The Simpsons season 8

The eighth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons originally aired on the Fox network between October 27, 1996, and May 18, 1997, beginning with "Treehouse of Horror VII". The showrunners for the eighth production season were Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein, while the season was produced by Gracie Films and 20th Century Fox Television. The broadcast season contained two episodes with 3F-series production codes, indicating that were hold-over episodes from the seventh production season, and two episodes with 3G-series production codes, which have never been explicitly confirmed to be part of any specific production season (but are speculated to be relabeled 3F-series episodes)

The DVD box set was released in Region 1 on August 15, 2006, Region 2 on October 2, 2006, and Region 4 on September 27, 2006. The set was released in two different forms: a Maggie-shaped head to match the Homer and Marge shaped heads of the previous two sets and also a standard rectangular shaped box. Like the seventh season box set, both versions are available for sale separately.

Main cast

 * Dan Castellaneta as Homer Simpson, Grampa Simpson, Krusty the Clown, Mayor Quimby, Groundskeeper Willie, Barney Gumble, Santa's Little Helper, and various others
 * Julie Kavner as Marge Simpson, Patty Bouvier, Selma Bouvier and various others
 * Nancy Cartwright as Bart Simpson, Nelson Muntz, Ralph Wiggum and various others
 * Yeardley Smith as Lisa Simpson
 * Hank Azaria as Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum, Professor Frink, Carl Carlson, Comic Book Guy, Apu, Bumblebee Man and various others
 * Harry Shearer as Mr. Burns, Waylon Smithers, Ned Flanders, Principal Skinner, Dr. Hibbert, Lenny Leonard, Kent Brockman, Reverend Lovejoy, and various others

Recurring

 * Pamela Hayden as Milhouse Van Houten, Jimbo Jones
 * Maggie Roswell as Maude Flanders, Helen Lovejoy, Luann Van Houten, Miss Hoover and Shary Bobbins
 * Russi Taylor as Martin Prince and Sherri and Terri
 * Tress MacNeille as Agnes Skinner
 * Marcia Wallace as Edna Krabappel
 * Frank Welker as Laddie, Baboons, various animals

Guest stars

 * Phil Hartman as Bill Clinton, Troy McClure, and Lionel Hutz (various episodes)
 * Joe Mantegna as Fat Tony (2 episodes)
 * Albert Brooks (credited as A. Brooks) as Hank Scorpio ("You Only Move Twice")
 * Sally Stevens as 'Scorpio' Singer ("You Only Move Twice"; uncredited)
 * Paul Winfield as Lucius Sweet ("The Homer They Fall")
 * Michael Buffer as himself ("The Homer They Fall")
 * Rodney Dangerfield as Larry Burns ("Burns, Baby Burns")
 * Jon Lovitz as Jay Sherman ("Hurricane Neddy")
 * Johnny Cash as the Space Coyote ("El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer (The Mysterious Voyage of Homer)")
 * Leonard Nimoy as himself ("The Springfield Files")
 * Gillian Anderson as Dana Scully ("The Springfield Files")
 * David Duchovny as Fox Mulder ("The Springfield Files")
 * Jack Lemmon as Frank Ormand ("The Twisted World of Marge Simpson")
 * Alex Rocco as Roger Meyers Jr. ("The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show")
 * John Waters as John ("Homer's Phobia")
 * Kelsey Grammer as Sideshow Bob ("Brother from Another Series")
 * David Hyde Pierce as Cecil Terwilliger and "Man in crowd" ("Brother from Another Series")
 * Dave Thomas as Rex Banner ("Homer vs. The Eighteenth Amendment")
 * Bret Hart as himself ("The Old Man and the Lisa")
 * Sab Shimono as Mr. Sparkle ("In Marge We Trust")
 * Gedde Watanabe as the Factory worker ("In Marge We Trust")
 * Karen Maruyama and Denice Kumagai as dancers ("In Marge We Trust")
 * Tim Conway as himself ("The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase")
 * Gailard Sartain as Charles "Big" Daddy ("The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase")
 * Willem Dafoe as the Commandant ("The Secret War of Lisa Simpson")

Reception
Season eight received critical acclaim and won multiple awards, including two Emmy Awards: "Homer's Phobia" won for Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming One Hour or Less) in 1997, and Alf Clausen and Ken Keeler won for "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music and Lyrics" with the song "We Put the Spring in Springfield" from the episode "Bart After Dark". Clausen also received an Emmy nomination for "Outstanding Music Direction" for "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious". "Brother from Another Series" was nominated for the Emmy for "Sound Mixing For a Comedy Series or a Special". For "Homer's Phobia", Mike Anderson won the Annie Award for Best Individual Achievement: Directing in a TV Production, and the WAC Winner Best Director for Primetime Series at the 1998 World Animation Celebration. Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation awarded the episode the GLAAD Media Award for "Outstanding TV – Individual Episode". On Rotten Tomatoes, the eighth season of The Simpsons has a 100% approval rating based on 7 critical reviews.

Home media
The DVD box set for season eight was released by 20th Century Fox in the United States and Canada on August 15, 2006, nine years after it had completed broadcast on television. As well as every episode from the season, the DVD release features bonus material including deleted scenes, Animatics, and commentaries for every episode. As with the previous season, the set was released in two different packagings: a "Collector's Edition" plastic packaging molded to look like Maggie's head, and a standard rectangular cardboard box featuring Maggie looking through a photo album while the rest of the Simpsons family are taking a picture. The menus continue the same format from the previous three seasons, and the overall theme is various characters posing for photographs.