The Simpsons season 26

Voice cast & characters

Main article: List of The Simpsons characters

Main cast

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

Supporting cast

• Pamela Hayden as Milhouse Van Houten, Jimbo Jones, Rod Flanders and various others
• Tress MacNeille as Dolph Shapiro, Shauna Chalmers, Brandine Spuckler, Linda, Ndnd, Myra, Bernice Hibbert, Crazy Cat Lady, Kumiko Albertson, Mrs. Muntz, Agnes Skinner, Mrs. Glick, Lunchlady Dora and various others
• Chris Edgerly as additional characters
• Maggie Roswell as Elizabeth Hoover, Luann Van Houten, Helen Lovejoy and Maude Flanders
• Russi Taylor as Martin Prince and Üter Zörker

Episodes

Guest stars: Kelsey Grammer as Sideshow Bob, Don Hertzfeldt as "Sampsans" characters, Maurice LaMarche as Clive Meriwether, Jackie Mason as Rabbi Krustofsky, David Hyde Pierce, Jeff Ross and Sarah Silverman

Guest star: Nick Offerman as Captain Bowditch Note: This episode was dedicated to Jan Hooks the former voice of Manjula Nahasapeemapetilon.

• School is Hell: Bart and Lisa find a desk carved with an Aramaic incantation that sends them to Hell – and Bart fits in at the school there.
• A Clockwork Yellow: Moe leads a Clockwork Orange-style gang, but one of his droogs (Homer) falls for a woman (Marge) and gives up life as a thug.
• The Others: The Simpsons are haunted by their former selves from The Tracey Ullman Show – and Homer falls for the older Marge, angering the current Marge. Guest star: John Ratzenberger as CGI Homer Simpson Guest star: Jane Fonda as Maxine Lombard and Robert Siegel as himself

Guest stars: John DiMaggio as Bender, Maurice LaMarche as Hedonismbot, Morbo and Lrrr, Phil LaMarr as Hermes Conrad, Katey Sagal as Turanga Leela, Lauren Tom as Amy Wong, Frank Welker as Nibbler and Billy West as Philip J. Fry, Professor Farnsworth and Zoidberg

Note: The events of this crossover episode occur between the 7th and 8th seasons of Futurama.

Guest stars: Willem Dafoe as Jack Lassen, Kelsey Grammer as Sideshow Bob and David Silverman as himself

• Guest stars*: Will Forte as King Toot and Sammy Hagar as himself

Guest star: Stacy Keach as Don Bookner

Guest star: Elon Musk as himself

Guest star: Kevin Michael Richardson as Albert and Pharrell Williams as himself

Guest stars: Christopher Lloyd as Jim Ignatowski and Rich Sommer as Young Man

Note: This is the first episode where Bart (despite appearing in the episode) doesn't have a single line of dialogue. As a result, this leaves Homer the only Simpson family member to speak in every episode.

Guest stars: Richard Branson as himself, Yaya DaCosta as Princess Kemi, Jon Lovitz as Enrico Irritazio and Kevin Michael Richardson as the Nigerian King

Guest star: Nathan Fielder as Doug Blattner

Guest stars: Cat Deeley as herself, R. Lee Ermey as Col. Leslie Hapablap and Stacy Keach as Howard K. Duff VIII

Guest stars: Glenn Close as Mona Simpson and Carice van Houten as Annika Van Houten

Guest stars: Albert Brooks as Dr. Raufbold, Joe Mantegna as Fat Tony and Johnny Mathis as himself

Guest star: Justin Roiland as Rick and Morty

Production

The season was ordered to production in October 2013. Six episodes were holdovers from the previous season, and one episode was a holdover from the twenty-fourth season. Executive producer Al Jean continued his role as primary showrunner, a role he had since the thirteenth season. Executive producer Matt Selman was also the showrunner for several episodes, a role he performed since the twenty-third season.

This season featured the final episode written by Valentina L. Garza before she left for the television series Bordertown. It also features the final episode written by Marc Wilmore before leaving for the television series F Is for Family. In addition, the season featured an episode written by filmmaker Judd Apatow that he submitted as a spec script to the show in 1990.

This season featured a crossover episode featuring the characters from creator Matt Groening's television series Futurama written by J. Stewart Burns, who was a writer on that series. In addition, one hour after its season premiere, the characters of The Simpsons crossed over to the television series Family Guy for a one-hour episode showrun by former Simpsons writer Richard Appel and directed by former Simpsons animator Peter Shin.

The episode held over from the twenty-fourth season, "The Man Who Came to Be Dinner," was considered to be expanded into the next Simpsons feature film. However, Jean and executive producer James L. Brooks thought controversial nature of the plot, featuring aliens Kang and Kodos, would upset viewers, so they allowed it to air on television to reduce the magnitude of the controversy.

Reception

Ratings

For the 2014-2015 television season, the season earned a 2.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic, which was the 35th best performing show. It averaged 5.62 million viewers, which was the 100th best performing show.

Critical response

Matthew Poland of Slant Magazine gave the first three episodes of the season a 2.5 out of 4 stars. He thought that the series had settled to the point where viewers expect what they are getting, and the focus is now on the jokes and the couch gags, where more experimentation can occur.

Gonzo Green of Bubbleblabber gave the season a 7.5 out of 10. Green highlighted the episodes at the beginning of the season as well as the holiday episodes and the Futurama crossover. Green also felt there were episodes that were terrible as well as some that had recycled plots.

In 2025, Lisa Laman of ComicBook.com referred to season 26, alongside season 18, as the creative nadir of the show’s entire run, albeit with one or two artistic highs still sneaking in.

Awards and nominations

At the 67th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, actor Hank Azaria won for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance for his work in "The Princess Guide." Actors Dan Castellaneta and Tress MacNeille were also nominated in this category. The episode "Treehouse of Horror XXV" was nominated for Outstanding Animated Program. Re-Recording mixers Tara Paul and Mark Linden were nominated for Outstanding Sound Mixing for their work in "Simpsorama."

Writers Matt Selman and Michael Price were nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Animation for episodes written this season.

Writer and executive producer Al Jean was nominated for an Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Writing in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production for his script for "I Won't Be Home for Christmas."

References

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