Season Review: The Simpsons Season 36

It’s hard to believe The Simpsons Season 36 is a wrap. Yes, you heard that right. Thirty-six. Let that sink in. In a world where shows get axed after two seasons, The Simpsons is old enough to have its own pension fund and a healthy collection of early bird dinner coupons. The question, as always, isn’t if it’s still good, but how good it is in the context of contemporary animation made clear in the show’s season finale when it acknowledged Smiling Friends. 

Going into Season 36, the perennial challenge for this show is clear: how do you stay fresh when you’ve done everything? You’ve had celebrity cameos galore, parodied every genre, predicted half the future, and exhausted every possible Homer-related mishap. What we’ve seen in recent seasons, and what we’ve continued to see here, is a more character-driven approach, leaning into the heart of the family rather than pure, unadulterated gag-fests.

From an animation standpoint, the show continues to look clean and vibrant with the show challenging it’s own stylistic boundaries this season with clear evidence coming from the always iconic Treehouse episodes, “Yellow Planet”, and “Last Man Expanding” . It’s The Simpsons – classic, consistent, and recognizable, but not afraid to try new things. The voice cast, god bless them, are legends. Hearing Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, and Harry Shearer still inhabit these iconic roles is a comfort blanket but I think the jury is still out on how much of an impact a Mo Collins and a Kelly Macleod can have on the show as they come in to replace Pamela Hayden as the voices of Jimbo and Milhouse respectively. Specifically Mo is an amazing actor, but will the producers let Mo be Mo or are they just going to use her as a mimic? For my money, the report card for mimic actors on The Simpsons replacing voices like Harry Shearer, Hank Azaria, and others has been a strong C-minus and that hasn’t gotten any better over time.  Fortunately, the guest cast this season has been excellent, with Conan O’Brien, John Cena, Danny DeVito, Tom Hanks, and Andy Serkis all contributing but I think my personal favorite of the season is going to go to Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Monty B, a younger take on the classic Burnsie character but voiced with as much depth to the character as I’ve ever heard.

The writing, however, remains the tightrope walk. Recent seasons have had moments of brilliance – flashes of the sharp satire and unexpected emotional beats that made the show legendary. But those flashes are often interspersed with episodes that feel a bit… tired. The topical gags sometimes feel a beat behind, and the plots can occasionally feel recycled, even if given a modern coat of paint. Shines of clouds are continuing to come through with Ned Flanders-focused episodes becoming increasingly prevalent, most prominently in the Disney+ two-parter “O C’mon All Ye Faithful” but for every one original idea we’ve had multiple episodes this season featuring flashbacks and flash-forwards, so much so I get a headache.

As we head into Season 37 (and the just announced additional four seasons), I’m looking for signs of genuine reinvention, or at least a renewed commitment to the kind of pointed social commentary and character depth that cemented The Simpsons as a cultural phenomenon, not just a TV show. It’s still good, yes, but the series needs to challenge their corporate overlords a bit more.