• New article from the Springfield Shopper: Season 36 News: A second Preview Image for “O C’mon All Ye Faithful” has been released!
  • Wikisimpsons needs more Featured Article, Picture, Quote, Episode and Comprehensive article nominations!
  • Wikisimpsons has a Discord server! Click here for your invite! Join to talk about the wiki, Simpsons and Tapped Out news, or just to talk to other users.
  • Make an account! It's easy, free, and your work on the wiki can be attributed to you.
TwitterFacebookDiscord

Steal This Episode

Wikisimpsons - The Simpsons Wiki
(Redirected from SABF05)
Season 25 Episode
538 "White Christmas Blues"
539
"Steal This Episode"
"Married to the Blob" 540
"Steal This Episode"
Steal This Episode promo 4.png
Episode Information
Episode number: 539
Season number: S25 E9
Production code: SABF05
Original airdate: January 5, 2014
Guest star(s): 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
Kevin Michael Richardson as the prison inmate
Showrunner: Matt Selman
Written by: J. Stewart Burns
Directed by: Matthew Nastuk


"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]

Country Date Channel Note
Hispanic America.gif Latin America June 29, 2014[10][11] Fox Latin America
800px-Flag of the United Kingdom.svg.png United Kingdom May 18, 2014 Sky1 Gathered 457,000 viewers

In other languages[edit]

Language Name Translation
Italy Flag.png Italiano "I Pirati di Springfield" The Springfield Pirates

Gallery[edit]

References[edit]


The Saga of Carl - title screen.png Wikisimpsons has a collection of images related to "Steal This Episode".
Season 25 Episodes
Homerland Treehouse of Horror XXIV Four Regrettings and a Funeral YOLO Labor Pains The Kid Is All Right Yellow Subterfuge White Christmas Blues Steal This Episode Married to the Blob Specs and the City Diggs The Man Who Grew Too Much The Winter of His Content The War of Art You Don't Have to Live Like a Referee Luca$ Days of Future Future What to Expect When Bart's Expecting Brick Like Me Pay Pal The Yellow Badge of Cowardge