Reception
The episode was well received by television critics. Robert Canning of IGN said: "as entertaining as the story was, it would not have made a difference if it weren't just as equally funny. I laughed throughout the retelling of the legend of St. Theresa, which included pirate nuns and a fake war for independence. Mr. Burns referring to Smithers as his albino was another hilarious bit. Overall, it was the combination of a fully engaging story and great laughs that made "Gone, Maggie, Gone" another winner for The Simpsons in their post-hi-def series run." Steve Heisler of The A.V. Club said: "It's been a long time since the show has done something fresh, and I think this is about as good as it's gonna get for a while—even if the episode took a while to get going." TV Verdict's Erich Asperschlager said: "Part Da Vinci Code, part National Treasure, and part Professor Layton, "Gone Maggie Gone" shakes up the Simpsons formula in a fun way by introducing one of those American-history-conspiracy-theory-cult-mysteries that are so popular with the kids, as well as those brain-bending-word-and-logic-puzzles that aren’t. "Gone Maggie Gone" is one of the best so far this season."
The episode was nominated for Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour) and Outstanding Music Composition for a Series. It lost both awards, to the South Park episode "Margaritaville" and Legend of the Seeker, respectively. It is currently nominated for the Annie Award for "Best Writing in an Animated Television Production." Billy Kimball and Ian Maxtone-Graham have been nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award in the Animation category in 2010 for writing the episode. The Simpsons was the only show to be nominated in the category, with the other nominated episodes being "The Burns and the Bees", "Eeny Teeny Maya, Moe", "Take My Life, Please" and "Wedding for Disaster" (the winner).
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