The Simpsons season 18

Voice cast & characters

Main article: List of The Simpsons characters

Main cast

• Dan Castellaneta as Homer Simpson, Hans Moleman, Groundskeeper Willie, Louie, Squeaky-Voiced Teen, Krusty the Clown, Sideshow Mel, Gil Gunderson, Snowball II, Mayor Quimby, Grampa Simpson, Barney Gumble, Kodos, Santa's Little Helper, Rich Texan, Mr. Teeny, Bill, Arnie Pye, and various others
• Julie Kavner as Marge Simpson, Patty Bouvier, and Selma Bouvier
• Nancy Cartwright as Bart Simpson, Kearney Zzyzwicz, Nelson Muntz, Ralph Wiggum, Database, Todd Flanders, and various others
• Yeardley Smith as Lisa Simpson
• Hank Azaria as Johnny Tightlips, Moe Szyslak, Carl Carlson, Sea Captain, Cletus Spuckler, Professor Frink, Chief Wiggum, Wiseguy, Superintendent Chalmers, Comic Book Guy, Disco Stu, Officer Lou, Snake, Kirk Van Houten, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Mr. Costington, Old Jewish Man, Gabbo, Drederick Tatum, Dr. Nick Riviera, Luigi Risotto, and various others
• Harry Shearer as Otto Mann, Principal Skinner, Dewey Largo, Dr. Hibbert, Ned Flanders, Lenny Leonard, Reverend Lovejoy, Kent Brockman, Mr. Burns, Waylon Smithers, Kang, Rainier Wolfcastle, Marty, Judge Snyder, Officer Eddie, and various others

Supporting cast

• Pamela Hayden as Milhouse Van Houten, Jimbo Jones, Rod Flanders, Janey Powell, and various others
• Tress MacNeille as Lunchlady Dora, Lindsey Naegle, Dolph Shapiro, Opal, Agnes Skinner, Brandine Spuckler, Crazy Cat Lady, and various others
• Russi Taylor as Martin Prince, Sherri and Terri and various others
• Karl Wiedergott as additional characters
• Maggie Roswell as Helen Lovejoy and various others

Season 18 included guest appearances by Metallica, Tom Wolfe, Gore Vidal, Michael Chabon, Ludacris, Jonathan Franzen, Fran Drescher, The White Stripes, Kiefer Sutherland, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Richard Lewis, Dr. Phil, 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.

Episodes

Guest Stars: Joe Mantegna, Joe Pantoliano, Michael Imperioli, and Metallica.

Guest Stars: The White Stripes. Ralph Sosa (co-director) "Married to the Blob" - Homer eats a mysterious green substance from a meteorite landing that turns him into a giant blob with an insatiable, cannibalistic appetite. "You Gotta Know When to Golem" - Bart discovers a golem 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 ignore a real alien invasion set up by Kang and Kodos.

Guest Stars: Dr. Phil, Richard Lewis, Fran Drescher, Sir Mix-a-Lot, Marcia Wallace and Maurice LaMarche.

Guest Star: Kiefer Sutherland.

Guest Stars: Tom Wolfe, Gore Vidal, Michael Chabon, Jonathan Franzen and J.K. Simmons.

Guest Star: Elvis Stojko.

Guest Stars: Maurice LaMarche and Sab Shimono. "The Count of Monte Fatso": In 19th century France, Moe (Fernand) breaks up the marriage of Homer (Edmond Dantés) and Marge (Mercedes); for this, Homer swears revenge, now in a French prison. "Revenge of the Geeks": Milhouse uses The Getbackinator, an ultra technologic weapon made by Martin, for fight back against the school bullies and the consequences when he goes too far. "Bartman Begins": After Homer (Thomas) and Marge (Martha Wayne) are killed by Snake Jailbird (Joe Chill) in a dark alley, Bart (Bruce Wayne) swears revenge with a superhero alter ego, Bartman.

Guest star: Natalie Portman.

Guest star: Eric Idle.

Guest stars: Peter Bogdanovich, Andy Dick, James Patterson, Meg Ryan, and Stephen Sondheim.

Guest star: Jane Kaczmarek.

Guest stars: J.K. Simmons, Betty White and Jon Lovitz.

Guest star: Ronaldo

Guest stars: Stephen Hawking, Maurice LaMarche, and Rudolph Giuliani (in a deleted scene that would later be reinstated in syndicated airings).

Guest stars: Kiefer Sutherland and Mary Lynn Rajskub.

Guest stars: Ludacris and Maurice LaMarche.

• This is the show's 400th episode.

Production

This season and the following season were ordered in March 2006. Al Jean remained as showrunner, a role he had since the thirteenth season. This season included the 400th episode of the series and marked the 20th anniversary of the Simpson characters' debut on The Tracey Ullman Show. Regarding the show's longevity, executive producer James L. Brooks commented that the fan base of the show was being "replenished" with younger fans as current fans become older. He thought the work environment remained the same as it was in the beginning but with more creative independence.

Reception

Critical response

Robert Canning of IGN gave the season 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."

Colin Jacobson of DVD Movie Guide called the season "lackluster" and said it was a step back from the previous season. He attributed this to The Simpsons Movie "absorbing much of the show's talent" and concluded, "Season 18 will be a must-see for Simpsons fans, but it's not a great offering." Stuart Galbraith IV of DVD Talk wrote, "Season 18 on DVD certainly has some evidence of that, but almost every episode still offers at least a laugh, and some of the episodes in that collection are quite funny." John Schwarz of Bubbleblabber gave it a nine out of ten, saying, "For both die-hard Simpsons fans and seasoned series stalwarts alike, this collection is a must-have. If you like the special features, you might want more at the end, but there's so much commentary on the episodes that it'll keep you busy for a while."

Awards

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" Jeff Westbrook won a WGA Award for "Kill Gil, Volumes I & II" while Matt Selman was nominated for "The Haw-Hawed Couple" and John Frink received a nomination for "Stop, or My Dog Will Shoot!".

The series also received a British Comedy Award nomination for "Best International Comedy" a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Animated Program for "The Haw-Hawed Couple" and an Environmental Media Award nomination for "Best Television Episodic Comedy" for "The Wife Aquatic".

Nielsen ratings

The show ranked 60th in the seasonal ratings with an average of 8.6 million watching it and a Nielsen rating of 4.1/10.

DVD release

Series showrunner Al Jean reported in April 2015 that The Simpsons would no longer see home media releases after the seventeenth season, claiming an inability for DVD sales to keep up with the rise in streaming and downloads, as well as a boom in FXX reruns, and Fox's on-demand video service, FXNOW. Jean reassured that bonus features commonly featured on the DVDs, such as commentaries for each episode, would still be available, now packaged with the digital format.

In 2016, audio commentary for the 18th season was made available exclusively through FXNOW.

On Saturday, July 22, 2017, it was announced during the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con panel that, due to fan demand, the eighteenth season DVD would be released after all on Tuesday, December 5, 2017, in the United States and Canada by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, ten years after it had completed broadcast on television.

References

;Bibliography

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