Stark Raving Dad - Reception

Reception

In its original airing on the Fox network, "Stark Raving Dad" acquired a 13.9 Nielsen rating and 23 percent share of the audience. It was viewed in approximately 12.8 million homes, finishing the week ranked 33rd. The episode finished second in its time slot behind the season premiere of The Cosby Show, which ranked eighth for the week with an 19.7 rating and 31 percent share. The Simpsons was the second highest rated show on Fox the week it aired, behind Married... with Children.

"Stark Raving Dad," the season three opener of The Simpsons, is a hilarious and heartwarming half-hour. It reminds me of the show's best days when it delivered that perfect blend of bizarre humor, social commentary and unexpected sweetness.

The episode has been generally well received, being praised by many critics for its writing. In a 2009 review for Slate, Josh Levin wrote that "The greatness of 'Stark Raving Dad' has a lot more to do with The Simpsons' writing staff than with Jackson's voice-over talents. The show's scripters came up with a plot device far more ingenious than simply dropping the singer into Springfield." Monica Collins of the Boston Herald also enjoyed the episode. On the day it first aired, she wrote that "This episode is vintage Simpsons, crammed with divinely vulgar visual oddities. And Michael Jackson, of course, is just so weird anyway that he fits right in." Mark Lorando of The Times-Picayune commented that "throwaway lines on The Simpsons are funnier than the big punchlines on most so-called comedy series; has layers of humor, satirical touches that enrich the story lines," singling out jokes like the America's Funniest Home Video parody. "The laughs are literally non-stop, and Jackson's unmistakable vocal presence adds a thousand watts of star power." In 2011, Television Blend's Eric Eisenberg named "Stark Raving Dad" the best episode of the entire series. He praised it for being heartful and stated that what "prevents the episode from seeming artificial or manipulative is that the writing in the episode earns the earnest moments", and further elaborates that while "strong emotions might be the hallmark of 'Stark Raving Dad,' it would be a sincere mistake to ignore how funny it is." He concluded that the episode "is perfectly constructed, is filled with both deep belly laughs and tears, and is simply the greatest episode of The Simpsons"

In a DVD audio commentary, writer Mike Reiss said he felt that Michael Jackson is "not a terrific actor but he did fine. He was really nice, he was a great sport." In 2006, Jackson was named the fifth-best Simpsons guest star by IGN. Tom Ganjamie of Best Week Ever called Jackson's guest appearance the "cleverest ever on The Simpsons". Writing for IGN, Robert Canning said in a 2009 review that "Stark Raving Dad" is a "solid, funny and touching episode" and described Jackson's performance as "heartfelt yet self-parodying". In a 2011 article, Andrew Martin of Prefix Mag named Michael Jackson his second favorite musical guest on The Simpsons out of a list of ten.

In 2003, DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson commented that the episode was a good start to season three, but it "gets sappy on more than a few occasions, and it lacks the acerbic bite of the series' best shows. Nonetheless, it tosses out some good laughs, and the guest appearance by Jackson—under a pseudonym—works well; Michael shows an ability to mock himself that still surprises me." In a 2004 review for Digitally Obsessed, Nate Meyers wrote that "there are many funny gags in this episode, especially in the first act when Homer gets a tour of the hospital. Some clever references are made to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, but the second half of the episode is not especially funny. The jokes seem forced and there is too much of an effort to sentimentalize the relationship between Bart and Lisa, causing the show to lose its narrative drive." In 2007, Ben Rayner of the Toronto Star listed "Stark Raving Dad" as one of the three worst episodes of The Simpsons.

In a 2009 article for TV Squad, Mike Moody said the episode's "sweetest moment" is at the end when Kompowsky and Bart perform the birthday song for Lisa. Likewise, writer Al Jean listed that scene as one of his five favorite moments from The Simpsons in 2003. The reaction to the song "Happy Birthday Lisa" was mixed. Ben Rayner called it a "crap tune", and Chris Selley of Maclean's magazine wrote that "Stark Raving Dad" is "an unbearably sappy episode, and that birthday song for Lisa is just... bad." Dave Walker of The Times-Picayune, however, listed the episode as one of Jackson's "many memorable TV moments" and called the song "unforgettable".