The Very Hungry Caterpillars

Last updated

"The Very Hungry Caterpillars"
The Simpsons episode
Episode no.Season 34
Episode 20
Directed byGabriel DeFrancesco
Written by Brian Kelley
Production codeOABF14
Original air dateMay 7, 2023 (2023-05-07)
Guest appearance
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Write Off This Episode"		Next →
"Clown V. Board of Education"
The Simpsons season 34
List of episodes

"The Very Hungry Caterpillars" is the twentieth episode of the thirty-fourth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons , and the 748th episode overall. It aired in the United States on Fox on May 7, 2023. The episode was directed by Gabriel DeFrancesco and written by Brian Kelley.

Contents

In this episode, the Simpson family copes with being at home after a caterpillar invasion forces a lockdown. Rob Lowe guest starred as Principal Skinner's cousin Peter. The episode received positive reviews.

Plot

At the breakfast table, Maggie is going through a phase where she refuses to eat food without ranch dressing. Suddenly, an emergency announcement states that the town has been overrun with caterpillars, and the town must enter a lockdown until the caterpillars leave. The children begin remote learning with Principal Skinner. At the end of the school day, Skinner accidentally leaves his camera operating, which allows Bart to watch him. Skinner is at home with his mother, Agnes, and his cousin Peter, who is staying with them. He sees that Agnes favors Peter over Skinner. Meanwhile, the family runs out of ranch dressing, and Marge tells Homer to ask Ned Flanders for more. After Homer insults Flanders, he returns with only a small cup of dressing. Lisa learns that the lockdown could last for months.

To relieve Lisa's anxiety, Homer gives Lisa her Christmas present, a Malibu Stacy playset. However, Lisa's imagination brings the dolls to life, and they discuss the lockdown. Bart and the other children continue to watch Skinner, who see Agnes give Skinner's security blanket to Peter. They decide to help Skinner get it back. Homer tries to get Maggie to eat food with other sauces, but she refuses. Homer and Marge decide to steal Flanders' ranch dressing.

Homer and Marge break into Flanders' basement, but when Flanders hears them, Homer lets Marge escape while he and Flanders fight. Marge returns to reason with Ned, and he lets them leave with the dressing. Over video chat, Nelson attempts to buy the blanket from Peter, but is caught. Peter gloats and insults Agnes, but she and Skinner have been watching him thought the video chat. They throw Peter out of their house. Lisa is melting the playset to build a wall for protection, but a caterpillar has entered her room. She throws lettuce at it, and she notices its pleasant appearance as it eats the lettuce, which relieves her dread.

The lockdown ends when the caterpillars become cocoons. However, they turn into butterflies and begin attacking the townspeople.

Production

Executive producer Matt Selman wanted to have a lockdown episode without having to acknowledge the COVID-19 pandemic. [1] He chose the idea of a caterpillar infestation based on his childhood summers on the East Coast. [2] The idea of Maggie refusing to eat food without ranch dressing was based on a child of one of the writers. [1]

Rob Lowe guest starred as Principal Skinner's cousin Peter. Lowe commented that voice acting was different than other forms of acting. [3] A promotional clip featuring Cousin Peter was released two days before the episode aired. [4]

Reception

Viewing figures

The episode earned a 0.24 rating and was watched by 0.82 million viewers, which was the most watched show on Fox that night. [5]

Critical response

Tony Sokol of Den of Geek gave the episode 4 out of 5 stars. He thought the episode was a good parody of the COVID-19 lockdowns. He highlighted the scenes of Lisa voicing her dolls with different accents. He also liked the song the Flanders family sings about the rapture. [6]

John Schwarz of Bubbleblabber gave the episode an 8.5 out of 10. He thought the episode was "innovative." He stated that Lisa's story was scary enough to almost be a Treehouse of Horror segment. He also thought Bart's story was weak, and Rob Lowe's appearance was underused. [7]

Cathal Gunning of Screen Rant thought that the parody of the lockdowns was late especially since the show could parody other events in a faster turnaround time. However, he stated that the parody itself was strong. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treehouse of Horror IV</span> 5th episode of the 5th season of The Simpsons

"Treehouse of Horror IV" is the fifth episode of the fifth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons and the fourth episode in the Treehouse of Horror series of Halloween specials. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 28, 1993, and features three short stories called "The Devil and Homer Simpson", "Terror at 5+1⁄2 Feet", and "Bart Simpson's Dracula".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treehouse of Horror XI</span> 1st episode of the 12th season of The Simpsons

"Treehouse of Horror XI" is the first episode of the twelfth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, the 249th episode overall, and the eleventh Halloween episode. The episode features "G-G-Ghost D-D-Dad", "Scary Tales Can Come True" and "Night of the Dolphin" and was written by Rob LaZebnik, John Frink and Don Payne and Carolyn Omine and directed by Matthew Nastuk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Co-Dependents' Day</span> 15th episode of the 15th season of The Simpsons

"Co-Dependents' Day" is the fifteenth episode of the fifteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 21, 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treehouse of Horror XVIII</span> 5th episode of the 19th season of The Simpsons

"Treehouse of Horror XVIII" is the fifth episode of the nineteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 4, 2007. In the eighteenth annual Treehouse of Horror episode, Bart harbors Kodos the alien in "E.T., Go Home," Homer and Marge are husband and wife assassins who try to take each other out in "Mr. & Mrs. Simpson," and Ned Flanders is given God-like powers during his demonstration on the wages of sin in "Heck House." It was written by Marc Wilmore and directed by Chuck Sheetz. Maggie Simpson does not appear in this episode.

"Luca$" is the seventeenth episode of the twenty-fifth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons and the 547th episode of the series. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 6, 2014. It was written by Carolyn Omine and directed by Chris Clements.

"Sky Police" is the sixteenth episode of the twenty-sixth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 568th overall episode of the series. The episode was directed by Rob Oliver and written by Matt Selman. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 8, 2015.

<i>The Simpsons</i> season 27 Season of television series

The twenty-seventh season of the American animated television series The Simpsons began airing on Fox in the United States on September 27, 2015, and ended on May 22, 2016. The season was produced by Gracie Films and 20th Century Fox Television. This season was the first of two seasons ordered by Fox in May 2015. The primary showrunner for the season was Al Jean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haw-Haw Land</span> 10th episode of the 29th season of The Simpsons

"Haw-Haw Land" is the tenth episode of the twenty-ninth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 628th episode of the series overall. The episode was directed by Bob Anderson and written by Tim Long and Miranda Thompson. It aired in the United States on Fox on January 7, 2018.

"Werking Mom" is the 646th episode of the American animated television series The Simpsons and the seventh episode of Season 30. The episode was directed by Mike Frank Polcino and written by Carolyn Omine and Robin Sayers. The episode was also dedicated in memory of Stan Lee of Marvel Comics fame, who died on November 12, 2018, and had guest starred three times on the show, in the episodes "I Am Furious (Yellow)", "Married to the Blob" and "Caper Chase" respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treehouse of Horror XXXI</span> 4th episode of the 32nd season of The Simpsons

"Treehouse of Horror XXXI" is the fourth episode of the thirty-second season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 688th episode overall as well as the thirty-first "Treehouse of Horror" episode. It aired in the United States on Fox on November 1, 2020. The episode was directed by Steven Dean Moore, and written by Julia Prescott.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A Springfield Summer Christmas for Christmas</span> 10th episode of the 32nd season of The Simpsons

"A Springfield Summer Christmas for Christmas" is the 10th episode of the thirty-second season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 694th episode overall. It aired in the United States on Fox on December 13, 2020. The episode was directed by Timothy Bailey and written by Jessica Conrad.

"The Dad-Feelings Limited" is the 11th episode of the thirty-second season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 695th episode overall. It aired in the United States on Fox on January 3, 2021. The episode was directed by Chris Clements and written by Ryan Koh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treehouse of Horror XXXII</span> 3rd episode of the 33rd season of The Simpsons

"Treehouse of Horror XXXII" is the third episode of the thirty-third season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 709th episode overall. It aired in the United States on Fox on October 10, 2021, and unlike the previous season, aired at the appropriate time to avoid conflict with Major League Baseball’s post-season, which stretched into November. The episode was directed by Matthew Faughnan, and written by John Frink.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Panic on the Streets of Springfield</span> 19th episode of the 32nd season of The Simpsons

"Panic on the Streets of Springfield" is the 19th episode of the thirty-second season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 703rd episode overall. It aired in the United States on Fox on April 18, 2021. The episode was directed by Matthew Nastuk, and written by Tim Long. In this episode, Lisa becomes obsessed with a cynical English singer named Quilloughby who becomes her imaginary friend.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A Serious Flanders</span> 6th and 7th episodes of the 33rd season of The Simpsons

"A Serious Flanders" is a two-part episode of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It is the sixth and seventh episodes of the thirty-third season and the 712th and 713th episodes overall. Part One premiered on the Fox network in the United States on November 7, 2021, while Part Two premiered on November 14, 2021. Both parts are written by Cesar Mazariegos. Part One is directed by Debbie Mahan, while Part Two is directed by Matthew Faughnan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pixelated and Afraid</span> 12th episode of the 33rd season of The Simpsons

"Pixelated and Afraid" is the 12th episode of the 33rd season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 718th episode overall. It aired in the United States on Fox on February 27, 2022. The episode was directed by Chris Clements and written by John Frink. The title is a spoof of Naked and Afraid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treehouse of Horror XXXIII</span> 6th episode of the 34th season of The Simpsons

"Treehouse of Horror XXXIII" is the sixth episode of the thirty-fourth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 734th episode overall. It aired in the United States on Fox on October 30, 2022. The episode was directed by Rob Oliver, and written by Carolyn Omine, Ryan Koh and Matt Selman. This is the first Treehouse of Horror episode to not have an opening sequence, and instead just opens on a book of the episode before going straight into the first segment. This is also the first Treehouse of Horror since season 14's to feature a different writer for each segment. This is the first Treehouse of Horror to air closest to Halloween since 2011 without going into November.

"Game Done Changed" is the tenth episode of the thirty-fourth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 738th episode overall. It aired in the United States on Fox on December 4, 2022. The episode was directed by Timothy Bailey and written by Ryan Koh.

"Fan-ily Feud" is the eighteenth episode of the thirty-fourth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 746th episode overall. It aired in the United States on Fox on April 23, 2023. The episode was directed by Timothy Bailey and written by Broti Gupta.

References

  1. 1 2 Reif, Alex (June 8, 2023). "ATX TV Fest Recap: "The Simpsons" Showrunner POV with Matt Selman". Laughing Place. Archived from the original on November 18, 2023. Retrieved November 18, 2023.
  2. ↑ Williams, Lorin (June 4, 2023). "ATX TV Festival: Day Three – WGA On Strike!, The Return of Ad-Supported TV, and HBO's 'The Righteous Gemstones'". mxdwn. Archived from the original on November 18, 2023. Retrieved November 18, 2023.
  3. ↑ Holub, Christian (May 4, 2023). "Rob Lowe previews his The Simpsons debut as Principal Skinner's cousin". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on September 25, 2023. Retrieved September 24, 2023.
  4. ↑ Rouse, Isaac (May 5, 2023). "'The Simpsons' Sneak Peek of Rob Lowe as Principal Skinner's Charming Cousin Peter (VIDEO)". TV Insider . Archived from the original on September 25, 2023. Retrieved September 24, 2023.
  5. ↑ Salem, Mitch (May 9, 2023). "ShowBuzzDaily's Sunday 5.7.2023 Top 150 Cable Originals & Network Finals Updated". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on July 16, 2023. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
  6. ↑ Sokol, Tony (May 7, 2023). "The Simpsons' COVID Episode Combines Caterpillars and Rob Lowe". Den of Geek . Archived from the original on June 7, 2023. Retrieved September 24, 2023.
  7. ↑ Schwarz, John (May 8, 2023). "Review: The Simpsons "The Very Hungry Caterpillars"". Bubbleblabber. Archived from the original on September 25, 2023. Retrieved September 24, 2023.
  8. ↑ Gunning, Cathal (May 8, 2023). "The Simpsons Season 34 Finally Addressed A Huge Real-Life News Story". Screen Rant . Archived from the original on September 25, 2023. Retrieved September 24, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.