| The Simpsons Season 18 | |
|---|---|
| Series | The Simpsons |
| Country of origin | USA |
| Network | Fox |
| Original run | September 10, 2006 – May 20, 2007 |
| No. of episodes | 22 |
| Previous season | 17 |
| Next season | 19 |
The Simpsons' 18th season aired from September 10, 2006[1] to May 20, 2007. The season contained seven hold-over episodes from the season 17 (HABF) production line. Al Jean served as the Executive Producer, a position he has held since the thirteenth season.
The season finale, "You Kent Always Say What You Want", was the series' 400th episode. Additionally, the Simpsons franchise celebrated its 20th anniversary, as it has been on the air since April 1987, beginning with shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show.
Season 18 included guest appearances by Metallica, Tom Wolfe, Gore Vidal, Michael Chabon, Jonathan Franzen, Fran Drescher, The White Stripes, Kiefer Sutherland, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Richard Lewis, Phil McGraw, Elvis Stojko, Natalie Portman, Jon Lovitz, Betty White, Eric Idle, Sir Mix-a-Lot, Stephen Sondheim, Ronaldo, Meg Ryan, Andy Dick, Peter Bogdanovich, James Patterson and others.[2]
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Robert Canning of IGN gave the episode a 6.6 saying it was "Passable" and that "Now in its eighteenth season (go ahead, say that out loud: "eighteen seasons"), The Simpsons continues to supply America with a decent half-hour of comedy every Sunday night. However, most long-time fans of the show agree that the last several years have seen the program in constant decline. Looking back at this particular season, there's little evidence to prove them wrong. Though we were treated with at least a few hilarious gems this year, the mediocre (to the downright terrible) heavily outweighed the great."[3]
At the 35th Annie Awards, Alf Clausen and Michael Price won the award for "Best Music in an Animated Television Production" for "Yokel Chords" while Ian Maxtone-Graham and Billy Kimball won "Best Writing in an Animated Television Production" for "24 Minutes"[4] Jeff Westbrook won a WGA Award for "Kill Gil: Vols. 1 & 2"[5] while Matt Selman was nominated for "The Haw-Hawed Couple" and John Frink received a nomination for "Stop or My Dog Will Shoot".[6]
The series also received a British Comedy Award nomination for "Best International Comedy"[7] a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Animated Program for "The Haw-Hawed Couple"[8] and an Environmental Media Award nomination for "Best Television Episodic Comedy" for "The Wife Aquatic".[9]
The show ranked 80th in the seasonal ratings with an average of 8.680 million watching it and a Nielsen rating of 3.1.[10]
| # | Original title (top) Alternate title (bottom) |
Directed by | Written by | Original airdate | Prod. code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 379 - 1 | "The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer" | Michael Marcantel | Bill Odenkirk | September 10, 2006 | HABF15 |
| Lisa becomes friends with Fat Tony's son Michael. The Simpsons are invited over for dinner, where Fat Tony is shot. When Michael declines to be the new kingpin, Homer becomes Springfield's new mob boss. Guest stars: Joe Pantoliano, Michael Imperioli, and Metallica. |
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| 380 - 2 | "Jazzy and the Pussycats" | Steven Dean Moore | Daniel Chun | September 17, 2006 | HABF18 |
| Bart gets a drum kit to work out his aggression and becomes a natural. Meanwhile, Lisa adopts animals to combat depression when Bart is chosen over Lisa to be a member of Lisa's favorite jazz band - one of which is a tiger that attacks Bart's drumming arm. Guest stars: The White Stripes. |
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| 381 - 3 | "Please Homer, Don't Hammer 'Em" | Mike B. Anderson Ralph Sosa |
Matt Warburton | September 24, 2006 | HABF20 |
| After buying Homer a collection of handyman's books, Marge becomes a handywoman, but uses Homer since no one in town is thrilled over the idea of a female carpenter. Meanwhile, Bart finds out that Principal Skinner has a peanut allergy and uses a peanut on a stick to torture Skinner, but the joke is on Bart when Skinner discovers that Bart is allergic to shrimp. | |||||
| 382 - 4 | "Treehouse of Horror XVII" | David Silverman & Matthew Faughnan | Peter Gaffney | November 5, 2006 | HABF17 |
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Season 18's annual trio of Halloween stories. "You Gotta Know When to Golem" - Bart discovers a golem (a giant clay doll associated with Jewish mysticism) backstage at Krusty's show and uses it to do his bidding. "The Day the Earth Looked Stupid" - After being fooled by H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds, the citizens of Springfield in 1938 react with nonchalance to a real alien invasion.Guest stars: Phil McGraw, Richard Lewis, Fran Drescher, Sir Mix-a-lot and Maurice LaMarche. |
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| 383 - 5 | "G.I. (Annoyed Grunt)" | Michael Marcantel | Bill Odenkirk | November 12, 2006 | HABF21 |
| Homer finds himself in an army training camp after trying to get his children out of an agreement to join by age 18. Guest star: Kiefer Sutherland. |
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| 384 - 6 | "Moe'N'a Lisa" | Mark Kirkland | Matt Warburton | November 19, 2006 | HABF19 |
| Lisa discovers that Moe's written rantings are perfect fodder for poetry, but when Moe is invited to a writer's convention that throws out anyone who uses someone else to create their works, Moe ends up taking the credit. Guest stars: Tom Wolfe, Gore Vidal, Michael Chabon, Jonathan Franzen and J.K. Simmons. |
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| 385 - 7 | "Ice Cream of Margie (with the Light Blue Hair)" | Matthew Nastuk | Carolyn Omine | November 26, 2006 | HABF22 |
| After Homer gets fired once again from the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, he takes over Springfield's ice cream truck business after his favorite driver dies. Meanwhile, Marge, depressed over seeing women more successful than she and looking for a way to be remembered, begins using Popsicle sticks to create sculptures. | |||||
| 386 - 8 | "The Haw-Hawed Couple" | Chris Clements | Matt Selman | December 10, 2006 | JABF02 |
| Bart becomes Nelson's best friend, and discovers how possessive Nelson can be. Meanwhile, Homer finds himself hooked on one of Lisa's fantasy books and is conflicted in telling Lisa the truth when one of the endings turn out to be unhappy. | |||||
| 387 - 9 | "Kill Gil, Volumes I & II" | Bob Anderson | Jeff Westbrook | December 17, 2006 | JABF01 |
| After Gil Gunderson gives Lisa a Malibu Stacy doll reserved for Mr. Costington's daughter, he gets fired as a mall Santa and moves in with the Simpsons, though his antics get on Marge's nerves. Meanwhile, Homer picks a fight with an Ice Capades character named The Grumple. Guest star: Elvis Stojko. |
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| 388 - 10 | "The Wife Aquatic" | Lance Kramer | Kevin Curran | January 7, 2007 | JABF03 |
| After viewing one of Patty and Selma's home video of their summer on the boardwalk, Marge reminisces of her memorable childhood vacations spent at Barnacle Bay, prompting Homer to take her to the now rundown island with a bay depleted of fish. Guest stars: Maurice LaMarche and Sab Shimono. |
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| 389 - 11 | "Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Three Times" | Michael Polcino | Joel H. Cohen | January 28, 2007 | JABF05 |
| Homer's misguided revenge on the Rich Texan combined with an untimely car break down leaves Marge, Lisa, and Bart to tell three tales about revenge gone wrong (told as parodies of The Count of Monte Cristo, Revenge of the Nerds, and Batman Begins), none of which appear to prevent Homer's murderous urges of revenge. | |||||
| 390 - 12 | "Little Big Girl" | Raymond S. Persi | Don Payne | February 11, 2007 | JABF04 |
| When Cletus ineptly tosses his pipe, Springfield is in danger when the town is about to be hit by a ferocious fire. Bart unwittingly saves the day and is rewarded with a driver's license. However, when he drives to North Haverbrook, he is then engaged with a girl named Darcy who ropes Bart into marriage after declaring that she's pregnant. Meanwhile, Lisa lies about her family heritage in an essay, declaring that she's an American Indian, and gets chosen to give a keynote speech at a convention. Guest star: Natalie Portman. |
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| 391 - 13 | "Springfield Up" | Chuck Sheetz | Matt Warburton | February 18, 2007 | JABF07 |
| Declan Desmond returns as he shows a documentary about Springfield's current adult population as children, discussing their future aspirations and meets up with Homer to see if he followed his dreams. Guest star: Eric Idle. |
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| 392 - 14 | "Yokel Chords" | Susie Dietter | Michael Price | March 4, 2007 | JABF09 |
| After Lisa protests denying education to Cletus's kids, Principal Skinner offers her a chance to tutor them herself, though Krusty hires them as a musical act for his show. Meanwhile, Bart ends up in therapy after scaring his peers with stories of a school chef notorious for cooking children. Guest stars: Peter Bogdanovich, Andy Dick, James Patterson, Meg Ryan, and Stephen Sondheim. |
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| 393 - 15 | "Rome-old and Juli-eh" | Nancy Kruse | Daniel Chun | March 11, 2007 | JABF08 |
| In an unexpected turn of events, Grampa and Selma fall in love and get married, prompting Homer and Patty plot to break up their love connection. Meanwhile, Bart and Lisa con a delivery man into giving them the most sought-after commodity in the neighborhood - cardboard boxes - so they can build a fort. Guest star: Jane Kaczmarek. |
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| 394 - 16 | "Homerazzi" | Matthew Nastuk | J. Stewart Burns | March 25, 2007 | JABF06 |
| After the family photo album is destroyed, Marge restages all of the family's photographs, and when a celebrity dating scandal is captured in the background of one of their photos, the Simpsons strike tabloid gold. Tasting success and seeing money to be made, Homer takes to the streets as one of the paparazzi, capturing Springfield's celebrities at their worst. Guest stars: J.K. Simmons, Betty White and Jon Lovitz. |
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| 395 - 17 | "Marge Gamer" | Bob Anderson | J. Stewart Burns | April 22, 2007 | JABF10 |
| When Marge is scorned for not having an email address, she discovers the wonders of the Internet. She joins a reality game called "Earthland Realms" where she discovers Bart is the game's best and most destructive player. Meanwhile, Homer begins refereeing Lisa's soccer games--and Lisa takes advantage of the situation. Guest star: Ronaldo. |
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| 396 - 18 | "The Boys of Bummer" | Rob Oliver | Michael Price | April 29, 2007 | JABF11 |
| Bart becomes a hometown hero when he makes the game-winning catch at his Little League game, sending the Springfield Isotots to the Little League championship for the first time ever. However, Springfield turns on him when he drops an easy pop fly in the bottom of the ninth, losing the game for his team. Meanwhile, Homer gets a job at Costington's Department store as a mattress tester. | |||||
| 397 - 19 | "Crook and Ladder" | Lance Kramer | Bill Odenkirk | May 6, 2007 | JABF13 |
| When reading a parenting magazine, Marge follows the advice to throw away Maggie's pacifier. However, when the pacifier is thrown in the trash, Maggie goes on a path of destruction in the Simpsons home. Meanwhile, Homer, Moe, Apu, and Principal Skinner become volunteer firefighters and begin stealing items from the homes whose fires they extinguish. | |||||
| 398 - 20 | "Stop or My Dog Will Shoot" | Matthew Faughnan | John Frink | May 13, 2007 | JABF12 |
| When Homer gets lost in a cornfield maze, Santa's Little Helper rescues him and becomes a local hero, which prompts the Simpson family to enroll him in Police Dog Academy, where he dons a new and more stern personality. Meanwhile, Bart, missing Santa's Little Helper, gets a strangling snake as a new pet. Guest stars: Stephen Hawking and Maurice LaMarche. |
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| 399 - 21 | "24 Minutes" | Raymond S. Persi | Ian Maxtone-Graham Billy Kimball |
May 20, 2007 | JABF14 |
| When finding out Jimbo, Dolph, and Kearney plan on sabotaging Springfield Elementary School's annual bake sale by releasing the "ultimate stinkbomb" (a rotten yogurt cup from Springfield's Nuclear Power Plant), Bart and Lisa enlist the help of Jack Bauer and Chloe O'Brian. Meanwhile, Marge attempts to make the perfect cake, so she can win the bake sale. Guest stars: Kiefer Sutherland and Mary Lynn Rajskub. |
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| 400 - 22 | "You Kent Always Say What You Want" | Matthew Nastuk | Tim Long | May 20, 2007 | JABF15 |
| Homer purchases the 1-millionth ice cream cone at an ice cream store and is featured on Kent Brockman’s nightly news program. However, the innocent interview turns into trouble when Brockman blurts a horrible curse word on live TV--which gets discovered and reported to the FCC during Flanders' nightly ritual of reviewing appropriate programs for his children to watch. Guest star: Ludacris. |
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