The Simpsons season 32

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. On February 6, 2019, the season was ordered along with the previous season. It was produced by Gracie Films and 20th Television. This season contained twenty-two episodes. It includes the series' 700th episode "Manger Things". In March 2021, the series was renewed for a thirty-third and thirty-fourth season.

Animator Nik Ranieri won an Emmy Award for his work in "Wad Goals", and the episode "The Dad-Feelings Limited" was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program. Three writers were nominated for Writers Guild of America Awards.

Main cast

 * Dan Castellaneta as Homer Simpson, Barney Gumble, Grampa Simpson, Mayor Quimby, Sideshow Mel, Groundskeeper Willie, Squeaky-Voiced Teen, Gil Gunderson, Krusty the Clown, Hans Moleman, Incest Spuckler, Frankie the Squealer, Louie, Rich Texan, Sam, Itchy, Yes Guy, Grizzly Shawn, Scott Christian, Blue-Haired Lawyer and various others
 * Julie Kavner as Marge Simpson, Selma Bouvier, Patty Bouvier and various others
 * Nancy Cartwright as Bart Simpson, Maggie Simpson, Nelson Muntz, Ralph Wiggum, Kearney Zzyzwicz, Todd Flanders and various others
 * Yeardley Smith as Lisa Simpson and herself ("Podcast News")
 * Hank Azaria as Moe Szyslak, Carl Carlson, Raphael, Comic Book Guy, Luigi Risotto, Cletus Spuckler, Chief Wiggum, Superintendent Chalmers, Old Jewish Man, Snake, Captain McCallister, Johnny Tightlips, Kirk Van Houten, Duffman, Disco Stu, Professor Frink and various others
 * Harry Shearer as Lenny Leonard, Mr. Burns, Waylon Smithers, Kent Brockman, Rainier Wolfcastle, Reverend Lovejoy, Jasper Beardsley, Principal Skinner, Dewey Largo, Dr. Hibbert, Ned Flanders, Judge Snyder, Legs, Officer Eddie, Herman Hermann, Scratchy and various others

Supporting cast
Notes • A. Only in episode "I Carambus" as alternate version character Carlum.
 * Pamela Hayden as Milhouse Van Houten, Jimbo Jones, Janey Powell, Rod Flanders and various others
 * Tress MacNeille as Shauna Chalmers, Lindsey Naegle, Dolph Shapiro, Agnes Skinner, Crazy Cat Lady, Mrs. Glick, Lunchlady Dora, Brandine Spuckler and various others
 * Kimberly Brooks as Lewis Clark and various others
 * Grey DeLisle as Martin Prince, Sherri and Terri and various others
 * Alex Désert as Carl Carlson, Officer Lou and various others
 * Chris Edgerly as additional characters
 * Dawnn Lewis as Bernice Hibbert and Stewardess ("Three Dreams Denied")
 * Eric Lopez as Bumblebee Man and various others
 * Kevin Michael Richardson as Bleeding Gums Murphy, Dr. Hibbert and various others
 * Tony Rodríguez as Julio ("Uncut Femmes") and various others
 * Melanie Minichino as Omelet Woman ("The Last Barfighter")
 * Maggie Roswell as Helen Lovejoy, Miss Hoover, Maude Flanders, Luann Van Houten and various others
 * Jenny Yokobori as Kumiko Albertson and Abrams Lackey #2 ("Do Pizza Bots Dream of Electric Guitars?")

• B. In episodes "Treehouse of Horror XXXI," "Podcast News" and "Diary Queen"

• C. In episodes "Wad Goals," "Panic on the Streets of Springfield" and "The Last Barfighter"

David Harbour, Olivia Colman, Ben Platt, Hannibal Buress, and Michael Palin guest starred during the season. Series regular Yeardley Smith also played herself.

Development
This season and the previous season were ordered in February 2019. Seven episodes were holdovers from the previous season. The season was produced by Gracie Films and was the only season co-produced by 20th Television, which was renamed from 20th Century Fox Television. 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. Commenting on the series reaching 700 episodes this season, Jean stated that the show needed to change with the times so that present-day issues could be addressed.

This season featured the first episodes of the series written by Cesar Mazariegos and Jessica Conrad. It also featured the first episode written by David X. Cohen since 1998 and the first episode written by Nell Scovell since the second season. Furthermore, it featured the only episodes written by David Cryan, Julia Prescott, and Danielle Weisberg, and the only episode co-written by Samantha Martin.

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." Production was conducted using video conferencing, and studios were installed in the actors’ homes for voice recording. Producers decided not to address the pandemic other than during a segment of the Treehouse of Horror episode and a line spoken in the 700th episode.

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 cast member Yeardley Smith serving as moderator.

Casting
In the wake of the George Floyd protests, the series announced on June 26, 2020, that "Moving forward, The Simpsons will no longer have white actors voice non-white characters." This followed Mike Henry stating that he would 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 would no longer voice mixed-race characters on Big Mouth and Central Park, respectively, in response to the race riots. It also followed series regular Hank Azaria's January 2020 announcement that he would 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, 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. 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.

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 3, 2021.

Ratings
For the 2020-2021 television season, the season earned a 0.8 rating in the 18-49 demographic, which was the 59th best performing show. It averaged 2.36 million viewers, which was the 117th best performing show.

Critical response
Jesse Bereta of Bubbleblabber gave the season an 8.5 out of 10. He thought the first half of the season featured more creative episodes while the later half featured some repeated plots. He felt the overall quality of the episodes were improving under the management of Disney.

Awards and nominations
At the 73rd Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, animator Nik Ranieri won for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation as Lead Character Layout for the episode "Wad Goals". The episode "The Dad-Feelings Limited" was nominated for Outstanding Animated Program.

At the 73rd Writers Guild of America Awards, writers Cesar Mazariegos, Danielle Weisberg, and Jessica Conrad were individually nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Animation.