The Simpsons season 31

The thirty-first season of the animated television series The Simpsons premiered on Fox in the United States on September 29, 2019 and ended on May 17, 2020. The season was produced by Gracie Films and 20th Century Fox Television. This was the first of two new seasons ordered by Fox. Al Jean continues as showrunner, a position he has held since the thirteenth season. Matt Selman also contributed as showrunner for the episodes "Go Big or Go Homer", "Livin La Pura Vida", "Thanksgiving of Horror", "The Miseducation of Lisa Simpson", "Bart the Bad Guy", "Highway to Well" and "The Hateful Eight-Year-Olds".

Episodes this season were nominated for three Emmy Awards. It was also nominated for four Writers Guild of America Awards and won for Outstanding Writing in Animation.

Main cast

 * Dan Castellaneta as Homer Simpson, Groundskeeper Willie, Krusty the Clown, Barney Gumble, Louie, Gil Gunderson, Mayor Quimby, Sideshow Mel, Frankie the Squealer, Kodos, Grampa Simpson, Hans Moleman, Yes Guy, Arnie Pye, Benjamin, Lowblow, Santa's Little Helper and various others
 * Julie Kavner as Marge Simpson, Patty Bouvier, Selma Bouvier, Jacqueline Bouvier and various others
 * Nancy Cartwright as Bart Simpson, Maggie Simpson, Nelson Muntz, Kearney Zzyzwicz, Ralph Wiggum, Database, Todd Flanders and various others
 * Yeardley Smith as Lisa Simpson
 * Hank Azaria as Carl Carlson, Superintendent Chalmers, Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum, Comic Book Guy, Drederick Tatum, Raphael, Luigi Risotto, Johnny Tightlips, Kirk Van Houten, Disco Stu, Professor Frink, Cletus Spuckler, Captain McCallister, Duffman, Dr. Nick Riviera, Doug, Joey Crusher, Old Jewish Man, Bumblebee Man, Snake, Julio, Chazz Busby and various others
 * Harry Shearer as Lenny Leonard, Principal Skinner, Mr. Burns, Kent Brockman, Waylon Smithers, Ned Flanders, Officer Eddie, Dr. Hibbert, Kang, Reverend Lovejoy, Dewey Largo, Otto Mann, God, Gary, Rainier Wolfcastle, Jasper Beardsley and various others

Supporting cast
Notes
 * Pamela Hayden as Milhouse Van Houten, Jimbo Jones, Rod Flanders and various others
 * Tress MacNeille as Dolph Shapiro, Lindsey Naegle, Shauna Chalmers, Brandine Spuckler, Mrs. Muntz, Bernice Hibbert, Agnes Skinner, Lunchlady Dora, Crazy Cat Lady, Dubya Spuckler and various others
 * Grey DeLisle as Martin Prince, Sherri and Terri and various others
 * Chris Edgerly as The Detonator, Gareth Prince and various others
 * Dawnn Lewis as Investigator Lenora Carter ("The Fat Blue Line"), Carlotta Carlson ("Gorillas on the Mast"), Female Hotshot Lawyer ("Screenless") and Upset Influencer ("Highway to Well")
 * Kevin Michael Richardson as Anger Watkins, Lewis Clark, JJ Hibbert and various others
 * Maggie Roswell as Luann Van Houten, Helen Lovejoy, Maude Flanders, Miss Hoover, Governor Mary Bailey and various others
 * Russi Taylor as Martin Prince


 * A. Only in episode "Thanksgiving of Horror"

Several recurring guests made return appearances, including four stints from Joe Mantegna reprising his role of mobster Fat Tony, four different roles from Dawnn Lewis, Natasha Lyonne voicing Krusty's daughter Sophie again, Glenn Close as Homer's mother Mona Simpson, Kelsey Grammer as Sideshow Bob, Jon Lovitz as Artie Ziff, and Werner Herzog and Michael York as new characters Dr. Lund and Clayton respectively.

The season features guest appearances from John Mulaney, Michael Rapaport, Jason Momoa, Bob Odenkirk, Jane Goodall, Asia Kate Dillon, Fortune Feimster, Scott Bakula, Steve Ballmer, Zach Woods, Beanie Feldstein, Ed "Too Tall" Jones, Jim Parsons, Taran Killam, Dr. Drew Pinsky, Billy Porter, Kevin Smith, Joey King, Lilly Singh and Cate Blanchett. Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker has a cameo in a referential segment of "Thanksgiving of Horror" while the episode "Bart the Bad Guy" features Marvel Cinematic Universe producers Kevin Feige and the Russo Brothers in parody roles, along with Maria Hill actress Cobie Smulders. "The Hateful Eight-Year-Olds" features Riverdale stars Camila Mendes, Madelaine Petsch and Lili Reinhart playing three girls who bully Lisa.

Production
This season and the next season were ordered in February 2019. 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.

Development
This season featured the first scripts credited to writers Max Cohn and Elisabeth Kiernan Averick. It also featured the final episode written by Bill Odenkirk before leaving for the revival of the television series Spitting Image. Comedian and writer Pete Holmes also both wrote and guest-starred in the two-part "Warrin' Priests" episodes. While in "Warrin' Priests" Holmes plays the character of Bode, he had previously guest-starred in season 30 premiere "Bart's Not Dead" as a different character. The episode "The Incredible Lightness of Being a Baby" was delayed from the previous season, with the original intent to air it instead of "I'm Just a Girl Who Can't Say D'oh" on April 7, 2019. The episode was put on hold after the show's producers decided to make a short film related to the episode involving Maggie and another baby named Hudson titled Playdate with Destiny. The short film premiered on February 29, 2020, attached to advanced screenings of the Disney/Pixar release Onward with "The Incredible Lightness of Being a Baby" serving as a sequel to it.

In April 2020, the show joined the rest of Fox's Animation Domination lineup in a partnership with Caffeine for the AniDom Beyond Show, a recap show hosted by Andy Richter. The hour-long program featured interviews with guests and live interactivity with fans online, with recaps for the episodes that aired through April and May. The Simpsons episode aired on April 26 featuring Al Jean, cast member Yeardley Smith and writer and guest star Pete Holmes. On May 18, Matt Selman joined the show with other writers from the Fox Animation Domination lineup.

Casting
Recurring co-star Russi Taylor died on July 26, 2019, and had been with the show since the first season voicing characters such as Martin Prince, Sherri and Terri and Üter Zörker. When asked about retirement of the characters as with previous actors who have died, executive producer Al Jean stated that he believed Taylor would want the characters to continue. The last episode to feature Taylor was "Thanksgiving of Horror". Voice actress Grey DeLisle was announced as the replacement voice for Martin Prince, Sherri and Terri starting with the episode "Marge the Lumberjill".

It was during the run of this season that longtime voice actor Hank Azaria announced that he was officially stepping down from voicing Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, a character he had played since the episode "The Telltale Head" from the first season. The character and Azaria's portrayal of him had come under scrutiny since the release of Hari Kondabolu's 2017 documentary The Problem with Apu. Apu's portrayal came under scrutiny again when the Simpsons staff referenced the criticism as being too politically correct in the season 29 episode "No Good Read Goes Unpunished" which resulted in backlash from some people concerned about the issue who felt that the response was immature. Azaria said that it was a mutual decision made between himself and the senior staff, stating, "all we know there is I won't be doing the voice anymore unless there's some way to transition it or something."

Animation
Parts of this season were produced and aired during the COVID-19 pandemic, which delayed or canceled the production of many television productions, but as an animated production, this took less of a toll on the show than most live-action ones. 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, Al Jean stated, "Production hasn't skipped a day or lost a beat. We intend to do the 22 shows we were contracted to do... There's been no change in how we do things."

Music
Also in "The Hateful Eight-Year-Olds", members of the band Weezer voiced the members of cover band Sailor's Delight, performed the main theme song at the end of the episode as themselves and also debuted their song "Blue Dream" within the episode. Musician Jill Sobule wrote and performed an original song for the episode "Marge the Lumberjill" and John Legend also performed an original song for "The Miseducation of Lisa Simpson" while guest-starring with his wife Chrissy Teigen.

Ratings
For the 2019-2020 television season, the season earned a 0.94 rating in the 18-49 demographic, which was the 33rd best performing show. It averaged 2.58 million viewers, which was the 111th best performing show.

Critical response
Jesse Bereta of Bubbleblabber gave the season an 8 out of 10. He thought the season demonstrated the new freedom of creativity under Disney, with an episode about cannabis, parodies of the Treehouse of Horror series and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and a continuation from an animated short shown in front of a Disney/Pixar feature. However, he also thought there was a recycled plot with Lisa needing braces again and a two-part episode with an average story.

Accolades
In early December 2019, it was announced that three episodes had been nominated for Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Animation at the 72nd Writers Guild of America Awards, resulting in The Simpsons having the most nominations overall that year. The writers and episodes nominated were John Frink for "Go Big or Go, Homer," Brian Kelley for "Livin' La Pura Vida" and Dan Vebber for "Thanksgiving of Horror" and on February 1, 2020, it was announced that Vebber and "Thanksgiving of Horror" had won. Vebber was also nominated for his script to "Bart the Bad Guy" at the 73rd Writers Guild of America Awards.

The show also received a nomination for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Animated Series at the 25th Critics' Choice Awards, but lost to BoJack Horseman when winners were announced on January 12, 2020.

On July 28, 2020, it was announced the show had received three nominations at the 72nd Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards. "Thanksgiving of Horror" was nominated for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program, while both Nancy Cartwright and Hank Azaria were up for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance. Cartwright was nominated for playing Bart Simpson, Nelson Muntz, Ralph Wiggum and Todd Flanders for the episode "Better Off Ned" and Azaria for his roles of Professor Frink, Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum, Carl Carlson, Cletus Spuckler, Kirk Van Houten and Captain McCallister in "Frinkcoin". On September 19, 2020 it was announced however that Rick and Morty won the award for Outstanding Animated Program, while Maya Rudolph picked up the voice-acting award for her work in Big Mouth.