Country of origin United States Original network Fox | No. of episodes 22 | |
Original release September 26, 1999 (1999-09-26) – May 21, 2000 (2000-05-21) | ||
The Simpsons' eleventh season originally aired between September 1999 and May 2000, beginning on Sunday, September 26, 1999, with "Beyond Blunderdome". The showrunner for the 11th production season was Mike Scully. The season contained four hold-over episodes from the season 10 (AABF) production line.
Contents
Production
Towards the end of the production of season 10, voice actress Maggie Roswell, who voiced Helen Lovejoy, Maude Flanders and Miss Hoover, among others, left the show because of a contract dispute. She returned to the show in season 14. As a result of Roswell's leaving, Marcia Mitzman Gaven was brought to voice many of her characters, but it was decided to kill off Maude Flanders in the episode "Alone Again, Natura-diddily" to open new storylines for that episode. Marcia Mitzman Gaven started voicing Roswell's characters in hold-over season 10 episode "Brother's Little Helper".
Writers credited with episodes in the 11th season include Al Jean, Dan Greaney, Donick Cary, Tim Long, Ian Maxtone-Graham, Carolyn Omine, Mike Scully, Matt Selman, John Swartzwelder and George Meyer. Animation directors included Bob Anderson, Mike B. Anderson, Mark Kirkland, Lance Kramer, Nancy Kruse, Lauren MacMullan, Pete Michels, Steven Dean Moore, Matthew Nastuk, Michael Polcino and Jim Reardon. The main cast consisted of Dan Castellaneta (Homer Simpson, Grampa Simpson, Krusty the Clown amongst others), Julie Kavner (Marge Simpson), Nancy Cartwright (Bart Simpson, Ralph Wiggum, Nelson Muntz), Yeardley Smith (Lisa Simpson), Hank Azaria (Moe Szyslak, Apu, Chief Wiggum, amongst others) and Harry Shearer (Ned Flanders, Mr. Burns, Principal Skinner, amongst others). Other cast members included Marcia Wallace (Edna Krabappel), Pamela Hayden (Milhouse Van Houten, amongst others), Tress MacNeille (Agnes Skinner, amongst others), Russi Taylor (Martin Prince) and Karl Wiedergott (additional characters).
Awards
Aside from winning several awards in 2000, The Simpsons family themselves were awarded on January 14, 2000, their own star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard. The 11th season itself gathered an Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program, as well as an Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement in a Primetime or Late Night Animated Television Program, and a British Comedy Award for Best International Comedy TV Show. Alf Clausen also received a 2000 Annie Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement for Music in an Animated Television Production for his work on the episode "Behind the Laughter". In the same year, "Treehouse of Horror X" won the CINE Golden Eagle Award.
In 2000, music editor Bob Beecher was nominated for the Golden Reel Award for "Treehouse of Horror X". At the Prism Awards, "Days of Wine and D'oh'ses" received a commendation in the Comedy Series Episode category in 2001 for its frank depiction of alcoholism and drug rehabilitation. The show was also nominated for a Blimp Award in the Favorite Cartoon category at the 2000 Kids' Choice Awards, as well as for the Teen Choice Award in the category Choice TV Show — Comedy.
Nielsen rating
The show ranked 41st in the seasonal ratings making it the second highest rated show on Fox that season after Malcolm in the Middle, getting an 18-49 Nielsen Rating of 8.2//13.
DVD release
The DVD boxset for Season 11 was released by 20th Century Fox in the United States and Canada on October 7, 2008, eight years after it had completed broadcast on television, in the UK on October 6, 2008, and in Australia on November 5, 2008. The special features include deleted scenes, storyboards/animatics, and commentaries.
This is the first season release following the series of five Simpson family member shaped boxes. The character-themed packaging continues and, as with those seasons, this set was released in two different packagings: A "Collector's Edition" plastic packaging molded to look like Krusty the Clown's head, and a smaller standard rectangular cardboard box featuring Krusty. Unlike the previous seasons, the Collector's Edition packaging is a removable molded face attached to a cardboard sleeve, as opposed to a fully plastic clamshell. Both versions have changed from a digipak style of disc tray in previous seasons, to an accordion-style series of cardboard sleeves into which the discs slide. Following the release of the set, there were a number of complaints regarding the style of packaging due to the fact that the cardboard packaging may scratch the discs; David Lambert of TVShowsOnDVD.com described the set as "functionally defective."