The Simpsons season 2

Production

"Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish" was the first episode produced for the season, but "Bart Gets an 'F'" aired first because Bart was popular at the time and the producers had wanted to premiere with a Bart-themed episode. The second season featured a new opening sequence, which was shortened from its original length of roughly 90 seconds. The opening sequence for the first season showed Bart stealing a "Bus Stop" sign; whilst the new sequence featured him skateboarding past several characters who had been introduced during the previous season. Starting with this season, there were three versions of the opening: a full roughly 75-second version, a 45-second version and a 25-second version. This gave the show's editors more leeway. This sequence would remain in use until the show's transfer to high definition midway through the twentieth season.

Mark Kirkland and Jim Reardon received their first directorial credits on the show while Jeff Martin and David M. Stern joined the writing staff.

Voice cast & characters

Main article: List of The Simpsons characters

The season saw the introduction of several new recurring characters, including Mayor Quimby, Kang and Kodos, Maude Flanders, Bill and Marty, Dr. Hibbert, Roger Meyers Jr., Sideshow Mel, Lionel Hutz, Dr. Nick Riviera, Blue-Haired Lawyer, Rainier Wolfcastle, Troy McClure, Groundskeeper Willie, Hans Moleman, Professor Frink, Snake and Comic Book Guy.

Main cast

• Dan Castellaneta as Homer Simpson, Grampa Simpson, Krusty the Clown, Mayor Quimby, Groundskeeper Willie, Barney Gumble, Troy McClure 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, and various others

Recurring

• Pamela Hayden as Milhouse Van Houten, Jimbo Jones
• Maggie Roswell as Maude Flanders, Helen Lovejoy and Miss Hoover
• Russi Taylor as Martin Prince and Sherri and Terri
• Tress MacNeille as Agnes Skinner
• Marcia Wallace as Edna Krabappel
• Jo Ann Harris as additional characters

Guest stars

Main article: List of The Simpsons guest stars (seasons 1–20)

• Phil Hartman as Troy McClure, Lionel Hutz, Moses, Plato and various others (various episodes)
• Harvey Fierstein as Karl ("Simpson and Delilah")
• James Earl Jones as the mover, Serak the Preparer, and the narrator of "The Raven" ("Treehouse of Horror")
• Tony Bennett as himself ("Dancin' Homer")
• Tom Poston as the Capital City Goofball ("Dancin' Homer")
• Daryl L. Coley as "Bleeding Gums" Murphy ("Dancin' Homer")
• Ken Levine as Dan Horde ("Dancin' Homer")
• Greg Berg as Rory ("Bart vs. Thanksgiving")
• Carol Kane as Maggie Simpson ("Bart vs. Thanksgiving"; uncredited)
• Alex Rocco as Roger Meyers Jr. ("Itchy & Scratchy & Marge")
• Joey Miyashima as Toshiro ("One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish")
• Diane Tanaka as Hostess ("One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish")
• Larry King as himself ("One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish")
• Sab Shimono as Master Chef ("One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish")
• George Takei as Akira ("One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish")
• Jon Lovitz as Artie Ziff ("The Way We Was"), Professor Lombardo and the doughnut delivery man ("Brush with Greatness")
• Danny DeVito as Herb Powell ("Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?")
• Tracey Ullman as Emily Winthrop and Sylvia Winfield ("Bart's Dog Gets an "F")
• Frank Welker as animal voices ("Bart's Dog Gets an "F")
• Audrey Meadows as Beatrice "Bea" Simmons ("Old Money")
• Ringo Starr as himself ("Brush with Greatness")
• Dustin Hoffman (credited as Sam Etic) as Mr. Bergstrom ("Lisa's Substitute")
• Cloris Leachman as Mrs. Glick ("Three Men and a Comic Book")
• Daniel Stern as the adult version of Bart ("Three Men and a Comic Book")

Reception

Ratings

Due to the show's success during its abbreviated first season, Fox decided to move The Simpsons from its Sunday night lineup on August 23, 1990. The move came as the still-fledgling network was adding two additional nights of programming to its lineup, one of which was Thursday. Fox placed The Simpsons in the leadoff position of their lineup for their initial Thursday offerings, with the new sitcom Babes and a new Aaron Spelling-produced drama, Beverly Hills, 90210, offering competition for the lineups fielded by the other networks including ratings champion NBC.

The Simpsons settled into the 8:00 PM position, which put it in direct competition with the five-time defending #1 show in all of television, The Cosby Show. Many of the producers, including James L. Brooks, were against the move because The Simpsons had been in the top 10 while airing on Sunday and they felt the move would destroy its ratings. All through the summer of 1990, several news outlets published stories about the supposed "Bill vs. Bart" rivalry. At the time, NBC had 208 television stations, while Fox had only 133.

Bart Gets an "F" was the first episode to air against The Cosby Show and averaged an 18.4 Nielsen rating and 29% of the audience. In the week's ratings, it finished tied for eighth behind The Cosby Show which had an 18.5 rating. However, an estimated 33.6 million viewers watched the episode, making it the number one show in terms of actual viewers that week. At the time, it was the most watched episode in the history of Fox. The next week, "Simpson and Delilah" had a 16.2 rating and 25% share while the Cosby Show managed to maintain its 18.5 rating. However, viewer-wise, The Simpsons won again with 29.9 million viewers.

The next week, "Treehouse of Horror" fell in the ratings, finishing 24th. Ratings wise, new episodes of The Cosby Show beat The Simpsons every time during the second season and The Simpsons eventually fell out of the top 10.

"Three Men and a Comic Book" would boast the only victory over The Cosby Show, finishing 23rd in the weekly ratings while a rerun of Cosby finished 26th. At the end of the season, Cosby averaged as the fifth highest rated show on television while The Simpsons was 38th. It would not be until the seventeenth episode of the third season, "Homer at the Bat," that The Simpsons would beat The Cosby Show in the ratings. The show remained in its Thursday timeslot until the sixth season.

Critical response

The second season of The Simpsons received critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has a 100% approval rating based on 8 critical reviews. On aggregate review website Metacritic, a site which uses a weighted mean score, the season scored a 92/100 based on seven critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

At the 7th annual Television Critics Association Awards, the second season of the show was nominated for "Outstanding Achievement in Comedy" but lost to Murphy Brown.

Episodes

• "Bad Dream House": Bart tells a story where the Simpsons move into a haunted house built on a Native American burial ground. After the house is told off by Marge, it chooses to destroy itself rather than live with the Simpsons.
• "Hungry Are the Damned": In Bart's other story, the Simpsons are abducted by Kang and Kodos to be taken to the planet Rigel IV for a feast. Lisa is suspicious of the aliens' intentions, believing that the Simpsons themselves are being cooked. When her trust is misplaced, the offended aliens return the family to Earth.
• "The Raven": Lisa retells the poem by Edgar Allan Poe, in which Homer appears as the poem's narrator and Bart is the raven. Guest star: Danny DeVito Guest star: Ringo Starr Guest star: Dustin Hoffman. Credited as "Sam Etic"

DVD release

The DVD boxset for season two was released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment in the United States and Canada on August 6, 2002, eleven years after it had completed broadcast on television. As well as every episode from the season, the DVD release features bonus material including commentaries for every episode. The commentaries were recorded in late 2001.

References

;Bibliography

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