Release and Reception
In its original American broadcast on February 4, 2001, "Worst Episode Ever" received a 9.8 rating, according to Nielsen Media Research, translating to approximately 10 million viewers. The episode finished in 27th place in the ratings for the week of January 29-February 4, 2001. Later that year, Azaria won the 53rd Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for his role as Comic Book Guy in the episode. When participating in the ceremony, the actors are only allowed to submit one episode each, and that year, Azaria stated that "Worst Episode Ever" was an "obvious" choice for him. It was not the first time Azaria won the award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance; in 1998, he won it because of his portrayal of Apu Nahasapeemapetilon in the series. On August 18, 2009, the episode was released as part of a DVD set called The Simpsons: The Complete Twelfth Season. Mike Scully, Al Jean, Tom Gammill, Max Pross, Matt Selman, Hank Azaria, Larry Doyle and Chris Kirkpatrick participated in the audio commentary for the episode.
Following its broadcast, "Worst Episode Ever" received mostly positive reviews from critics. Casey Burchby of DVD Talk enjoyed the episode and wrote that it has some "great stuff" in it, including the comic book "Biclops" that Milhouse over-orders. Jason Bailey, another reviewer for DVD talk, applauded the writers for making an episode around a supporting character, and wrote that it is "far from ". Cindy White of IGN described the episode as a "classic", and in 2006, Kimberley Potts of AOL put the episode in twelfth place in a list of the series' 20 best episodes. The episode was also well received by the series' staff; in the introduction of The Simpsons Beyond Forever!: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family ...Still Continued, Matt Groening wrote that he particularly enjoyed the episode and that it had a "very special story". In the DVD commentary for the episode, Doyle said that Milhouse's line "I'm a human boy, just like you" is the best line he has ever written. On the other hand, Mac MacEntire of DVD Verdict gave the episode a mixed review. Although he praised the episode's premise, he argued that the episode was "ill-balanced" and that the subplot took up too much time in the episode. DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson criticized the writers for making an episode based around a supporting character, and argued that Comic Book Guy was not featured enough in the episode. "'Ever' spends at least as much time with Bart and Milhouse as it does with CBG and Agnes", he wrote. He concluded that, aside from having a few "good moments", the episode is overall "pretty meh".
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