"Steal This Episode"
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Episode Information
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"Steal This Episode" is the ninth episode of season 25 of The Simpsons and the five-hundred and thirty-ninth episode overall. It originally aired on January 5, 2014. The episode was written by J. Stewart Burns and directed by Matthew Nastuk. It guest stars Will Arnett as Deputy Director Gratman, Judd Apatow as himself, Leslie Mann as herself, Paul Rudd as himself, Seth Rogen as himself, Channing Tatum as himself, Rob Halford as himself and Kevin Michael Richardson as the prison inmate.
Synopsis[edit]
- "Homer becomes annoyed with movie theaters, so Bart teaches him how to download movies illegally. Homer is delighted with his discovery of free movies until he's caught for piracy. Deputy Director Gratman, the FBI's anti-piracy boss, is tasked with hunting down Homer, who stands accused of illegally downloading a film.[1][2]"
Production[edit]
A pre-release image of Deputy Director Gratman was released along with the announcement of Will Arnett as a guest star. The episode's production code, SABF05, was also revealed.[1]
Reception[edit]
The episode was watched by a total of 12.04 million viewers, beating American Dad!, Bob's Burgers and Family Guy. These viewing numbers make the episode the most-watched of the series since the twenty-second season episode "Moms I'd Like to Forget".[3]
The episode received critical acclaim. A.V Club praised the episode for its "double-handful of funny lines and gags", "coherent story from beginning to end" and "satirically clever ending the show hasn't pulled off all year." Giving the episode a B rating, they named "Steal This Episode" the strongest episode of the season thus far and summed up, "Not classic Simpsons by any yardstick, but certainly a welcome respite from what has been a streak of fairly dire late-run episodes."[4] Den of Geek lauded the episode, particularly Julie Kavner's voice-acting work which "tugs and pulls at the emotions", and awarded it 4/5 stars.[5] In a glowing review, TV Fanatic named the episode "a great return to form" and gave the episode a 5/5 rating.[6] Bubble Blabber concluded, "Although this installment didn't provide non-stop laughs, it still got some big ones, and entertained throughout with its classic humor. Though it may not go down as a classic episode overall, I'll take anything remotely classic-esque" and gave the episode an 8/10.[7]
Similar opinion came from fans of the show. On No Homers, the episode holds a majority 4/5 vote on the fan-poll and was praised for its gags and execution. Many agreed "Steal This Episode" was "the best episode in years" and "a post-classic."[8]
"Steal This Episode" was nominated for a 2015 Writers Guild of America award in Animation, but it lost to "Brick Like Me".[9]
International premieres[edit]
In other languages[edit]
Language
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Name
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Translation
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Italiano
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"I Pirati di Springfield"
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The Springfield Pirates
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Gallery[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 TV Line – "Simpsons Exclusive: Will Arnett to Guest Star as an Arresting Figure in Homer's Life"
- ↑ Listings - SIMPSONS, THE on FOX | TheFutonCritic.com
- ↑ TVbytheNumbers - "Sunday Final Ratings: 'Family Guy', '60 Minutes' & 'The Mentalist' Adjusted Up; 'The Simpsons', 'Bob's Burgers', 'The Best of Jimmy Fallon' & 'Betrayal' Adjusted Down"
- ↑ AV Club - Dennis Perkins • Jan 5, 2014 - "The Simpsons: "Steal This Episode - S25 / E9"
- ↑ Den of Geek - Tony Sokol, 1/5/2014 - "Review: The Simpsons: Steal This Episode, One family against all odds took on the system and lost."
- ↑ TV Fanatic // Teresa Lopez at January 5, 2014 - "The Simpsons Review: Cinema Pirate-diso"
- ↑ BubbleBlabber.com - January 6, 2014, Gonzo Green - "Review: The Simpsons 'Steal This Episode'"
- ↑ No Homers - Simpsons Episode Discussion//Rate and Review: "Steal This Episode" (SABF05)
- ↑ IMDb - "Writers Guild of America, USA 2015 Awards"
- ↑ Anexo:Vigesimoquinta temporada de Los Simpson
- ↑ The Simpsons - Entutele.com