The Simpsons season 11


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The eleventh season of the American animated television series The Simpsons originally aired on the Fox Network in the United States between September 26, 1999 and May 21, 2000, starting with "Beyond Blunderdome" and ending with "Behind the Laughter". With Mike Scully as the showrunner for the eleventh season,[1] it has twenty-two episodes, including four hold-over episodes from the season 10 production line. Season 11 was released on DVD in Region 1 on October 7, 2008 with both a standard box and Krusty-molded plastic cover.

The Simpsons
Season 11

DVD cover featuring Krusty the Clown

ShowrunnerMike Scully
No. of episodes22
Release
Original networkFox
Original releaseSeptember 26, 1999 –
May 21, 2000
Season chronology

← Previous
Season 10

Next →
Season 12

List of episodes

The season coincided with The Simpsons family being awarded their star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, the season receiving itself an Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program, an Annie Award, and a British Comedy Award. It also saw the departure of voice actress Maggie Roswell. The Simpsons ranked 41st in the season ratings with an average U.S. viewership of 8.8 million viewers, making it the second highest rated show on Fox after Malcolm in the Middle. It got an 18-49 Nielsen Rating of 8.2//13.[citation needed]

Towards the end of the production of season 10, voice actress Maggie Roswell, who voiced Helen Lovejoy, Maude Flanders and Miss Hoover, among others,[citation needed] left the show because of a contract dispute.[citation needed] She returned to the show in season 14. As a result of Roswell's leaving, Marcia Mitzman Gaven was brought to voice many of her characters, but it was decided to kill off Maude Flanders in the episode "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily" to open new storylines for that episode.[2] Gaven started voicing Roswell's characters in hold-over season 10 episode "Brother's Little Helper".

Writers credited with episodes in the 11th season include Al Jean, Dan Greaney, Donick Cary, Tim Long, Ian Maxtone-Graham, Carolyn Omine, Mike Scully, Matt Selman, John Swartzwelder and George Meyer. Animation directors included Bob Anderson, Mike B. Anderson, Mark Kirkland, Lance Kramer, Nancy Kruse, Lauren MacMullan, Pete Michels, Steven Dean Moore, Matthew Nastuk, Michael Polcino and Jim Reardon.

Voice cast & characters

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Mel Gibson guest starred as himself in "Beyond Blunderdome"
 
Tim Robbins guest starred in "Grift of the Magi" as Jim Hope
 
Britney Spears made a guest appearance as herself in "The Mansion Family"
 
Betty White made a guest appearance as herself in "Missionary: Impossible"
 
Willie Nelson guest stars as himself in "Behind the Laughter"

After the departure of Maggie Roswell, it was decided to kill-off Maude Flanders in order to open new storylines. In the episode "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily", Maude was killed off[3] The character was voiced by Marcia Mitzman Gaven at that time.

One of the most controversial moments in the show among fans was the kill-off of Maude Flanders, which was met with strong criticism but was decided by the show's producers to open new story lines for the series.

Aside from winning several awards in 2000, The Simpsons family themselves were awarded on January 14, 2000, their own star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard. The 11th season itself gathered an Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program,[4] as well as an Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement in a Primetime or Late Night Animated Television Program,[5] and a British Comedy Award for Best International Comedy TV Show.[6] Alf Clausen also received a 2000 Annie Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement for Music in an Animated Television Production for his work on the episode "Behind the Laughter".[5] In the same year, "Treehouse of Horror X" won the CINE Golden Eagle Award.[7]

In 2000, music editor Bob Beecher was nominated for the Golden Reel Award for "Treehouse of Horror X".[8] At the Prism Awards, "Days of Wine and D'oh'ses" received a commendation in the Comedy Series Episode category in 2001 for its frank depiction of alcoholism and drug rehabilitation.[9] The show was also nominated for a Blimp Award in the Favorite Cartoon category at the 2000 Kids' Choice Awards,[10] as well as for the Teen Choice Award in the category Choice TV Show — Comedy.[11]

 
The Simpsons season 11 DVD digipak, special Krusty head edition

The DVD boxset for Season 11 was released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment in the United States and Canada on October 7, 2008, eight years after it had completed broadcast on television, in the UK on October 6, 2008, and in Australia on November 5, 2008. The special features include deleted scenes, storyboards/animatics, and commentaries.

The set was released in two different packagings: a standard rectangular cardboard box featuring Krusty the Clown on the cover, and a "limited edition" plastic packaging molded to look like Krusty's head. This is first time that a character-themed packaging doesn't feature a main character from The Simpsons family.[63] Unlike the previous seasons, the Collector's Edition packaging is a removable molded face attached to a cardboard sleeve, as opposed to a fully plastic clamshell. Both versions have changed from a digipak style of disc tray in previous seasons, to an accordion-style series of cardboard sleeves into which the discs slide. Following the release of the set, there were a number of complaints regarding the style of packaging as the cardboard packaging may scratch the discs; David Lambert of TVShowsOnDVD.com described the set as "functionally defective."[64]

The Complete Eleventh Season
Set details[65] Special features[65]
  • 22 episodes
  • 4-disc set
  • 1.33:1 aspect ratio
  • AUDIO
    • English 5.1 Dolby Digital
    • Spanish 2.0 Dolby Surround
    • French 2.0 Dolby Surround
  • SUBTITLES
    • English SDH
    • Spanish[65]
Release dates
Region 1 Region 2 Region 4
October 7, 2008 October 6, 2008 November 6, 2008
Specific
  1. ^ Groening, p. 12.
  2. ^ a b Groening, p. 34.
  3. ^ Seifert, Andy. "Indiana Man says no to the White Sox T-shirt cannons". The A.V. Club. 2009-04-26. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
  4. ^ Jean, Al (2004). The Simpsons season 4 DVD commentary for the episode "Mr. Plow" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  5. ^ a b "28th Annual Annie: Award Nominees and Winners (2000)". Annie Award. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
  6. ^ "The British Comedy Awards — Past Winners 2000". The British Comedy Awards. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
  7. ^ Scully, Mike (2008). Commentary for "Treehouse of Horror X" (DVD). The Simpsons: The Complete Eleventh Season. 20th Century Fox.
  8. ^ "Past Golden Reel Awards". Motion Picture Sound Editors. Archived from the original on March 5, 2007. Retrieved October 17, 2007.
  9. ^ "PRISM Commendations". Entertainment Industries Council. Retrieved April 27, 2008.
  10. ^ "Kids Choice Awards USA 2000". IMDb.com. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  11. ^ "Teen Choice Awards 2000". IMDb.com. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  12. ^ Groening, p. 13.
  13. ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (Sept. 20–26)". The Los Angeles Times. September 29, 1999. Retrieved June 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. 
  14. ^ "Prime-time Nielsen ratings". Associated Press Archive. Associated Press. September 29, 1999.
  15. ^ Groening, pp. 14-15.
  16. ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (Sept. 27-Oct. 3)". The Los Angeles Times. October 6, 1999. Retrieved June 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. 
  17. ^ Groening, p. 16.
  18. ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (Oct. 18-24)". The Los Angeles Times. October 27, 1999. Retrieved June 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. 
  19. ^ Groening, p. 11.
  20. ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (Oct. 25-31)". The Los Angeles Times. November 3, 1999. Retrieved June 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. 
  21. ^ "Quick end to series wounds NBC's ratings". Sun-Sentinel. MediaNews Group. Associated Press. November 4, 1999. p. 4E.
  22. ^ Groening, p. 19.
  23. ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (Nov. 1-7)". The Los Angeles Times. November 10, 1999. Retrieved June 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. 
  24. ^ Groening, p. 20.
  25. ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (Nov. 8-14)". The Los Angeles Times. November 17, 1999. Retrieved June 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. 
  26. ^ Groening, pp. 21-22.
  27. ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (Nov. 15-21)". The Los Angeles Times. November 24, 1999. Retrieved June 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. 
  28. ^ Groening, p. 23.
  29. ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (Nov. 22-28)". The Los Angeles Times. December 1, 1999. Retrieved June 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. 
  30. ^ Groening, p. 25.
  31. ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (Dec. 13-19)". The Los Angeles Times. December 22, 1999. Retrieved June 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. 
  32. ^ Moore, Frazier (December 22, 1999). "CBS scores a narrow victory in weekly ratings". Daily Breeze.
  33. ^ Groening, pp. 26-27.
  34. ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (Jan. 3-9)". The Los Angeles Times. January 12, 2000. Retrieved June 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. 
  35. ^ Groening, p. 28.
  36. ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (Jan. 10–16)". The Los Angeles Times. January 19, 2000. Retrieved June 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. 
  37. ^ Groening, p. 29.
  38. ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (Jan. 17-23)". The Los Angeles Times. January 26, 2000. Retrieved June 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. 
  39. ^ Associated Press (February 6, 2000). "Weekly Nielsen Ratings". The Stuart News. p. P10.
  40. ^ Groening, p. 32.
  41. ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (Jan. 31-Feb. 6)". The Los Angeles Times. February 9, 2000. Retrieved June 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. 
  42. ^ Associated Press (February 10, 2000). "'Millionarie' is a Nielsen darling once again". The Orlando Sentinel. p. E6.
  43. ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (Feb. 7-13)". The Los Angeles Times. February 16, 2000. Retrieved June 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. 
  44. ^ Associated Press (February 27, 2000). "Weekly Nielsen Ratings". The Stuart News. p. P10.
  45. ^ Groening, p. 35.
  46. ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (Feb. 14-20)". The Los Angeles Times. February 24, 2000. Retrieved June 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. 
  47. ^ Groening, p. 37.
  48. ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (Feb. 21–27)". The Los Angeles Times. March 1, 2000. Retrieved June 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. 
  49. ^ Groening, p. 38.
  50. ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (March 13–19)". The Los Angeles Times. March 22, 2000. Retrieved June 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. 
  51. ^ Bauder, David (Associated Press) (March 23, 2000). "'Millionaire' lifts ratings – for shows airing after it". The Augusta Chronicle. p. B04.
  52. ^ Groening, pp. 39-40.
  53. ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (April 3–9)". The Los Angeles Times. April 12, 2000. Retrieved June 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. 
  54. ^ Groening, p. 42.
  55. ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (April 24–30)". The Los Angeles Times. May 3, 2000. Retrieved June 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. 
  56. ^ Associated Press (May 4, 2000). "ABC, NBC dead even in prime-time ratings". Sun-Sentinel. p. 4E.
  57. ^ Groening, pp. 43-44.
  58. ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (May 1–7)". The Los Angeles Times. May 10, 2000. Retrieved June 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. 
  59. ^ Groening, p. 45.
  60. ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (May 8–14)". The Los Angeles Times. May 17, 2000. Retrieved June 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. 
  61. ^ Groening, p. 48.
  62. ^ "National Nielsen Viewership (May 15–21)". The Los Angeles Times. May 24, 2000. Retrieved June 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. 
  63. ^ "The Simpsons — The Complete 11th Season (Lisa Head)". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on December 9, 2008. Retrieved April 11, 2009.
  64. ^ Lambert, David (October 21, 2008). "The Simpsons — Editorial: Season 11: Worst... Packaging... Ever!". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on January 29, 2009. Retrieved January 13, 2009.
  65. ^ a b c Lambert, David. "Here's Krusty... The Simpsons: The Complete Eleventh Season DVD collection". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on September 4, 2008. Retrieved September 2, 2008.
Notes
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h (HH) denotes that the numbers listed are the number of households the episode was viewed in.
General