The Simpsons season 6

Production

David Mirkin was showrunner and executive producer for the sixth season, continuing from the previous season. The season was produced by Gracie Films and 20th Century Fox Television. Fox demanded 25 episodes, which the writing staff considered too many, so former showrunners Mike Reiss and Al Jean returned to produce two episodes—"A Star Is Burns" and "Round Springfield"—with the staff of their show The Critic to reduce the burden on The Simpsons writers.

Several writers and directors received their first credits on the series during this season: writers David Cohen, Jonathan Collier, Jennifer Crittenden, Brent Forrester, Ken Keeler, Bob Kushell, David Sacks, Mike Scully, Joshua Sternin, and Jennifer Ventimilia, and directors Steven Dean Moore and Swinton O. Scott III. Other credited writers included Greg Daniels, Dan McGrath, Bill Oakley, John Swartzwelder, Jon Vitti, and Josh Weinstein. Other directors included Bob Anderson, Wes Archer, Susie Dietter, Mark Kirkland, Jeffrey Lynch, Jim Reardon, and David Silverman.

The main cast comprised Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, and Harry Shearer, with additional voice work from Doris Grau, Pamela Hayden, Tress MacNeille, Maggie Roswell, Russi Taylor, and Marcia Wallace. Guest stars included Anne Bancroft, Mel Brooks, Kelsey Grammer, Phil Hartman, Larry King, Susan Sarandon, Patrick Stewart, Meryl Streep, and Winona Ryder.

Reception

Critics and fans alike have held Season 6 of The Simpsons in high regard since it aired. The 1994 premiere, "Bart of Darkness," was praised for maintaining the show's sharp, funny, and layered writing. The season holds a perfect 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes from seven reviews. IGN, in a 2010 retrospective, highlighted "Treehouse of Horror V," "Itchy & Scratchy Land," and "Bart vs. Australia" as standout episodes.

Entertainment Weekly's 2003 list of the show's 25 best episodes included four from this season: "Itchy & Scratchy Land," "Treehouse of Horror V," "Homer Badman," and "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" After four years on Thursdays, Fox moved the series back to its original Sunday 8 p.m. slot, a shift tied to the network's acquisition of NFL National Football Conference games. The premiere "Bart of Darkness" earned a Nielsen rating of 8.9 and a 17% audience share, ranking 44th for its week and third among Fox shows. The season finale "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" scored an 8.7 rating, placing 51st overall and fifth on Fox for that week.

DVD release

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released the DVD boxset for season six in the United States and Canada on August 16, 2005. The set included every episode, deleted scenes, animatics, and commentaries for each episode. The packaging was a plastic clamshell design shaped like Homer's head, which drew many complaints.

In the United States, a slip of paper offered purchasers the option to request alternate packaging—a case-sleeve in the standard box style—for only shipping and handling. In the United Kingdom, the Homer head packaging was a limited edition of 50,000 copies; all other copies used the standard box format. The next four seasons were subsequently released in both standard and head-shaped packaging in North America and overseas.