrangement of the theme song by music composer Alf Clausen was introduced during this season, corresponding with the show now being produced and broadcast in Dolby Surround.
A crossover episode with the live-action sitcom Thirtysomething, titled "Thirtysimpsons", was written by David M. Stern for this season, but was never produced because it "never seemed to work". The crossover would involve Homer meeting a group of Yuppies and hanging out with them.
The season premiere episode was "Stark Raving Dad", which guest starred Michael Jackson as the speaking voice of Leon Kompowsky. One of Jackson's conditions for guest starring was that he voiced himself under a pseudonym.Brooks, James L. (2003). Commentary for "Stark Raving Dad", in The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox. While he recorded the voice work for the character, all of his singing was performed by Kipp Lennon,Reiss, Mike. (2003). Easter Egg Commentary for "Stark Raving Dad", in The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox. because of contractual obligations that Jackson had with his recording company. This allowed him to play a joke on his brothers and fool them into thinking the impersonator was him. Jackson's lines and Lennon's vocals were recorded at a second session by Brooks. The January 30, 1992 rerun of the episode featured a brief alternate opening, which was written in response to a comment made by then-President of the United States George H. W. Bush. On January 27, Bush made a speech during his re-election campaign where he said, "We are going to keep on trying to strengthen the American family, to make American families a lot more like The Waltons and a lot less like The Simpsons."Brooks, James L. (2004). "Bush vs. Simpsons", in The Simpsons: The Complete Fourth Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox. The writers decided to add a response in the next broadcast of The Simpsons, which was a rerun of "Stark Raving Dad" on January 30. The broadcast included a new tongue-in-cheek opening where they watch Bush's speech. Bart replies, "Hey, we're just like the Waltons. We're praying for an end to the Depression, too,” (referring to the early 1990s recession.)
On April 30, The Simpsons aired a repeat episode opposite the final episode of The Cosby Show on NBC. After the episode was over, a short clip of new animation showed Bart and Homer happily watching The Cosby Show finale. Bart asks Homer why Bill Cosby took the show off the air when it is still very popular. Homer replies that, "Mr. Cosby wanted to end the show before the quality began to suffer." Bart replies, "Quality, shmality. If I had a TV show, I'd run that sucker into the ground!"
"Homer at the Bat" is the first episode in the series to feature a large supporting cast of guest stars. The idea was suggested by Sam Simon, who wanted an episode filled with real Major League Baseball players. They did manage to get nine players who agreed to guest star and they were recorded over a period of six months.
This season's production run (8F) was the last to be animated by Klasky Csupo, before the show's producers Gracie Films opted to switch domestic production of the series to Film Roman. Sharon Bernstein of the Los Angeles Times wrote that "Gracie executives had been unhappy with the producer Csupo had assigned to The Simpsons and said the company also hoped to obtain better wages and working conditions for animators at Film Roman." Klasky Csupo co-founder Gábor Csupó had been "asked [by Gracie Films] if they could bring in their own producer [to oversee the animation production]," but declined, stating, "they wanted to tell me how to run my business."
Voice cast & characters
The season saw the introduction of several new recurring characters, including Lunchlady Doris, Fat Tony, Legs and Louie, Rabbi Hyman Krustofsky, Lurleen Lumpkin, and Kirk and Luann Van Houten.Reiss, Mike. (2003). Commentary for "Homer Defined", in The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
Main cast Dan Castellaneta as Homer Simpson, Grampa Simpson, Krusty the Clown, Mayor Quimby, Groundskeeper Willie, Barney Gumble and various others Julie Kavner as Marge Simpson, Patty Bouvier, Selma Bouvier and various others Nancy Cartwright as Bart Simpson, Nelson Muntz, Ralph Wiggum and various others Yeardley Smith as Lisa Simpson Hank Azaria as Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum, Professor Frink, Carl Carlson, Comic Book Guy, Apu and various others Harry Shearer as Mr. Burns, Waylon Smithers, Ned Flanders, Principal Skinner, Dr. Hibbert, Lenny Leonard, Kent Brockman, Reverend Lovejoy, Derek Smalls, and various others
Recurring Pamela Hayden as Milhouse Van Houten, Jimbo Jones Maggie Roswell as Maude Flanders, Helen Lovejoy, Luann Van Houten and Miss Hoover Russi Taylor as Martin Prince and Sherri and Terri Tress MacNeille as Agnes Skinner Marcia Wallace as Edna Krabappel Frank Welker as Santa's Little Helper, various other animals Jo Ann Harris as additional characters
Guest stars
Phil Hartman as Troy McClure, Lionel Hutz, various others (various episodes) Kipp Lennon as Leon Kompowsky's singing voice ("Stark Raving Dad") and singing "Flaming Moe's" ("Flaming Moe's") Michael Jackson (credited as John Jay Smith) as Leon Kompowsky ("Stark Raving Dad") Joe Mantegna as Fat Tony and TV Fat Tony (himself; "Bart the Murderer") Neil Patrick Harris as TV Bart (himself; "Bart the Murderer") Jon Lovitz as Aristotle Amadopolis and Avery Devereaux ("Homer Defined") Magic Johnson (credited as Earvin Johnson Jr.) as himself ("Homer Defined") Chick Hearn as himself ("Homer Defined") Jackie Mason as Hyman Krustofsky ("Like Father, Like Clown") Larry McKay as Football's Greatest Injuries Narrator ("Saturdays of Thunder") Aerosmith as themselves ("Flaming Moe's") Sting as himself ("Radio Bart") Wade Boggs as himself ("Homer at the Bat") Jose Canseco as himself ("Homer at the Bat") Roger Clemens as himself ("Homer at the Bat") Ken Griffey Jr. as himself ("Homer at the Bat") Don Mattingly as himself ("Homer at the Bat") Mike Scioscia as himself ("Homer at the Bat") Steve Sax as himself ("Homer at the Bat") Ozzie Smith as himself ("Homer at the Bat") Darryl Strawberry as himself ("Homer at the Bat") Terry Cashman singing "Talkin' Softball" ("Homer at the Bat") Steve Allen as Bart's electronically altered voice ("Separate Vocations") Beverly D'Angelo as Lurleen Lumpkin ("Colonel Homer") Kelsey Grammer as Sideshow Bob ("Black Widower") Christopher Guest as Nigel Tufnel ("The Otto Show") Michael McKean as David St. Hubbins ("The Otto Show") Kimmy Robertson as Samantha Stanky ("Bart's Friend Falls in Love") Danny DeVito as Herb Powell ("Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?") Joe Frazier as himself ("Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?")
Reception The season was critically acclaimed and remains popular among the show's fans. In 2003, Entertainment Weekly published a list of its 25 favorite episodes and placed "Homer at the Bat", "Flaming Moe's" and "Radio Bart" at 15th, 16th and 20th positions, respectively. On Rotten Tomatoes, the third season of The Simpsons has a 100% approval rating based on 5 critical reviews. IGN.com made a list of the best guest appearances in the show's history, and placed Aerosmith at 24, Spinal Tap at 18, the "Homer at the Bat" baseball players at 17, Jon Lovitz at eight, and Michael Jackson at number five. IGN would later name "Flaming Moe's" the best episode of the third season. Chris Turner, the author of the book Planet Simpson, believes that the third season marks the beginning of "the Golden Age" of The Simpsons and pinpoints "Homer at the Bat" as the first episode of the era. Bill Oakley has described the season as "the best season of any TV show of all time", pinpointing its success to the fact that "a lot of the stories were pretty grounded, but they took a couple of crazy leaps out into space with like, 'Homer at the Bat'", stating that he and Josh Weinstein used the season as a model when they were The Simpsons' showrunners for seasons 7 and 8. John Swartzwelder considered the season to be the best one during his time on the show saying, "By Season 3 we had learned how to grind out first-class 'Simpsons' episodes with surprising regularity, we had developed a big cast of characters to work with, we hadn't even come close to running out of story lines, and the staff hadn't been worn down by overwork yet. Season 3 was a fun year to be in the 'Simpsons' writers' room, and I think it shows in the work."
Awards