The Simpsons' sixth season originally aired on the Fox

Fox Broadcasting Company

Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...

 network between September 4, 1994 and May 21, 1995 and consists of 25 episodes. The Simpsons

The Simpsons

The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...

is an animated series about a working class family

Simpson family

The Simpson family is a family of fictional characters featured in the animated television series The Simpsons. The Simpsons are a nuclear family consisting of the married couple Homer and Marge and their three children Bart, Lisa and Maggie. They live at 742 Evergreen Terrace in the fictional town...

, which consists of Homer

Homer Simpson

Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...

, Marge

Marge Simpson

Marjorie "Marge" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. She is voiced by actress Julie Kavner and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...

, Bart

Bart Simpson

Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...

, Lisa

Lisa Simpson

Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening...

, and Maggie

Maggie Simpson

Margaret "Maggie" Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She first appeared on television in the Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Maggie was created and designed by cartoonist Matt Groening while he was waiting in the lobby of James...

. The show is set in the fictional city of Springfield

Springfield (The Simpsons)

Springfield is the fictional town in which the American animated sitcom The Simpsons is set. A mid-sized town in an undetermined state of the United States, Springfield acts as a complete universe in which characters can explore the issues faced by modern society. The geography of the town and its...

, and lampoons American culture

Culture of the United States

The Culture of the United States is a Western culture originally influenced by European cultures. It has been developing since long before the United States became a country with its own unique social and cultural characteristics such as dialect, music, arts, social habits, cuisine, and folklore...

, society, television and many aspects of the human condition

Human condition

The human condition encompasses the experiences of being human in a social, cultural, and personal context. It can be described as the irreducible part of humanity that is inherent and not connected to gender, race, class, etc. — a search for purpose, sense of curiosity, the inevitability of...

.

The showrunner for the sixth production season was David Mirkin

David Mirkin

David Mirkin is an American feature film and television director, writer and producer. Mirkin grew up in Philadelphia and intended to become an electrical engineer, but abandoned this career path in favor of studying film at Loyola Marymount University. After graduating, he became a stand-up...

 who executive-produced 23 episodes. Former showrunners Al Jean

Al Jean

Al Jean is an award-winning American screenwriter and producer, best known for his work on The Simpsons. He was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan and graduated from Harvard University in 1981. Jean began his writing career in the 1980s with fellow Harvard alum Mike Reiss...

 and Mike Reiss

Mike Reiss

Michael "Mike" Reiss is an American television comedy writer. He served as a show-runner, writer and producer for the animated series The Simpsons and co-created the animated series The Critic...

 produced the remaining two; they produced the two episodes with the staff of The Critic

The Critic

The Critic is an American prime time animated series revolving around the life of film critic Jay Sherman, voiced by actor Jon Lovitz. It was created by Al Jean and Mike Reiss, both of whom had worked as writers on The Simpsons. The Critic had 23 episodes produced, first broadcast on ABC in 1994,...

, the show they left The Simpsons to create. This was done in order to relieve some of the stress The Simpsons writing staff endured, as the felt that producing 25 in one season was too much. The episode "A Star Is Burns

A Star is Burns

"A Star Is Burns" is the eighteenth episode of The Simpsons sixth season. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 5, 1995. In the episode, Springfield decides to hold a film festival, and famed critic Jay Sherman is invited to be a judge...

" caused some controversy amongst the staff with Matt Groening

Matt Groening

Matthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell as well as two successful television series, The Simpsons and Futurama....

 removing his name from the episode's credits as he saw it as blatant advertising for The Critic

The Critic

The Critic is an American prime time animated series revolving around the life of film critic Jay Sherman, voiced by actor Jon Lovitz. It was created by Al Jean and Mike Reiss, both of whom had worked as writers on The Simpsons. The Critic had 23 episodes produced, first broadcast on ABC in 1994,...

, which was airing at the time. Fox moved The Simpsons

The Simpsons

The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...

back to its original Sunday night time, having aired on Thursdays for the previous three seasons. It has remained in this slot ever since. The sixth season won one Primetime Emmy Award

Primetime Emmy Award

The Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming...

, and received three additional nominations. It also won the Annie Award

Annie Award

The Annie Awards have been presented by the Los Angeles, California branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood since 1972...

 for Best Animated Television Production.

The Complete Sixth Season DVD

DVD

A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

 was released in the United States on August 16, 2005, September 28, 2005 in Australia, and October 17, 2005 in the United Kingdom. The set featured a plastic "clam-shell" Homer-head design and received many complaints. In the United States, the set contained a slip of paper informing purchasers how to request alternate packaging — which consisted of a case-sleeve in a similar style to the standard box design — for only a shipping & handling fee.

Production

David Mirkin

David Mirkin

David Mirkin is an American feature film and television director, writer and producer. Mirkin grew up in Philadelphia and intended to become an electrical engineer, but abandoned this career path in favor of studying film at Loyola Marymount University. After graduating, he became a stand-up...

 served as showrunner and executive producer for season six, having worked in the same capacity on the previous season. Due to Fox's demand for 25 episodes for the season, which the writers felt was impossible to achieve, former showrunners Mike Reiss

Mike Reiss

Michael "Mike" Reiss is an American television comedy writer. He served as a show-runner, writer and producer for the animated series The Simpsons and co-created the animated series The Critic...

 and Al Jean

Al Jean

Al Jean is an award-winning American screenwriter and producer, best known for his work on The Simpsons. He was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan and graduated from Harvard University in 1981. Jean began his writing career in the 1980s with fellow Harvard alum Mike Reiss...

 returned to produce two episodes ("A Star is Burns

A Star is Burns

"A Star Is Burns" is the eighteenth episode of The Simpsons sixth season. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 5, 1995. In the episode, Springfield decides to hold a film festival, and famed critic Jay Sherman is invited to be a judge...

" and "'Round Springfield

'Round Springfield

"Round Springfield" is the 22nd episode of the sixth season of The Simpsons. It originally aired on April 30, 1995. In the episode, Bart is rushed to hospital after eating a jagged metal Krusty-O and decides to sue Krusty the Clown. Whilst visiting Bart, Lisa meets her old mentor, jazz musician...

") with the staff of their show The Critic

The Critic

The Critic is an American prime time animated series revolving around the life of film critic Jay Sherman, voiced by actor Jon Lovitz. It was created by Al Jean and Mike Reiss, both of whom had worked as writers on The Simpsons. The Critic had 23 episodes produced, first broadcast on ABC in 1994,...

, to relieve some of the stress on The Simpsons writing staff.

David Cohen

David X. Cohen

David Samuel Cohen , primarily known as David X. Cohen, is an American television writer. He has written for The Simpsons and he is the head writer and executive producer of Futurama.-Early life:...

, Jonathan Collier

Jonathan Collier

Jonathan Collier is an American television writer, best known for his work on The Simpsons, Monk, and King of the Hill. He worked as an executive producer on Mike Reiss' DVD movie, "Queer Duck: The Movie". He attended and graduated from Harvard University.-Season Seven:*"Lisa the Iconoclast"*"22...

, Jennifer Crittenden, Brent Forrester

Brent Forrester

Brent Forrester is an American writer, who wrote several episodes of the animated television sitcom The Simpsons between 1993 and 1997. He has also worked as an executive producer on King of the Hill, and a writer on The Ben Stiller Show, Mr. Show with Bob and David, Undeclared, and The Office...

, Ken Keeler

Ken Keeler

Kenneth "Ken" Keeler is an American television producer and writer. He has written for numerous television series, most notably The Simpsons and Futurama. According to an interview with David X. Cohen, he proved a theorem which appears in the Futurama episode "The Prisoner of Benda".-Career:After...

, Bob Kushell

Bob Kushell

Bob Kushell is a writer and producer for The Simpsons. As of December 2008, Kushell began hosting his own talk show, Anytime with Bob Kushell, on Crackle.-Writing credits:Samantha WhoThe VirginThe Break UpThe AffairThe Park...

, David Sacks

David Sacks

David Sacks is a television writer and producer. His writing and producing credits include The Simpsons, 3rd Rock From the Sun, Malcolm in the Middle, The Tick and Murphy Brown...

, Mike Scully

Mike Scully

Mike Scully is an American television writer and producer. He is known for his work as executive producer and showrunner of the animated sitcom The Simpsons from 1997 to 2001. Scully grew up in West Springfield, Massachusetts and long had an interest in writing. He was an underachiever at school...

, Joshua Sternin

Joshua Sternin

-Career:Among Sternin's producer credits include 23 episodes of Murphy Brown in 1996 through 1997 and as writer for 10 of them, as well as producer for 64 episodes of That 70's Show in 1998 through 2001 and as a writer for 8 of them. In 2002, he and Jeffrey Ventimilia created a show for Fox called...

, and Jeffrey Ventimilia

Jeffrey Ventimilia

Jeffrey Ventimilia is an American television writer. Ventimilia wrote The Simpsons episode "Simpson Tide" and the teleplay of the episode "'Round Springfield", based on a story idea by Al Jean and Mike Reiss. Other credits include Murphy Brown, That '70s Show, and The Critic...

 all received their first writing credits during season six. Steven Dean Moore

Steven Dean Moore

Steven Dean Moore is an animation director who has directed 35 episodes of The Simpsons, in addition to several episodes of the long running Nicktoon programme Rugrats...

 and Swinton O. Scott III

Swinton O. Scott III

Swinton O. Scott III is an animation director best known for his work on The Simpsons.He directed four episodes of Futurama, 7 episodes of "The Simpsons" and one episode of Family Guy...

 received their first directing credit. Other credited writers included Greg Daniels

Greg Daniels

Gregory Martin "Greg" Daniels is an American television comedy writer, producer, and director.-Life and career:...

, Dan McGrath

Dan McGrath

Dan McGrath is an American television writer. He has written for Saturday Night Live, The Simpsons, Mission Hill, The PJs and King of the Hill.- The Simpsons episodes :He wrote the following episodes:...

, Bill Oakley

Bill Oakley

Bill Oakley is an American television writer and producer, known for his work on the animated comedy series The Simpsons. Oakley and Josh Weinstein became best friends and writing partners at high school; Oakley then attended Harvard University and was Vice President of the Harvard Lampoon...

, John Swartzwelder

John Swartzwelder

John Swartzwelder is an American comedy writer and novelist, best known for his work on the animated television series The Simpsons, as well as a number of novels. He is credited with writing the largest number of Simpsons episodes by a large margin...

, Jon Vitti

Jon Vitti

Jon Vitti is an American writer best known for his work on the television series The Simpsons. He has also written for the King of the Hill and The Critic series, and has served as a consultant for several animated movies, including Ice Age and Robots...

 and Josh Weinstein

Josh Weinstein

Josh Weinstein is an American television writer and producer, known for his work on the animated comedy series The Simpsons. Weinstein and Bill Oakley became best friends and writing partners at St. Albans High School; Weinstein then attended Stanford University and was editor-in-chief of the...

. Other directors included Bob Anderson

Bob Anderson (director)

Bob Anderson is an animation director on The Simpsons. He also contributed additional sequence direction on The Simpsons Movie....

, Wes Archer

Wes Archer

Wesley Meyer Archer is a television animation director. He was one of the original three animators on The Simpsons' Tracey Ullman shorts and subsequently directed a number of The Simpsons episodes before becoming supervising director at King of the Hill. A...

, Susie Dietter

Susie Dietter

Susan E. Dietter, usually credited as Susie Dietter, is an American director, known primarily for her work on television cartoons. She has directed episodes of the popular series Futurama, Baby Blues, The Simpsons, Recess and The Critic. She also worked as an animator for the modern-day Looney...

, Mark Kirkland

Mark Kirkland

Mark Kirkland is an American director. He has directed 69 episodes, from 1990-present, of The Simpsons, more than any other person.-Career:...

, Jeffrey Lynch

Jeffrey Lynch

Jeffrey Lynch is an American animator and graphic artist. He has worked as an animation director on The Simpsons and Futurama, and as an assistant director on Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3 and The Iron Giant....

, Jim Reardon

Jim Reardon

Jim Reardon is an animation director and storyboard consultant, best known for his work on the animated TV series The Simpsons. He has directed over 30 episodes of the series, and was credited as a supervising director for seasons 9 through 15...

 and David Silverman

David Silverman

David Silverman is an animator best known for directing numerous episodes of the animated TV series The Simpsons, as well as The Simpsons Movie...

.

The main cast consisted of Dan Castellaneta

Dan Castellaneta

Daniel Louis "Dan" Castellaneta is an American actor, voice actor, comedian, singer and screenwriter. Noted for his long-running role as Homer Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons, he voices many other characters on The Simpsons, including Abraham "Grampa" Simpson, Barney Gumble,...

 (Homer Simpson

Homer Simpson

Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...

, Grampa Simpson

Abraham Simpson

Abraham J. "Abe" Simpson, often known simply as Grampa, is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and he is also the patriarch of the Simpson family, the father of Homer Simpson, and the grandfather of Bart, Lisa, and Maggie Simpson...

, Krusty the Clown, among others), Julie Kavner

Julie Kavner

Julie Deborah Kavner is an American film and television actress, comedian and voice artist. Noted for her role as Marge Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons, she also voices other characters for the show, including Jacqueline Bouvier, and Patty and Selma Bouvier.Born in Los...

 (Marge Simpson

Marge Simpson

Marjorie "Marge" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. She is voiced by actress Julie Kavner and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...

, Patty and Selma Bouvier), Nancy Cartwright

Nancy Cartwright

Nancy Campbell Cartwright is an American film and television actress, comedian and voice artist. She is best known for her long-running role as Bart Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons...

 (Bart Simpson

Bart Simpson

Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...

, Ralph Wiggum

Ralph Wiggum

Ralph Wiggum is a recurring fictional character on the animated series The Simpsons, voiced by Nancy Cartwright. The son of Police Chief Wiggum and a classmate of Lisa Simpson, Ralph is best known as the show's resident oddball, and is noted for his non sequiturs and erratic behavior...

, Nelson Muntz

Nelson Muntz

Nelson Mandela Muntz is a fictional character and bully from the animated TV series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Nancy Cartwright. Nelson was introduced in Season 1's "Bart the General" as a bully but later turned into a friend of Bart Simpson, who is best identified by his signature laugh .-Role...

, among others), Yeardley Smith

Yeardley Smith

Yeardley Smith is a French-born American actress, voice actress, writer and painter. She is best known for her long-running role as Lisa Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons....

 (Lisa Simpson

Lisa Simpson

Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening...

), Hank Azaria

Hank Azaria

Henry Albert "Hank" Azaria is an American film, television and stage actor, director, voice actor, and comedian. He is noted for being one of the principal voice actors on the animated television series The Simpsons , on which he performs the voices of Moe Szyslak, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Chief...

 (Moe Syzlak, Apu

Apu Nahasapeemapetilon

Apu Nahasapeemapetilon is a character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria and first appeared in the episode "The Telltale Head". Apu is the proprietor of the Kwik-E-Mart, a popular convenience store in Springfield, and a friend of Homer Simpson. He is also...

, Chief Wiggum, among others) and Harry Shearer

Harry Shearer

Harry Julius Shearer is an American actor, comedian, writer, voice artist, musician, author, radio host and director. He is known for his long-running role on The Simpsons, his work on Saturday Night Live, the comedy band Spinal Tap and his radio program Le Show...

 (Ned Flanders

Ned Flanders

Nedward "Ned" Flanders, Jr. is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer, and first appeared in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". He is the next door neighbor to the Simpson family and is generally...

, Mr. Burns

Montgomery Burns

Charles Montgomery "Monty" Burns, usually referred to as Mr. Burns, is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons, who is voiced by Harry Shearer and previously Christopher Collins. Burns is the evil owner of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant and is Homer...

, Principal Skinner

Seymour Skinner

Principal W. Seymour Skinner is a fictional character in the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer. Born in Capitol City, he is the principal of Springfield Elementary School...

, among others). Other cast members included Doris Grau

Doris Grau

Doris Grau was an American script supervisor, actress, and voice artist from Brooklyn. Shortly after moving to Hollywood in 1940, she began her career with supervising film and television scripts...

 (Lunchlady Doris), Pamela Hayden

Pamela Hayden

Pamela Hayden is an American actress, best known for providing various voices for the animated television show The Simpsons.-Biography:...

 (Milhouse Van Houten

Milhouse Van Houten

Milhouse Mussolini Van Houten is a fictional character featured in the animated television series The Simpsons, voiced by Pamela Hayden. He is Bart Simpson's best friend in Mrs. Krabappel's fourth grade class at Springfield Elementary School....

, among others), Tress MacNeille

Tress MacNeille

Tress MacNeille is an American voice actress best known for providing various voices on the animated series The Simpsons, Futurama, Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, Disney's House of Mouse, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Rugrats, All Grown Up!, Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, and Dave the...

 (Agnes Skinner, among others), Maggie Roswell

Maggie Roswell

Maggie Roswell is an American film and television actress and voice artist from Los Angeles, California. She is well known for her voice work on the Fox network's animated television series The Simpsons, in which she has played recurring characters such as Maude Flanders, Helen Lovejoy, Miss...

 (Maude Flanders, among others), Russi Taylor

Russi Taylor

Russi Taylor is an American voice actress. She is the current voice actress of Disney's Minnie Mouse character. She has held this role since 1986, longer than any other voice actress...

 (Martin Prince

Martin Prince

Martin Prince, Jr. is a recurring character in the Fox animated series, The Simpsons, and is voiced by Russi Taylor. Martin is Bart Simpson's classmate, and is Lisa Simpson's rival in intelligence, as well as Nelson Muntz's favorite target for bullying...

, among others) and Marcia Wallace

Marcia Wallace

Marcia Karen Wallace is an American character actress, comedienne and game show panelist, primarily known for her roles in television situation comedies...

 (Edna Krabappel

Edna Krabappel

Edna Krabappel is a fictional character from the animated TV series The Simpsons, voiced by Marcia Wallace. She is a 4th grade teacher at Springfield Elementary School. Krabappel is the only character Wallace voices on a regular basis.- Profile :...

). Guest stars included Anne Bancroft

Anne Bancroft

Anne Bancroft was an American actress associated with the Method acting school, which she had studied under Lee Strasberg....

, Mel Brooks

Mel Brooks

Mel Brooks is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer. He is best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. He began his career as a stand-up comic and as a writer for the early TV variety show Your Show of Shows...

, Kelsey Grammer

Kelsey Grammer

Allen Kelsey Grammer is an American actor and comedian. He is most widely known for his two-decade portrayal of psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane on the sitcoms Cheers and Frasier...

, Phil Hartman

Phil Hartman

Philip Edward "Phil" Hartman was a Canadian-American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and graphic artist. Born in Brantford, Ontario, Hartman and his family moved to the United States when he was 10...

, Larry King

Larry King

Lawrence Harvey "Larry" King is an American television and radio host whose work has been recognized with awards including two Peabodys and ten Cable ACE Awards....

, Susan Sarandon

Susan Sarandon

Susan Sarandon is an American actress. She has worked in films and television since 1969, and won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the 1995 film Dead Man Walking. She had also been nominated for the award for four films before that and has received other recognition for her...

, Patrick Stewart

Patrick Stewart

Sir Patrick Hewes Stewart, OBE is an English film, television and stage actor, who has had a distinguished career in theatre and television for around half a century...

 and Meryl Streep

Meryl Streep

Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep is an American actress who has worked in theatre, television and film.Streep made her professional stage debut in 1971's The Playboy of Seville, before her screen debut in the television movie The Deadliest Season in 1977. In that same year, she made her film debut with...

.

The season's first two episodes, "Bart of Darkness

Bart of Darkness

"Bart of Darkness" is the first episode of The Simpsons sixth season, which originally aired September 4, 1994. It was written by Dan McGrath, and directed by Jim Reardon. In the episode, Bart breaks his leg; his resultant isolation causes him to believe that Ned Flanders has committed murder...

" and "Lisa's Rival

Lisa's Rival

"Lisa's Rival" is the second episode of The Simpsons sixth season, and originally aired September 11, 1994. It was the first episode to be written by Mike Scully, and was directed by Mark Kirkland. Winona Ryder guest stars as Allison Taylor, a new student at Springfield Elementary School...

", were held over from the previous season, as production was delayed because of the 1994 Northridge earthquake. "A Star Is Burns" caused some controversy amongst the staff with series creator Matt Groening

Matt Groening

Matthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell as well as two successful television series, The Simpsons and Futurama....

 removing his name from the episode's credits as he saw it as blatant advertising for The Critic, which was airing at the time. The season finale "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" (which aired in two parts, the second acting as the following season's premiere) came from Groening, who had wanted to do an episode in which Mr. Burns was shot, which could be used as a publicity stunt. The writers decided to write the episode in two parts with a mystery that could be used in a contest. It was important for them to design a mystery that had clues, took advantage of freeze frame technology, and was structured around one character who seemed the obvious culprit.

Reception

The season was well received by critics and remains popular amongst the show's fans. Reviews of the premiere "Bart of Darkness

Bart of Darkness

"Bart of Darkness" is the first episode of The Simpsons sixth season, which originally aired September 4, 1994. It was written by Dan McGrath, and directed by Jim Reardon. In the episode, Bart breaks his leg; his resultant isolation causes him to believe that Ned Flanders has committed murder...

" in 1994 said the show was "just as strong and funny as it ever was," while the writing continued to be "crisp, hilarious and multi-layered." A 2010 appraisal of the show by IGN

IGN

IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...

 described the season as "hilarious", singling out the episodes "Treehouse of Horror V

Treehouse of Horror V

"Treehouse of Horror V" is the sixth episode of The Simpsons sixth season and the fifth episode in the Treehouse of Horror series. It premiered on October 30, 1994, and features three short stories called The Shinning, Time and Punishment, and Nightmare Cafeteria...

", "Itchy & Scratchy Land

Itchy & Scratchy Land

"Itchy & Scratchy Land" is the fourth episode of The Simpsons sixth season and first aired on October 2, 1994. Wanting a perfect family vacation, the Simpson family visits Itchy & Scratchy Land. The trip starts out great, but things take a turn for the worse when a horde of Itchy and Scratchy...

 and "Bart vs. Australia

Bart vs. Australia

"Bart vs. Australia" is the sixteenth episode of the sixth season of The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 19, 1995. In the episode, Bart is indicted for fraud in Australia, and the family travels to the country so Bart can apologize...

" for praise. Entertainment Weekly

Entertainment Weekly

Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...

s 2003 list of the show's best 25 episodes included four from this season: "Itchy & Scratchy Land", "Treehouse of Horror V", "Homer Badman

Homer Badman

"Homer Badman", also known as "Homer: Bad Man" is the ninth episode of The Simpsons sixth season and originally aired November 27, 1994. It was written by Greg Daniels and directed by Jeffrey Lynch. After his attempt to grab a gummy candy off of the seat of a young feminist's pants is accused for...

" and "Who Shot Mr. Burns?".

Fox moved The Simpsons back to its original Sunday night time of 8 p.m., having aired it on Thursdays for the previous three seasons. It has remained in this slot ever since. The Simpsons was the network's "most popular series" and was moved in conjunction with Fox's purchase of the rights to the National Football League

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

's National Football Conference

National Football Conference

The National Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League . This conference and its counterpart, the American Football Conference , currently contain 16 teams each, making up the 32 teams of the NFL.-Current teams:Since 2002, the NFC has comprised 16 teams,...

 games, which it would be airing on Sundays and was hoping would boost its Sunday night programs' ratings. Having been against The Cosby Show

The Cosby Show

The Cosby Show is an American television situation comedy starring Bill Cosby, which aired for eight seasons on NBC from September 20, 1984 until April 30, 1992...

on Thursdays, the show was now against Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman

Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman

Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman was a live-action American television series based on the Superman comic books...

(ABC

American Broadcasting Company

The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

), seaQuest DSV

SeaQuest DSV

seaQuest DSV is an American science fiction television series created by Rockne S. O'Bannon. It originally aired on NBC between 1993 and 1996. In its final season, it was renamed seaQuest 2032. Set in "the near future", seaQuest mixes high drama with realistic scientific fiction...

(NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

) and Murder, She Wrote

Murder, She Wrote

Murder, She Wrote is an American television mystery series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. The series aired for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996 on the CBS network, with 264 episodes transmitted. It was followed by four TV films and a spin-off series,...

(CBS

CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

). "Bart of Darkness" finished 44th in the ratings for the week of August 29 to September 4, 1994, with a Nielsen rating of 8.9 and an audience share of 17%. The episode was the third highest rated show on the Fox network that week. This was down on the previous season's premiere "Homer's Barbershop Quartet

Homer's Barbershop Quartet

"Homer's Barbershop Quartet" is the first episode of The Simpsons fifth season. The episode was written by Jeff Martin and directed by Mark Kirkland. It features The Be Sharps, a barbershop quartet founded by Homer Simpson. The band's story roughly parallels that of The Beatles...

" (12.7), and its finale "Secrets of a Successful Marriage

Secrets of a Successful Marriage

"Secrets of a Successful Marriage" is the twenty-second and final episode of The Simpsons fifth season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 19, 1994. In the episode, Homer fears he may be a little slow, so he goes to the adult education center...

" (9.8). The season finale "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" finished 51st with a rating of 8.7, the fifth highest rated Fox show of the week.

The sixth season won one Primetime Emmy Award

Primetime Emmy Award

The Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming...

, and received three additional nominations. "Lisa's Wedding

Lisa's Wedding

"Lisa's Wedding" is the 19th episode of The Simpsons sixth season, which originally aired March 19, 1995. The plot focuses around Lisa visiting a carnival fortune teller and learning about her future love. It was written by Greg Daniels and directed by Jim Reardon. Mandy Patinkin guest stars as...

" won the Emmy for "Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming One Hour or Less)

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming less than One Hour)

The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program is a Creative Arts Emmy Award which is given annually to an animated series which is judged to have been the best...

. Alf Clausen

Alf Clausen

Alf Clausen is an American film and television composer. He is best known for his work scoring many episodes of The Simpsons, of which he has been the sole composer since 1990...

 received a nomination in the category "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore)" for "Treehouse of Horror V

Treehouse of Horror V

"Treehouse of Horror V" is the sixth episode of The Simpsons sixth season and the fifth episode in the Treehouse of Horror series. It premiered on October 30, 1994, and features three short stories called The Shinning, Time and Punishment, and Nightmare Cafeteria...

", while he and John Swartzwelder

John Swartzwelder

John Swartzwelder is an American comedy writer and novelist, best known for his work on the animated television series The Simpsons, as well as a number of novels. He is credited with writing the largest number of Simpsons episodes by a large margin...

 were nominated for "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music and Lyrics" for the Stonecutters' song "We Do" in the episode "Homer the Great

Homer the Great

"Homer the Great" is the twelfth television episode of The Simpsons sixth season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 8, 1995. In the episode, Homer discovers that Lenny and Carl are members of the ancient secret society known as the Stonecutters...

". Finally, "Bart vs. Australia

Bart vs. Australia

"Bart vs. Australia" is the sixteenth episode of the sixth season of The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 19, 1995. In the episode, Bart is indicted for fraud in Australia, and the family travels to the country so Bart can apologize...

" was nominated for "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Comedy Series or a Special". For the previous two seasons, the producers had nominated the show for Outstanding Comedy Series

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series

The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series is an Emmy given to the best television comedy series of the year.-Winners and nominees:...

, failing each time. The show won the Annie Award

Annie Award

The Annie Awards have been presented by the Los Angeles, California branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood since 1972...

 for Best Animated Television Program in 1995 for season six, while Cartwright won the Annie for Voice Acting in the Field of Animation.

Episodes

Key

• In the # column:
  • The first number refers to the order it aired during the entire series.
  • The second number refers to the episode number within its season.
• The production code refers to the code assigned to the episode by the production team. The first two characters refer to the season the episode was made for; for example, 1F for season five and 2F for season six. The second number is the order in which the episode was produced, which is not necessarily the airing order.

  #	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original airdate	Prod. code

  
  

  DVD release

  
  The DVD boxset for season six was released by 20th Century Fox
  20th Century Fox
  Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
  
   in the United States and Canada on August 16, 2005, ten years after it had completed broadcast on television. As well as every episode from the season, the DVD release features bonus material including deleted scene
  Deleted scene
  In Entertainment, especially the film and television industry, Deleted scenes are parts of a film removed or censored from or replaced by another scene in the final "cut", or version, of a film...
  
  s, Animatics, and commentaries for every episode. The menus follow the same format as the previous season's set. The packaging was changed from the standard box design, used for the previous five seasons, to a plastic clamshell design shaped like Homer
  Homer Simpson
  Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
  
  's head. After many fans complained of the format change, a standard box was produced, with a "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" theme. The season was not offered for retail sale in North America in the standard box, but people who had bought the head design and preferred the alternative were offered the standard box free of charge. In the United Kingdom, the Homer head packaging was released as a limited edition item, with only 50,000 copies using the design. All other copies used the standard box format. The next four seasons were subsequently released in both a standard and head-shaped packaging in North America, as well as overseas.
  

  The Complete SixthSeason
  Set Details			Special Features
  25 episodes 4-disc set 1.33:1 aspect ratio Languages: English (Dolby Digital Dolby Digital Dolby Digital is the name for audio compression technologies developed by Dolby Laboratories. It was originally called Dolby Stereo Digital until 1994. Except for Dolby TrueHD, the audio compression is lossy. The first use of Dolby Digital was to provide digital sound in cinemas from 35mm film prints...  5.1, with subtitles) Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, with subtitles) French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)			Optional commentaries for all 25 episodes Introduction from Matt Groening Matt Groening Matthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell as well as two successful television series, The Simpsons and Futurama.... Animatics Illustrated commentaries 58 Deleted Scenes with optional commentary Sketch Gallery - "Who Shot Mr Burns" Suspect Profiles Commercials TV Special - "Springfields Most Wanted" Featurette - The Simpsons Plane Introduction with James L. Brooks James L. Brooks James Lawrence Brooks is an American director, producer and screenwriter. Growing up in North Bergen, New Jersey, Brooks endured a fractured family life and passed the time by reading and writing. After dropping out of New York University, he got a job as an usher at CBS, going on to write for the...
  Release Dates
  Region 1 DVD region code DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...	United Kingdom	Australia
  August 16, 2005	October 17, 2005	September 28, 2005

External links

• Season 6 at The Simpsons.com
• Season 6 at the BBC
  BBC
  The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
  
  
• Season 6 at TV.com
  TV.com
  TV.com is a website owned by CBS Interactive. The site covers television and focuses on English-language shows made or broadcast in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Japan...