Release
The episode originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 12, 2003. It was viewed in approximately 7.6 million households that night. With a Nielsen rating of 7.1, the episode finished 39th in the ratings for the week of January 6–12, 2003 (tied with new episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and 48 Hours). It was the third highest-rated broadcast on Fox that week, following a National Football League playoffs game and an episode of Joe Millionaire. On December 6, 2011, "The Dad Who Knew Too Little" was released on Blu-ray and DVD as part of the box set The Simpsons – The Complete Fourteenth Season. Staff members Jean, Selman, Kirkland, Ian Maxtone-Graham, Carolyn Omine, Matt Warburton, and David Silverman, as well as cast member Yeardley Smith and former Simpsons guest star "Weird Al" Yankovic, participated in the audio commentary for the episode.
In February 2004, "The Dad Who Knew Too Little" won a Writers Guild of America Award in the "Animation" category for its script. Other nominations in that category included the Simpsons episodes "Moe Baby Blues" and "My Mother the Carjacker", both from 2003, and episodes of Futurama, King of the Hill, and The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius. "The Dad Who Knew Too Little" received a negative review from critic Colin Jacobson of DVD Movie Guide. He wrote: "How many times will the series go to the 'Homer neglects Lisa and gets in trouble' well? Many, and the result is usually the same: mediocrity and sentimentality. 'Little' proves to be no less predictable than its brethren, though the private detective angle adds some mirth. Still, it’s an unexceptional episode that feels like one we’ve already seen many times."
Read more about this topic: The Dad Who Knew Too Little
Famous quotes containing the word release:
“If I were to be taken hostage, I would not plead for release nor would I want my government to be blackmailed. I think certain government officials, industrialists and celebrated persons should make it clear they are prepared to be sacrificed if taken hostage. If that were done, what gain would there be for terrorists in taking hostages?”
—Margaret Mead (1901–1978)
“The near touch of death may be a release into life; if only it will break the egoistic will, and release that other flow.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“We read poetry because the poets, like ourselves, have been haunted by the inescapable tyranny of time and death; have suffered the pain of loss, and the more wearing, continuous pain of frustration and failure; and have had moods of unlooked-for release and peace. They have known and watched in themselves and others.”
—Elizabeth Drew (1887–1965)