The Simpsons (season 32) (Redirected from Mother and Child Reunion (The Simpsons))

The Simpsons
Season 32
The Simpsons (season 32).jpg
Digital purchase image featuring Bleeding Gums Murphy
Country of originUnited States
No. of episodes22
Release
Original networkFox
Original releaseSeptember 27, 2020 (2020-09-27) –
May 23, 2021 (2021-05-23)
Season chronology
← Previous
Season 31
Next →
Season 33
List of episodes

The thirty-second season of the American animated television series The Simpsons premiered on Fox on September 27, 2020, and ended on May 23, 2021. This season contained twenty-two episodes. On February 6, 2019, the season was ordered along with the previous season.

Episodes

No.
overall
No. in
season
TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateProd.
code
U.S. viewers
(millions)
6851"Undercover Burns"Bob AndersonDavid CryanSeptember 27, 2020 (2020-09-27)ZABF194.44

Mr. Burns discovers that his employees do not like him very much, because of his pompous ways. Smithers decides to helps a distraught Mr. Burns go undercover as a man named Fred Kranepool. Initially determined to punish disloyal employees, the plant employees grow to like "Fred", causing Mr. Burns to want to adopt that personality permanently. Smithers is forced to expose his boss, causing Mr. Burns to revert to his former tyrannical personality.

Guest stars: David Harbour as Mr. Burns' undercover persona Fred Kranepool and Phil Rosenthal as himself
6862"I, Carumbus"Rob OliverCesar MazariegosOctober 4, 2020 (2020-10-04)ZABF181.51

While the Simpson family visit a museum exhibit on Ancient Rome, Marge chastises a bored Homer for his lack of ambition when he admits to shirking chances for promotion. The curator overhears the squabble and begins to relay the tale of Obeseus the Wide (Homer), a gladiator who went on to become a powerful Roman senator, only to be usurped by his own son (Bart).

Guest stars: Joe Mantegna as Gordus Antonius (Fat Tony) and Michael Palin as the Curator
6873"Now Museum, Now You Don't"Timothy BaileyDan GreaneyOctober 11, 2020 (2020-10-11)ZABF211.36

While sick, Lisa reads a book about Western art, and imagines her family as famous painters.

  • "Lisanardo da Vinci": Lisa imagines herself as Leonardo da Vinci, the painter and inventor.
  • "1863 France": After initially being picked on by the other students, a French impressionist (Bart) receives praise from a stranger for his work and he earns the respect of the other students.
  • "Frida Kahlo": Shortly after Diego Rivera (Homer) and Frida (Marge) are married, Diego has them move to America, where John D. Rockefeller has Diego paint a mural at the Rockefeller Center, while Frida is left out, causing friction in their marriage.
6884"Treehouse of Horror XXXI"Steven Dean MooreJulia PrescottNovember 1, 2020 (2020-11-01)ZABF174.93

A Treehouse of Horror episode that consists of four segments, a short intro based on the 2020 United States presidential election and the three usual main segments.

  • "2020 Election": During Election Day 2020, everyone is voting who will be the next president of the United States, except for Homer who does not vote. 2 months later, on Inauguration Day 2021, the entire city of Springfield is in chaos, while Homer relaxes.
  • "Toy Gory": Bart is gored by his own toys as revenge for treating them so badly.
  • "Into the Homerverse": Homer accidentally mistakes a machine at the nuclear plant for a vending machine and when he inserts a coin into it, multiple different versions of himself from different dimensions come through a portal.
  • "Be Nine, Rewind": Lisa gets stuck in a time loop on her ninth birthday in which she dies each time.

Guest star: Ben Mankiewicz as himself

6895"The 7 Beer Itch"Michael PolcinoTeleplay by : Joel H. Cohen & John Frink
Story by : Al Jean
November 8, 2020 (2020-11-08)ZABF151.74

A beautiful English woman named Lily comes to Springfield and becomes enamored with Homer as the rest of the family vacations in New England.

Guest stars: Olivia Colman as Lily, Robin Atkin Downes and Brian George as Various Englishmen
6906"Podcast News"Matthew FaughnanDavid X. CohenNovember 15, 2020 (2020-11-15)ZABF223.50

When Marge and Lisa get addicted to true-crime podcasts, they feel like the experts when Grampa is accused of murdering his new girlfriend Vivienne. At the same time, Kent Brockman makes a podcast of his own about the occurrence entitled "Guilty Grampa".

Guest stars: Morgan Fairchild as Vivienne St. Charmaine, Christine Nangle as Tabitha Shingle, and Stellan Skarsgård as himself

Note: This episode was dedicated in memory of Alex Trebek who previously guest starred as himself in the episodes "Miracle on Evergreen Terrace" and "Penny-Wiseguys." Regular cast member Yeardley Smith also appears in a cameo as herself (the host of the podcast Small Town Dicks).
6917"Three Dreams Denied"Steven Dean MooreDanielle WeisbergNovember 22, 2020 (2020-11-22)QABF024.41

Comic Book Guy attends the Comicalooza convention, planning to present the ultimate audience question with hopes he will be hired by Marvel Comics. Meanwhile, Lisa develops a crush on a new kid named Blake who also plays the saxophone but isn't what he seems. Bart is hired as a voice-over actor for a new cartoon show, only to become embarrassed by the role where he has been cast as a princess.

Guest stars: Dawnn Lewis as Stewardess, Ben Platt as Blake and Paul Rudd as himself
6928"The Road to Cincinnati"Matthew NastukJeff WestbrookNovember 29, 2020 (2020-11-29)ZABF201.63

When Superintendent Chalmers is selected to give the keynote speech at an administrator's convention in Cincinnati, Principal Skinner takes some advice from Bart and replaces favored Principal Finch as his superior's plus-one, hoping he can get to know Chalmers better during their 800-mile journey to get there.

Guest stars: Jason Bateman as himself and Hannibal Buress as Principal Finch
6939"Sorry Not Sorry"Rob OliverNell ScovellDecember 6, 2020 (2020-12-06)QABF011.66

When Lisa's "Who Inspires You?" project results in the same B− grade as every other student in her class, she becomes angered with Miss Hoover and calls her a hack. When Lisa refuses to apologize she is sent to detention. When her stubbornness only makes matters worse, she is encouraged to try and understand things from her teacher's point of view.

Guest stars: Christine Nangle as Ms. Timberwood, Ariana Piknjac and Ella Piknjac performing the end titles theme
69410"A Springfield Summer Christmas for Christmas"Timothy BaileyJessica ConradDecember 13, 2020 (2020-12-13)QABF033.92

Aspiring Heartmark Channel film producer Mary Tannenbaum is sent to Springfield to help sort out problems with a Christmas movie being filmed there during Summer. Mary stays with the Simpsons where Heartmark fan Marge assertively tries to befriend her, Homer tries to profit from the film, Lisa follows Mary with her own camera to film a behind-the-scenes documentary and Bart becomes bitter when he has to give up his room for film crew. Meanwhile, Mary forms an odd rapport with Seymour Skinner after the two make a deal so that her film doesn't interfere with his Lettuce and Tomato Festival.

Guest stars: Ellie Kemper as Mary Tannenbaum, Richard Kind as the director, and Chris Parnell as Mary Tannenbaum's fiancé
69511"The Dad-Feelings Limited"Chris ClementsRyan KohJanuary 3, 2021 (2021-01-03)QABF041.89

Homer and Marge team up with Comic Book Guy and his wife Kumiko to win a trivia contest. After spending time with Maggie, Kumiko decides she wants to have a baby, only for her husband to disagree. But just as Comic Book Guy begins to come around on the matter, the pressure to offer emotional support to a distressed Bart and Lisa sees him fleeing his wife and problems back to his family home.

Guest stars: Dan Aykroyd as Postage Stamp Fellow, Bob Balaban as the narrator, and Jenny Yokobori as Kumiko Albertson
69612"Diary Queen"Matthew NastukJeff WestbrookFebruary 21, 2021 (2021-02-21)QABF051.43

Bart and Milhouse discover Mrs. Krabappel's old diary after buying a bunch of books at Ned Flanders's yard sale to attempt a stunt. Discovering a page where Krabappel had written her success of fixing Bart's school life after classes, Bart is suddenly convinced that he's the most improved student. With the help of Maggie, Lisa finds the diary at the treehouse and discovers that Mrs. Krabappel was actually referring to her cat, but only reveals this to Bart after he decides to enter the school's spelling bee. Later in the treehouse, Ned tells Bart that Mrs. Krabappel surely still thought fondly of him, and a thankful Bart returns the diary to him.

Guest stars: Marcia Wallace as Edna Krabappel (archive recordings), and Joe Mantegna as Fat Tony
69713"Wad Goals"Mike Frank PolcinoBrian KelleyFebruary 28, 2021 (2021-02-28)QABF061.24

After being told of a golf course in Springfield where golfers pay their caddies very handsomely, Bart signs up for the job. Marge goes to great limits to encourage Bart to quit after worrying about his personality and future. After Marge accidentally causes the sport to become a religion, Bart is finally convinced to leave his job and attempts to destroy the golf course.

Guest stars: Stephen Root as Bildorf, and James Sie as The Lama

Note: This episode was dedicated in memory of Marc Wilmore, a writer and producer of The Simpsons who died on January 30, 2021.
69814"Yokel Hero"Rob OliverJeff Martin & Samantha MartinMarch 7, 2021 (2021-03-07)QABF071.38

When Homer spends a night sharing the drunk tank with Cletus, the yokel's singing about family makes Homer remorseful and he vows to become a better husband and father. Homer offers to manage Cletus to help him become a country singing sensation, only for success to see Cletus replacing Homer with a new slick manager when he decides to go professional.

Guest star: Albert Brooks as Slick manager
69915"Do Pizza Bots Dream of Electric Guitars"Jennifer MoellerMichael PriceMarch 14, 2021 (2021-03-14)QABF081.43

A pizza palace visit awakens bad memories of Homer's youth working there, when the mechanical band he loved was taken from him. Marge, Bart, Lisa and Moe all track down the lost animatronics to reunite them for Homer once again, but discover that film and television producer J. J. Abrams is also collecting the band for his next film project.

Guest stars: J. J. Abrams as himself, Greg Grunberg as Bad Robot Head of Security, and Jenny Yokobori as Abrams lackey #2 and Kumiko Albertson

Note: This episode is dedicated in memory of David Richardson, a writer and producer of The Simpsons who died on January 18, 2021.
70016"Manger Things"Steven Dean MooreRob LaZebnikMarch 21, 2021 (2021-03-21)QABF091.28
During Christmas, Bart finds an ornament featuring Todd Flanders on it, prompting Homer and Marge to proceed telling the kids a flashback event from 6 years prior about the Flanders family's past and a secret room within the Simpson household.
70117"Uncut Femmes"Chris ClementsChristine NangleMarch 28, 2021 (2021-03-28)QABF101.22

While on a chaperone trip with Bart's class, Marge finds out that Ralph Wiggum's mother Sarah actually has more to her personality on the inside than on the outside. When she and Sarah are captured by the latter's old partners-in-crime, they reveal the secret about Sarah's past to Marge and recruit them to take part in a jewel heist.

Guest stars: Joe Mantegna as Fat Tony, Megan Mullally as Sarah Wiggum, Nick Offerman as Captain Bowditch, Natasha Rothwell as Bette, Bob Seger as himself, and Tiya Sircar as Erin
70218"Burger Kings"Lance KramerRob LaZebnikApril 11, 2021 (2021-04-11)QABF111.24
Mr. Burns almost kills himself eating Krusty Burgers and learns that the town would prefer he had died. To help his boss with both his image and newfound love of burgers, Smithers suggests Burns get into the plant-based burger business. Soon Burns has both Lisa and Homer aboard, while Marge accidentally buys ever-rising stock in Burns' new company. But when Bart sees Krusty Burger failing and tries to get Lisa to help, she does not believe that Burns' new venture is evil.
70319"Panic on the Streets of Springfield"Matthew NastukTim LongApril 18, 2021 (2021-04-18)QABF121.31

After being humiliated in front of the whole school when she accidentally eats bacon, Lisa begins hallucinating depressed 1980s British singer Quilloughby as an imaginary friend who helps her fire back at the mean people around her. Meanwhile, Homer becomes obsessed with a new truck with awesome torque.

Guest star: Benedict Cumberbatch as Quilloughby

Note: This episode was dedicated in memory of Edwin E. Aguilar, an animator, character layout and assistant director of The Simpsons who died on April 11, 2021.
70420"Mother and Child Reunion"Jennifer MoellerJ. Stewart BurnsMay 9, 2021 (2021-05-09)QABF141.11

At a magic store, the family is given tarot card readings that tell of another future disagreement between Lisa and Marge. In this case, it involves Lisa deciding she doesn't want to go college and both declining her many great admission offers and completely devastating Marge in the process. Lisa then finds her own path of education that leads to her becoming President of the United States, but it'll be a harder task to mend fences with an enduringly-bitter Marge.

Guest stars: Werner Herzog as The Amazing Herzog, Nate Silver as himself, and George Stephanopoulos as himself

Note: This episode was dedicated in memory of Olympia Dukakis who previously guest starred as Zelda in the episode "The Old Man and the Key".
70521"The Man from G.R.A.M.P.A."Mike Frank PolcinoCarolyn OmineMay 16, 2021 (2021-05-16)QABF131.06

Homer meets a British secret agent named Terrance who has spent 50 years hunting a suspected Russian spy known as "The Grey Fox". After Homer and his friends hear Terrance's story, Homer soon discovers that not only is Grampa Simpson the man Terrance seeks, but that he might even be a traitor like the agent claims.

Guest stars: Stephen Fry as Terrance, Head of MI5, Terrance's Father, and Hazel, Robin Atkin Downes and Brian George as MI5 Agents, Maurice LaMarche as Orson Welles, and Dmitry Malanitchev as Russian See 'n Say
70622"The Last Barfighter"Timothy BaileyDan VebberMay 23, 2021 (2021-05-23)QABF151.02

After Moe breaks their one important rule, a secret society of bartenders seeks ultimate vengeance on Homer and his drinking buddies. This causes Homer's friends and himself to be hunted down by all the bartenders in Springfield. The bartenders inject them with "Anti-Booze", a serum that stops them from drinking alcohol.

Guest stars: Ian McShane as Artemis, Cesar Mazariegos as Grampa Baby and Melanie Minichino as Omelet Woman

Production

Animation

The season was produced during the COVID-19 pandemic, which impacted many other television productions, but left animated production largely unaffected. Executive producer James L. Brooks encouraged the staff to begin working from their homes in early March 2020, before California's stay-at-home order was declared. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in late March 2020, showrunner Al Jean stated, "Production hasn't skipped a day or lost a beat." At that point seven episodes for the season, including the Treehouse of Horror episode, were already completed, and they had started reading the remainder of the twenty-two total. Jean also stated that "we're a little ahead of where we usually are." The series had a panel at the 2020 San Diego Comic-Con, which was marketed as "Comic-Con@Home", to promote the season, with Jean, Matt Selman, David Silverman, Carolyn Omine, and Mike B. Anderson on the panel, with series regular Yeardley Smith serving as moderator.

Casting

On June 26, 2020, it was stated that "Moving forward, The Simpsons will no longer have white actors voice non-white characters." This follows Mike Henry stating that he will no longer voice the African-American character Cleveland Brown on fellow Fox animated series Family Guy, and Jenny Slate and Kristen Bell's announcement that they will no longer voice mixed-race characters on Big Mouth and Central Park, respectively, in the wake of the George Floyd protests. It also follows series regular Hank Azaria's January 2020 announcement that he will no longer voice the Indian character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon on The Simpsons. Series regular Harry Shearer was not fully in agreement with the decision, stating that "the job of the actor is to play someone who they're not". On September 24, 2020 due to the George Floyd protests, it was announced that Alex Désert would voice Carl Carlson in the first episode of the season, taking over from Azaria who voiced the character since the first season. He also became the new voice of Lou.

On October 11, 2020, Jean announced that Eric Lopez would begin voicing Bumblebee Man in the episode "Now Museum, Now You Don't" instead of Azaria, who had provided the voice of the character since his introduction in season four. On December 10, 2020, the official logline on FOXFLASH for the episode "The Dad-Feelings Limited" revealed that Kumiko would be voiced by Jenny Yokobori instead of Tress MacNeille, who had voiced the character since her introduction in the season twenty-five episode "Married to the Blob." In the episode "Uncut Femmes", the character of Julio was recast to Tony Rodriguez. On February 22, 2021, it was announced that beginning with "Wad Goals", voice actor Kevin Michael Richardson, who joined the show since Season 21 as different minor characters, would replace Harry Shearer as Dr. Hibbert and in the same episode voice actress Kimberly Brooks took on the role of Lewis Clark. David Harbour, Olivia Colman, Ben Platt, Hannibal Buress, and Michael Palin have guest-starred during the season. Series regular Yeardley Smith also played herself.

Release

The season aired on Sundays during the 2020–21 television season as part of Fox's Animation Domination programming block, along with Bless the Harts, Bob's Burgers, The Great North and Family Guy. One day after an episode aired on Fox, it was also made available on Hulu. It was made available for streaming in the US on Disney+ on September 29, 2021. and in the UK on November 3rd, 2021.

Reception

Ratings

Viewership and ratings per episode of The Simpsons
No. Title Air date Rating
(18–49)
Viewers
(millions)
DVR
(18–49)
DVR viewers
(millions)
Total
(18–49)
Total viewers
(millions)
1 "Undercover Burns" September 27, 2020 1.7 4.44 0.2 0.35 1.9 4.80
2 "I, Carumbus" October 4, 2020 0.5 1.51 0.1 0.29 0.6 1.80
3 "Now Museum, Now You Don't" October 11, 2020 0.5 1.36
4 "Treehouse of Horror XXXI" November 1, 2020 1.7 4.93 0.3 0.54 2.0 5.48
5 "The 7 Beer Itch" November 8, 2020 0.7 1.74 0.1 0.31 0.8 2.05
6 "Podcast News" November 15, 2020 1.3 3.50 0.1 0.35 1.4 3.86
7 "Three Dreams Denied" November 22, 2020 1.5 4.41 TBD TBD TBD TBD
8 "The Road to Cincinnati" November 29, 2020 0.6 1.63 TBD TBD TBD TBD
9 "Sorry Not Sorry" December 6, 2020 0.6 1.66 TBD TBD TBD TBD
10 "A Springfield Summer Christmas for Christmas" December 13, 2020 1.3 3.92 TBD TBD TBD TBD
11 "The Dad-Feelings Limited" January 3, 2021 0.6 1.89 TBD TBD TBD TBD
12 "Diary Queen" February 21, 2021 0.5 1.43 TBD TBD TBD TBD
13 "Wad Goals" February 28, 2021 0.4 1.24 TBD TBD TBD TBD
14 "Yokel Hero" March 7, 2021 0.5 1.38 TBD TBD TBD TBD
15 "Do Pizza Bots Dream of Electric Guitars" March 14, 2021 0.5 1.43 TBD TBD TBD TBD
16 "Manger Things" March 21, 2021 0.4 1.28 TBD TBD TBD TBD
17 "Uncut Femmes" March 28, 2021 0.4 1.22 TBD TBD TBD TBD
18 "Burger Kings" April 11, 2021 0.4 1.24 TBD TBD TBD TBD
19 "Panic on the Streets of Springfield" April 18, 2021 0.4 1.31 TBD TBD TBD TBD
20 "Mother and Child Reunion" May 9, 2021 0.3 1.11 0.1 0.26 0.4 1.38
21 "The Man from G.R.A.M.P.A" May 16, 2021 0.4 1.06 0.1 0.2 0.5 1.25
22 "The Last Barfighter" May 23, 2021 0.4 1.02 0.1 0.19 0.4 1.21

This page was last updated at 2022-07-22 03:04 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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