The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special – In 3-D! On Ice!

Production

Fox announced in 2009 that it would mark twenty years of The Simpsons with a year-long event called "Best. 20 Years. Ever.," stretching from January 14, 2009 to January 14, 2010. Documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, an Academy Award nominee for Super Size Me and a fan of the show since his college years, got the call to direct the special in February 2009. The Simpsons producers had been impressed by an animated segment in Spurlock's 2008 film Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?, which led them to offer him the job.

Spurlock jumped at the chance, calling it "the coolest thing I could ever get to do in my career." The project was publicly announced in July 2009. The producers took months to settle on the special's content and structure. Spurlock has said he thinks they brought him on specifically to avoid a "glad-hand, pat-everyone-on-the-back special" and instead focus on the fans who had kept the series alive. Originally set to air on January 14, 2010—exactly two decades after "Bart the Genius," the first regular episode following the Christmas special "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire"—the special instead aired on January 10, 2010.

It was paired with "Once Upon a Time in Springfield," which was billed as the 450th episode even though it was actually the 451st. Though promoted as a special event, the program was produced as part of the show's 20th season and received the production code LABF21, one number higher than the episode it aired alongside. The special features interviews with fans from ten to fifteen countries. Filming kicked off at San Diego Comic-Con, and a casting call on July 25, 2009 sought "some of the most incredible super-fans that the world has ever seen." Spurlock's interviews include a man who grew real-life "Tomacco," the person with the most Simpsons tattoos, and a couple who held a Simpsons-themed wedding.

Reception

When it first aired, the special drew about 13 million total viewers, with a 5.6 Nielsen rating among adults aged 18 to 49. The first half pulled in 13.462 million viewers and a 6.3 rating with a 15 share in that demographic, while the second half had 11.171 million viewers, a 5.4 rating, and a 12 share. It placed 14th in the weekly rankings and 6th in the 18–49 category. Critics gave it a Metacritic score of 64.

Robert Canning of IGN described it as "impressive," calling it a conversation between fans and creators about a beloved series, and recommended it just to hear Conan O'Brien's hypothetical series finale. Emily VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club awarded it a B−. The Vatican’s L'Osservatore Romano praised the show’s two-decade run, noting that without Homer and the other yellow characters, many people would not know how to laugh. The special was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Nonfiction Special but lost to Teddy: In His Own Words, a documentary about Ted Kennedy.