The Simpsons season 28

The twenty-eighth season of the animated television series The Simpsons began airing on Fox in the United States on September 25, 2016 and ended on May 21, 2017. On May 4, 2015, Fox announced that The Simpsons had been renewed for season 28. The season was produced by Gracie Films and 20th Century Fox Television. This season was the second of two seasons ordered by Fox in May 2015. The primary showrunner for the season was Al Jean. In November 2016, the series was renewed for a twenty-ninth and thirtieth season.

This season includes the 600th episode of the show, "Treehouse of Horror XXVII". On August 31, 2016, it was announced that an episode titled "The Caper Chase", inspired by Trump University, would air sometime in 2017; the episode aired on April 2.

This season also includes the show's first hour-long episode, "The Great Phatsby", a parody of The Great Gatsby. Other noteworthy events and gags include a Pokémon Go-themed episode ("Looking for Mr. Goodbart"), couch gags spoofing Robot Chicken and Adventure Time, an episode that shows how Homer learned to feel better with food ("Fatzcarraldo"), Mr. Burns hiring all of the Simpsons (except Homer) to become his "pretend" family ("Friends and Family"), and Glenn Close returning as Mona ("Fatzcarraldo").

This was the final season scored by longtime Simpsons composer Alf Clausen. This also marked the first season where former recurring guest star Kevin Michael Richardson joined the regular supporting cast, starting with the episode "The Last Traction Hero".

Episodes this season were nominated for three Emmy Awards and one Writers Guild of America Award.

Main cast

 * Dan Castellaneta as Homer Simpson, Mayor Quimby, Barney Gumble, Sideshow Mel, Krusty the Clown, Groundskeeper Willie, Grampa Simpson, Squeaky-Voiced Teen, Rich Texan, Blue-Haired Lawyer, Itchy, Gil Gunderson, Santa's Little Helper, Hans Moleman, Louie and various others
 * Julie Kavner as Marge Simpson, Patty Bouvier and Selma Bouvier
 * Nancy Cartwright as Bart Simpson, Nelson Muntz, Ralph Wiggum, Todd Flanders, Kearney Zzyzwicz and various others
 * Yeardley Smith as Lisa Simpson and various others
 * Hank Azaria as Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Lou, Chief Wiggum, Drederick Tatum, Professor Frink, Carl Carlson, Comic Book Guy, Cletus Spuckler, Kirk Van Houten, Luigi Risotto, Moe Szyslak, Snake, Sea Captain, Superintendent Chalmers, Dr. Nick, Wiseguy, Johnny Tightlips, Bumblebee Man, Duffman and various others
 * Harry Shearer as Lenny Leonard, Kent Brockman, Mr. Burns, Waylon Smithers, Principal Skinner, Otto Mann, Ned Flanders, Scratchy, Dr. Hibbert, Reverend Lovejoy, Dewey Largo, Jasper Beardly, God, Herman Hermann, Rainier Wolfcastle and various others

Supporting cast

 * Pamela Hayden as Milhouse Van Houten, Jimbo Jones, Rod Flanders, Sarah Wiggum and various others
 * Tress MacNeille as Bernice Hibbert, Lindsay Naegle, Crazy Cat Lady, Dolph Shapiro, Agnes Skinner, Mrs. Muntz, Lunchlady Dora, Cookie Kwan and various others
 * Chris Edgerly as additional characters
 * Russi Taylor as Martin Prince
 * Maggie Roswell as Helen Lovejoy, Luann Van Houten and Elizabeth Hoover
 * Kevin Michael Richardson as additional characters

Guest stars for the season included Amy Schumer, Pendleton Ward, Allison Janney, Sarah Silverman, Taraji P. Henson, Keegan-Michael Key, chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen, Patton Oswalt, Lizzy Caplan, Michael Sheen, and Jason Alexander.

Production
This season, along with the previous season, was ordered in May 2015. Seven episodes were holdovers from the previous season. Executive producer Al Jean continued his role as primary showrunner, a role he had since the thirteenth season. Executive producer Matt Selman was also the showrunner for several episodes, a role he performed since the twenty-third season.

This season, series regular Harry Shearer wrote his first episode of the series. Writer David M. Stern, who had not written for the show since 1999, wrote the series' first direct sequel of the series, "Kamp Krustier," which follows from the fourth season episode "Kamp Krusty." Guest writers for the season were Dave King, Peter Tilden, Ron Zimmerman, and Simon Rich.

To acknowledge the milestone of the series reaching 600 episodes, all 600 episodes aired consecutively on FXX in November and December 2016. For the 600th episode, a version of the couch gag could be viewed in virtual reality in partnership with Google. Jean commented that it was becoming more difficult to think of original stories with the prevalence of other adult animated television shows that did not exist when the series started.

This season featured the series' first one-hour episode, focusing on rap and hip-hop culture in depth. Composer Alf Clausen had difficulty scoring the episode because of his inexperience with the genre, which caused conflict with the producers. This led to Clausen's firing at the end of the season as the producers were looking to reduce the cost of producing the series.

Viewing figures
For the 2016-2017 television season, the season earned a 2.1 rating in the 18-49 demographic, which was the 24th best performing show. It averaged 4.81 million viewers, which was the 92nd best performing show.

Critical response
Jeffrey Malone of Bubbleblabber gave the season a 7 out of 10. He thought that the show had a habit of combining plots into a single episode where both the main plot and sub-plot should be given their own episodes. He felt the best episodes this season focused on the history of Simpson family.

Awards and nominations
At the 69th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, the episode "The Town" was nominated for Outstanding Animated Program. Actress Nancy Cartwright was nominated for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for her performance in "Looking for Mr. Goodbart." The virtual reality couch gag in "Treehouse of Horror XXVII" was nominated for Outstanding Creative Achievement In Interactive Media Within A Scripted Program.

At the 70th Writers Guild of America Awards, writer Simon Rich was nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Animation for his work in "A Father's Watch."