The second season of the American

animated sitcom An animated sitcom is a subgenre of a television sitcom that is animation, animated instead of being filmed live-action, and is generally made or created for adult animation, adult audiences in most cases. ''The Simpsons'', ''SpongeBob SquarePan ...

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

'' aired on Fox between October 11, 1990 and July 11, 1991. It began with " Bart Gets an "F". Another episode, "

Blood Feud A feud , also known in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, private war, or mob war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially family, families or clans. Feuds begin ...

", aired during the summer after the official season finale. The executive producers for the second production season were

Matt Groening Matthew Abram Groening ( ; born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. He is best known as the creator of the television series ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), ''Futurama'' (1999–2003, 2008–2013, 2 ...

, James L. Brooks, and Sam Simon, who had also been executive producers for the previous season. It was produced by

Gracie Films Gracie Films is an American film and television production company founded by James L. Brooks on January 4, 1986. The company is primarily known for producing its long-running flagship animated series ''The Simpsons''. The company's headquarter ...

and

20th Century Fox Television 20th Television, Inc. (formerly known as TCF Television Productions, Inc., 20th Century-Fox Television and 20th Century Fox Television) is the television studio arm of 20th Century Studios, owned by Disney Television Studios, a division of the Di ...

. The DVD box set was released on August 6, 2002, in Region 1, July 8, 2002 in Region 2 and in September 2002 in Region 4. The episode " Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment" won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour), and was also nominated in the "Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy Series or a Special" category.Emmy Awards official site
"The Simpsons" "1991–1991" ''emmys.org''. Retrieved on August 31, 2007

Production

Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish "Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish" is the fourth episode of the The Simpsons season 2, second season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It is actually the first episode of that season in the product ...

" 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 A title screen (also called an opening screen or intro) is the method by which films or television programmes present their title and key production and cast members, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound (often an opening theme song with visua ...

, 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 Mark Kirkland (born ) is an American animation director. He has directed 84 episodes of ''The Simpsons'' since 1990, more than any other director. Career At the age of 13, Kirkland began making Super 8 mm film, super 8 films and working for his ...

and

Jim Reardon Jim Reardon is an American animation director and screenwriter. He is best known for his work on the animated TV series ''The Simpsons''. He has directed over 30 episodes of the series and was credited as a supervising director for seasons 9 t ...

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

Voice cast & characters

The season saw the introduction of several new recurring characters, including Mayor Quimby,

Kang and Kodos Kang and Kodos Johnson are a duo of fictional recurring characters in the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. Kang is voiced by Harry Shearer and Kodos by Dan Castellaneta. They are green, perpetually drooling, octopus-like alien ...

, 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 Dr. William MacDougal, better known as Groundskeeper Willie, is a recurring character on ''The Simpsons'', voiced by Dan Castellaneta. He is the head groundskeeper and Janitor at Springfield Elementary School. Willie is almost feral in nature and ...

Hans Moleman The American animated television series ''The Simpsons'' contains a wide range of minor and supporting characters like co-workers, teachers, students, family friends, extended relatives, townspeople, local celebrities, and even animals. The writ ...

Professor Frink Professor John I.Q. Nerdelbaum Frink Jr. is a recurring character in the Animated cartoon, animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Hank Azaria, and first appeared in the 1991 episode "Old Money (The Simpsons), Old Money". Fr ...

Snake Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...

and

Comic Book Guy Jeff Albertson, commonly known as the Comic Book Guy (CBG), is a Recurring character, recurring fictional Character (arts), character in the animated television series ''The Simpsons'' and Eisner Awards, Eisner-nominated Spin-off (media), spin-o ...

Main cast

Dan Castellaneta Daniel Louis Castellaneta ( ; born October 29, 1957) is an American actor. He is best known for voicing Homer Simpson on the animated series ''The Simpsons'' (as well as other characters on the show such as Grampa Simpson, Krusty the Clown, ...

as Homer Simpson, Grampa Simpson,

Krusty the Clown Herschel Shmoikel Pinchas Yerucham Krustofsky (; ), better known by his stage name Krusty the Clown (sometimes spelled as Krusty the Klown), is a recurring character on the List of animated television series, animated television series ''The S ...

, Mayor Quimby,

, Barney Gumble, Troy McClure and various others *

Julie Kavner Julie Deborah Kavner (born September 7, 1950) is an American actress. Before becoming well known for her voice role as Marge Simpson on the animated television series ''The Simpsons'', Kavner attracted notice for her role as Brenda Morgenstern, ...

Marge Simpson Marjorie Jacqueline "Marge" Simpson () is a character in the American animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' and part of the eponymous family (The Simpsons). Voiced by Julie Kavner, she first appeared on television in '' The Tracey Ullman Show'' s ...

Patty Bouvier Patricia Maleficent "Patty" Bouvier and Selma Bouvier-Terwilliger-Hutz-McClure-Discotheque-Simpson ( ) are fictional characters in the American animated sitcom ''The Simpsons''. They are twin sisters and are voiced by Julie Kavner, who also vo ...

Selma Bouvier Patricia Maleficent "Patty" Bouvier and Selma Bouvier-Terwilliger-Hutz-McClure-Discotheque-Simpson ( ) are fictional characters in the American animated sitcom ''The Simpsons''. They are twin sisters and are voiced by Julie Kavner, who also vo ...

and various others *

Nancy Cartwright Nancy Jean Cartwright (born October 25, 1957) is an American actress, best known as the long-time voice of Bart Simpson on ''The Simpsons'', for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance and an Annie Award f ...

Bart Simpson Bartholomew Jo-Jo "Bart" Simpson is a character in the American animated television series ''The Simpsons'' who is part of the titular family. Bart made his television debut in the short " Good Night" on '' The Tracey Ullman Show'' on Apri ...

Nelson Muntz Nelson Mandela Muntz is a fictional character and the lead school bully from the animated television series ''The Simpsons'', where he is best known for his signature mocking laugh "Haw-haw!". He is voiced by Nancy Cartwright. Nelson was first ...

, Ralph Wiggum and various others *

Yeardley Smith Martha Maria Yeardley Smith ( ; born July 3, 1964) is an American actress. She stars as the voice of Lisa Simpson on the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. Smith began acting in 1982 after graduating from drama school. She moved to ...

Lisa Simpson Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television sitcom series ''The Simpsons''. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa was born as a character in '' The Tracey Ullman Show'' short ...

Hank Azaria Henry Albert Azaria ( ; born April 25, 1964) is an American actor and producer. He is known for voicing many characters in the long-running animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' since 1989, including Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum, Superintendent Chalmer ...

Moe Szyslak Moe Szyslak ( ) is a recurring character from the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Hank Azaria and first appeared in the series premiere episode " Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". Moe is the proprietor and bartende ...

, Chief Wiggum,

, Carl Carlson,

, Apu and various others * Harry Shearer as Mr. Burns, Waylon Smithers,

Ned Flanders Nedward "Ned" Flanders Jr., commonly referred to by his surname, is a fictional character in the animated television series ''The Simpsons'', voiced by Harry Shearer and first appearing in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an ...

Principal Skinner Principal Seymour Skinner is a recurring fictional character in the animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'', who is voiced by Harry Shearer. He is the principal of Springfield Elementary School, which he struggles to control, and is constantly enga ...

, Dr. Hibbert, Lenny Leonard, Kent Brockman,

Reverend Lovejoy The Reverend, Reverend Timothy "Tim" Lovejoy, Jr. is a recurring character in the Animated cartoon, animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Harry Shearer, and first appeared in the episode "The Telltale Head". Rev. Lovejo ...

, and various others

Recurring

* Pamela Hayden as

Milhouse Van Houten Milhouse Mussolini Van Houten is a fictional recurring character in the Fox animated television series ''The Simpsons'' voiced by Pamela Hayden and created by Matt Groening. Milhouse is Bart Simpson's childhood best friend in Mrs. Krabap ...

, Jimbo Jones *

Maggie Roswell Maggie Roswell is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer from Los Angeles, California. She is well known for her voice work on the Fox network animated television series ''The Simpsons'', in which she has played recurring characters s ...

as Maude Flanders,

Helen Lovejoy The American animated television series ''The Simpsons'' contains a wide range of minor and supporting characters like co-workers, teachers, students, family friends, extended relatives, townspeople, local celebrities, and even animals. The writ ...

and Miss Hoover * Russi Taylor as Martin Prince and Sherri and Terri *

Tress MacNeille Teressa Claire "Tress" MacNeille (; born June 20, 1951) >https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/macneille-tress-1951 is an American voice actress, who has contributed to voice-over work with credits including vo ...

as Agnes Skinner * Marcia Wallace as

Edna Krabappel Edna Krabappel-Flanders ( ) is a fictional character from the American animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'', voiced by Marcia Wallace. A Fourth grade, 4th-grade teacher, she teaches Bart Simpson's class at Springfield Elementary School. In the The ...

* Jo Ann Harris as additional characters

Guest stars

Phil Hartman Philip Edward Hartman (; September 24, 1948 – May 28, 1998) was a Canadian-American comedian, actor, screenwriter and graphic designer. Hartman was born in Brantford, Ontario, and his family moved to the United States when he w ...

as Troy McClure, Lionel Hutz,

Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...

Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...

and various others (various episodes) *

Harvey Fierstein Harvey Forbes Fierstein ( ; born June 6, 1952) is an American actor, playwright, and screenwriter, known for his distinctive gravelly voice. He gained notice for his theater work in '' Torch Song Trilogy'', winning both the Tony Award for Best ...

as Karl (" Simpson and Delilah") *

James Earl Jones James Earl Jones (January 17, 1931 – September 9, 2024) was an American actor. A pioneer for black actors in the entertainment industry, Jones is known for his extensive and acclaimed roles on stage and screen. Jones is one of the few perfor ...

as the mover, Serak the Preparer, and the narrator of "

The Raven "The Raven" is a narrative poem by American writer Edgar Allan Poe. First published in January 1845, the poem is often noted for its musicality, stylized language and supernatural atmosphere. It tells of a distraught lover who is paid a visit ...

" ("

Treehouse of Horror ''Treehouse of Horror'' is a series of annual Halloween-themed anthology episodes of the American animated sitcom and spin-off of ''The Simpsons''. Also known as ''The Simpsons Halloween Specials'', each episode typically consists of three se ...

") *

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (August 3, 1926 – July 21, 2023), known professionally as Tony Bennett, was an American jazz and traditional pop singer. He received many accolades, including 20 Grammy Awards, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, ...

as himself (" Dancin' Homer") *

Tom Poston Thomas Gordon Poston (October 17, 1921 – April 30, 2007) was an American actor, appearing in television roles from the 1950s through the early to mid-2000s, reportedly appearing in more sitcoms than any other actor. In the 1980s, he played ...

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 Margaret Lenny "Maggie" Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series ''The Simpsons'' and the youngest member of the titular family. She first appeared on television in the '' Tracey Ullman Show'' short " Good Night" on ...

("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 Larry King (born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger; November 19, 1933 – January 23, 2021) was an American TV and radio host presenter, author, and former spokesman. He was a WMBM radio interviewer in the Miami area in the 1950s and 1960s and beginning in ...

as himself ("One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish") * Sab Shimono as Master Chef ("One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish") *

George Takei George Takei ( ; born April20, 1937), born , is an American actor, author and activist known for his role as Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the USS ''Enterprise'' in the ''Star Trek'' franchise. Takei was born to Japanese-American parents, with w ...

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 Daniel Michael DeVito Jr. (born November 17, 1944) is an American actor and filmmaker. He gained prominence for his portrayal of the taxi dispatcher Louie De Palma in the television series ''Taxi (TV series), Taxi'' (1978–1983), which won him ...

as Herb Powell (" Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?") *

Tracey Ullman Tracey Ullman (born Trace Ullman; 30 December 1959) is a British-American actress, singer, dancer, screenwriter, producer, and director. Despite being frequently referred to as a comedian, Ullman considers herself a character actress. Critics h ...

as Emily Winthrop and Sylvia Winfield (" Bart's Dog Gets an "F") *

Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American actor who specializes in voice acting. He began his career in the 1960s, and held around 850 film, television, and video game credits as of 2020, making him one of the most prolific v ...

as animal voices ("Bart's Dog Gets an "F") *

Audrey Meadows Audrey Meadows (born Audrey Cotter; February 8, 1922 – February 3, 1996) was an American actress who portrayed the deadpan housewife Alice Kramden on the 1950s American television comedy ''The Honeymooners''. She was the younger sister of H ...

as Beatrice "Bea" Simmons ("

Old Money Old money is a social class of the rich who have been able to maintain their wealth over multiple generations, in contrast with new money whose wealth has been acquired within its own generation. The term often refers to perceived members of th ...

") *

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, us ...

as himself ("Brush with Greatness") *

Dustin Hoffman Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor. As one of the key actors in the formation of New Hollywood, Hoffman is known for Dustin Hoffman filmography, his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable charac ...

(credited as Sam Etic) as Mr. Bergstrom (" Lisa's Substitute") *

Cloris Leachman Cloris Leachman (April 30, 1926 – January 27, 2021) was an American actress and comedian whose career spanned nearly eight decades. She received many accolades including 22 Primetime Emmy nominations and won eight, tying Julia Louis-Dreyfus ...

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 ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (often referred to as ''90210'') is an American teen drama television series created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling via his production company Spelling Television. The series ran for 10 seasons on Fo ...

'', offering competition for the lineups fielded by the other networks including ratings champion

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

. ''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 ''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom created by (along with Ed. Weinberger and Michael J. Leeson) and starring Bill Cosby that originally aired on NBC from September 20, 1984, to April 30, 1992, with a total of 201 half-hour e ...

''. 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 ''

'' and averaged an 18.4

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 TV ...

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, "

" 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 Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the season has a 100% approval rating based on 8 critical reviews. On aggregate review website

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

, 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 ''Murphy Brown'' is an American television sitcom created by Diane English that premiered on November 14, 1988, on CBS. The series stars Candice Bergen as the eponymous Murphy Brown, a famous investigative journalist and news presenter, news anch ...

''.

Episodes

DVD release

The DVD boxset for season two was released by

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment 20th Century Home Entertainment (previously known as Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, LLC. and also known as 20th Century Studios Home Entertainment) was a home video distribution arm that distributes films produced by 20th Century Stud ...

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.The Simpsons Archive: The Springfield Times: Simpsons DVD News Archive - Season 2
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References

;Bibliography * * * *

External links

* * {{DISPLAYTITLE:''The Simpsons'' season 2 Simpsons season 02 1990 American animated television seasons 1991 American animated television seasons Television series set in the 1990s