| "To Surveil with Love" | |
|---|---|
| The Simpsons episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 21 Episode 20 |
| Directed by | Lance Kramer |
| Written by | Michael Nobori |
| Production code | MABF12 |
| Original air date | May 2, 2010 |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
| Episode features | |
| Couch gag | The cast does a lip dub to Kesha's "Tik Tok." |
"To Surveil with Love" is the twentieth episode of the twenty-first season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It premiered on the Fox network in the United States on May 2, 2010, as the 461st episode of the whole series. In the episode, radiation seeps out of Homer's gym bag after a bomb squad blows it up and Springfield officials decide to suspend all civil liberties. Meanwhile, Lisa dyes her hair after being stereotyped for being blonde.[1][2]
The episode was written by Michael Nobori and directed by Lance Kramer and guest stars Eddie Izzard. It also featured a new sequence with Kesha's single "Tik Tok" as the theme song, replacing the whole opening sequence as part of "Fox Rocks Week" for which Fox shows were encouraged to incorporate music into programming. This is the first episode of The Simpsons where the title "The Simpsons" is not shown, and the first episode to use an alternate opening sequence since He Loves to Fly and He D'ohs. The episode was praised by critics for its storyline and satire of surveillance and conformity, while Lisa's subplot was criticized. The episode also received a 2.7/8 in the 18–49 Nielsen Rating demographic going down one-tenth from the previous episode "The Squirt and the Whale." The episode's title is a reference to the classic film To Sir, with Love (1967), starring Sidney Poitier.