''The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special – In 3-D! On Ice!'' is a documentary special that examined the "

cultural phenomenon The bandwagon effect is the tendency for people to adopt certain behaviors, styles, or attitudes simply because others are doing so. More specifically, it is a cognitive bias by which public opinion or behaviours can alter due to particular act ...

" of the American animated television series ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, ...

''. It originally aired on the

Fox network The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations ...

in the United States on January 10, 2010. The special was directed by

Morgan Spurlock Morgan Valentine Spurlock (born November 7, 1970) is an American documentary filmmaker, humorist, television producer, screenwriter and playwright. Spurlock's films include '' Super Size Me'' (2004), '' Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?'' ( ...

Content

The film examines the "cultural phenomenon" of ''The Simpsons'' and includes interviews with both the cast and fans of the show.

Production

Background

Morgan Spurlock at the Tribeca Film Festival

In 2009, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the premiere of ''The Simpsons'', Fox announced that a year-long celebration of the show titled "Best. 20 Years. Ever." would run from January 14, 2009 to January 14, 2010. Morgan Spurlock, an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

-nominated documentary filmmaker ( Best Documentary Feature for '' Super Size Me'' in 2004) and fan of ''The Simpsons'' since his college days, was asked to direct the special in February 2009. The producers of ''The Simpsons'' were impressed with an animated sequence in Spurlock's 2008 film '' Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?'' and decided to ask him to direct the special. Spurlock immediately accepted the offer, describing the opportunity as "the coolest thing I could ever get to do in my career." The special was later announced in July 2009. The producers spent several months deciding on the content and format of the film. Spurlock believes "the reason he producerscalled imto begin with was to not have a show that would be a glad-hand, pat-everyone-on-the-back special, that's why rooting it in the people who kept this show on the air for the last 20 years is important." It was originally scheduled to air on January 14, 2010, exactly twenty years after the first broadcast of " Bart the Genius", the first regular episode of the series after the Christmas special " Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". However, it was instead shown on January 10, 2010 alongside "

Once Upon a Time in Springfield "Once Upon a Time in Springfield" is the tenth episode of the twenty-first season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 10, 2010. It was promoted as the ...

", which was promoted as the 450th episode of the series despite being the 451st. Despite its promotion as a special event broadcast, ''The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special – In 3-D! On Ice!'' was directed by Spurlock as a component of the series' 20th production season. It therefore received a ''Simpsons'' episode production code (LABF21, seen in the closing credits), one production number higher than the episode which aired alongside it ("

", LABF20).

Filming

The special includes interviews with fans from ten to fifteen countries. Filming of the special began at Comic-Con 2009 in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

. A casting call for fans was held on July 25, 2009, with the hopes of finding "some of the most incredible super-fans that the world has ever seen." Spurlock has filmed interviews with a man who grew real-life "Tomacco" (a mix of

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

and

tomato The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...

, based on the episode "

E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt) "E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt)", also known as "E-I-E-I-D'oh", is the fifth episode of the eleventh season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox Network in the United States on November 7, 1999. In ...

"), the man with the most ''Simpsons'' tattoos and a couple that had a ''Simpsons''-themed wedding. On August 12, 2009, Spurlock and '' The A.V. Club'' writer Steven Hyden attended a

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Ba ...

baseball game between the

Albuquerque Isotopes The Albuquerque Isotopes are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. They play home games at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at an e ...

and

Tacoma Rainiers The Tacoma Rainiers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. They are located in Tacoma, Washington, and play their home games at Cheney Stadium, which opened in 1960 ...

at Isotopes Park in

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding i ...

. The Isotopes' name was inspired by the season 12 episode " Hungry, Hungry Homer", where

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

attempts to thwart the Springfield Isotopes' plan to move to Albuquerque. Subsequently, when an '' Albuquerque Tribune'' online survey helped the team decide its new name, "Isotopes" received 67 percent of the 120,000 votes. Spurlock filmed several scenes in both

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

and

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), a ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. Both cities have claimed to be the home of character Groundskeeper Willie, based on various bits of dialogue from the series. He also conducted tongue-in-cheek interviews with former Lord Provost of Glasgow

Liz Cameron Liz Cameron is a former Lord Provost of Glasgow. Born in Partick, Glasgow, she graduated from the University of Glasgow and became a college lecturer, teaching at Bell College of Technology in Hamilton. First elected as a Labour member of the ...

and former Aberdeen FC manager Mark McGhee.

Reception

In its original broadcast, ''The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special – In 3-D! On Ice!'' earned a 5.6

Nielsen rating Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rati ...

in the 18–49 demographic and had approximately 13 million viewers. The first half got 13.462 million viewers and a rating of 6.3 and 15% share for the 18–49 rating and the second half got 11.171 million viewers with a rating of 5.4 and a 12% share. The episode ranked 14th in the weekly ratings and ranked 6th in the 18-49 rating. The special got an average

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

rating of 64. Robert Canning of IGN called the special "impressive", saying that "It's really just one big fan talking to a bunch of other fans (which includes the creators) about a series we all love. And heck, the special is worth a watch if only to hear how

Conan O'Brien Conan Christopher O'Brien (born April 18, 1963) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and producer. He is best known for having hosted late-night talk shows for almost 28 years, beginning with '' Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' ( ...

would write the ending to the longest-running series in the history of television." Emily VanDerWerff of '' The A.V. Club'' gave the special a B−. ''

L'Osservatore Romano ''L'Osservatore Romano'' (, 'The Roman Observer') is the daily newspaper of Vatican City State which reports on the activities of the Holy See and events taking place in the Catholic Church and the world. It is owned by the Holy See but is not ...

'' congratulated the show on its 20 years as a show, stating "Without Homer Simpson and the other yellow-skinned characters, many today wouldn't know how to laugh". The special also received a nomination for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Nonfiction Special. It lost, however, to ''Teddy: In His Own Words'', a special about

Ted Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...

.Nominations: Official Primetime Emmy Award Nominees
Emmys.tv (2010-07-08).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special - In 3-D On Ice 2010 television films 2010 films American documentary films Fox television specials The Simpsons Documentary films about television 2010 in American television 2010 television specials 2010s American television specials Anniversary television episodes 20th Century Fox Television films Fox Television Animation films Documentary films about animation Films directed by Morgan Spurlock 2010s American films