Once Upon a Time in Springfield

"**Once Upon a Time in Springfield**"
"Once Upon a Time in Springfield"
The Simpsons episode
	Promotional image
Episode no.	Season 21; Episode 10
Directed by	Matthew Nastuk
Written by	Stephanie Gillis
Production code	LABF20
Original air date	January 10, 2010
Guest appearances
	Anne Hathaway as Princess Penelope; Eartha Kitt as herself; Maurice LaMarche as Nuclear Power Plant Security Guard; Gary Larson as himself; Jackie Mason as Rabbi Hyman Krustofsky;
Episode features
Chalkboard gag	"The world may end in 2012, but this show won't"
Couch gag	The couch is seen inside a human egg. Each family member is a sperm cell swimming towards and penetrating the egg to sit on the couch. The zygote then divides multiple times, forming a Mr. Burns embryo, whose first words are, "Ex-cellent!"
Episode chronology
← Previous; "Thursdays with Abie"	Next →; "Million Dollar Maybe"
	The Simpsons season 21
	List of episodes

"Once Upon a Time in Springfield" is the tenth episode of the twenty-first season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 10, 2010.^[2] It was promoted as the 450th episode of the series, but is actually the 451st, and aired alongside The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special – In 3-D! On Ice!. The episode is dedicated to posthumous guest star Eartha Kitt, who died December 25, 2008, over one year before the episode first aired.

In the episode, The Krusty the Clown Show is once again reconstructed. This time, in a bid to get girls to watch the show, a female character named Princess Penelope is hired as Krusty's latest sidekick. Meanwhile, a corporate recruiter persuades Homer, Lenny, and Carl to work for a nuclear plant in Capital City, after Mr. Burns announces a moratorium on free doughnuts. The episode was written by Stephanie Gillis and directed by Matthew Nastuk.

The episode has received positive reviews from critics, and in 2014, showrunner Al Jean selected it as one of five essential episodes in the show's history.^[3]

It received a Nielsen rating of 6.9/17 in the 18–49 demographic and in 2010 was nominated for two awards at the Primetime Emmy Awards, winning one for Anne Hathaway's voice-over performance.

^ Reg. # PAu003371153 in the U.S. Copyright Records database Archived April 19, 2010, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on February 12, 2009.
^ "Fox announces 2009–2010 midseason schedule". FoxFlash. November 24, 2009. Archived from the original on October 13, 2013. Retrieved November 24, 2009.
^ Ayers, Mike (August 20, 2014). "5 Things: Essential Simpsons Episodes". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on June 14, 2016. Retrieved July 31, 2023.

[1] Reg. # PAu003371153 in the U.S. Copyright Records database Archived April 19, 2010, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on February 12, 2009.

[Mid-2] "Fox announces 2009–2010 midseason schedule". FoxFlash. November 24, 2009. Archived from the original on October 13, 2013. Retrieved November 24, 2009.

[3] Ayers, Mike (August 20, 2014). "5 Things: Essential Simpsons Episodes". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on June 14, 2016. Retrieved July 31, 2023.

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