The Simpsons season 12


The twelfth season of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons aired on Fox between November 1, 2000, and May 20, 2001. It began with "Treehouse of Horror XI". The season contains four hold-over episodes from the season 11 production line. The showrunner for the twelfth production season was Mike Scully. The season won and was nominated for numerous awards including two Primetime Emmy Awards wins and an Annie Award nomination. Season 12 was released on DVD in Region 1 on August 18, 2009, Region 2 on September 28, 2009, and Region 4 on September 2, 2009.
Fandom simpsons:Season_12

Production

The season was the last with Mike Scully serving in the role of executive producer, while it was produced by Gracie Films and 20th Century Fox Television. He later returned to the series in season fourteen as a writer and executive producer for the episode "How I Spent My Strummer Vacation". Mike Scully has stated his goal during his tenure was to "not wreck the show".
Don Payne, John Frink and Bob Bendetson began writing for the series, while Larry Doyle, Julie Thacker and Tom Martin left following the completion of this season. Rob LaZebnik received his first sole writing credit for the episode "Homer vs. Dignity". LaZebnik would not get a writing credit for another episode until the 20th season, where he was credited for writing "Father Knows Worst". Shaun Cashman received his sole directing credit on the series this season, while Neil Affleck received his final directorial credit. Tom Gammill and Max Pross have been promoted to produce this season. As of 2009, Gammill & Pross are still credited as such, along with David Mirkin. Mike Reiss returned to the writing staff as a producer.
The season began with the annual Treehouse of Horror episode, beginning a practice of starting the season with the episodes, as well as airing the episodes shortly after Halloween in November, due to Fox's coverage of the World Series. This season brought back Sideshow Bob, who had not been seen since the eighth-season episode "Brother from Another Series".
Ian Maxtone-Graham's episode "Tennis the Menace" became the third episode of the series to be animated using digital ink and paint, which had not been used since the season seven episode "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular" and would not be tested again until the season 14 opener "Treehouse of Horror XIII", before permanently switching to digital animation a few episodes later with "The Great Louse Detective."
The season would also have five episodes that would air the following season.

Voice cast & characters

Main cast

Recurring

Guest stars

Reception

Critical reception

The twelfth season has received mostly positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the twelfth season of The Simpsons has an 80% approval rating based on 5 critical reviews. Matt Haigh of Den of Geek said that "The bad episodes are never really terrible, it's more that they're a bit boring and will most likely have you yawning 10 minutes in. With this in mind, season 12 ends up being very much a 50/50 affair". Nancy Basile gave a list of "Must See TV" episodes and "Not So Must See TV" episodes — with more of the former.

Awards

"HOMR" won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour), the seventh win for the series. Hank Azaria won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for "Worst Episode Ever". Composer Alf Clausen was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series for "Simpson Safari". "HOMR" was nominated an Annie Award for Outstanding Writing in an Animated Television Production. Lisa Simpson also won a Board of Directors Ongoing Commitment Award. The show also won at the 2002 Kids' Choice Awards.

Nielsen Rating

The season ranked 21st in the seasonal ratings with an average of 14.7 million viewers an episode, rising 6% from last season. As of 2023, season 12's Nielsen ranking of #21 remains the highest in the show's history.

Episodes



Home media

The DVD boxset for season twelve was released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment in the United States and Canada on Tuesday, August 18, 2009, eight years after it had completed broadcast on television. As well as every episode from the season, the DVD release feature bonus material including deleted scenes, animatics, and commentaries for every episode. The boxart features Comic Book Guy, and a special limited edition "embossed head case" package was also released.