The Ned-Liest Catch

"The Ned-Liest Catch"
The Simpsons episode
The promotional image for this episode
Episode no.	486
Prod. code	NABF15
Orig. airdate	May 22, 2011 (US) November 6, 2011 (UK)
Show runner(s)	Al Jean
Written by	Jeff Westbrook
Directed by	Chuck Sheetz
Guest star(s)	Joey Kramer as himself Ken Burns as himself
Season 22 September 26, 2010 – May 22, 2011 "Elementary School Musical" "Loan-a Lisa" "MoneyBART" "Treehouse of Horror XXI" "Lisa Simpson, This Isn't Your Life" "The Fool Monty" "How Munched is That Birdie in the Window?" "The Fight Before Christmas" "Donnie Fatso" "Moms I'd Like to Forget" "Flaming Moe" "Homer the Father" "The Blue and the Gray" "Angry Dad: The Movie" "The Scorpion's Tale" "A Midsummer's Nice Dream" "Love Is a Many Strangled Thing" "The Great Simpsina" "The Real Housewives of Fat Tony" "Homer Scissorhands" "500 Keys" "The Ned-Liest Catch" List of all The Simpsons episodes
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"The Ned-Liest Catch" is the twenty-second episode and season finale of the twenty-second season of The Simpsons. It aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 22, 2011. This is the second season finale to end on a cliffhanger, with the first being "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" from the sixth season. It is the third episode and the second one from Season 22 (The other being the The Great Simpsina) to have no opening credits, blackboard or couch gag. The first one was "Sideshow Bob Roberts" from The Simpsons sixth season which aired seventeen years earlier.

Plot

Bart gets Mrs. Krabappel suspended after he pulls a prank that leads her to slap him in the face. Superintendent Chalmers tells Krabappel she is suspended with full pay, but will have to report to a rubber room where teachers spend agonizing days waiting until their fates are decided. Bart feels guilty about his behavior and helps Krabappel escape detention. When she uses a ladder outside the window to leave the building, it collapses but Ned Flanders winds up catching and saving her.

Ned and Krabappel start dating, and Krabappel is on top of the world when she learns she can return to teaching as long as she also does some weekend work as a prison guard. Fed up with Homer and Bart's attitudes towards Krabappel and Ned's romance, Marge shames Homer into putting in some good words about Krabappel with Ned. However, Homer then makes a reference to Krabappel's extensive dating history, and Ned is surprised that she has been with many of Springfield's men, including Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer. Ned runs away in horror from Krabappel, and Homer has to endure Ned's silent treatment until he makes some points that make Ned think. Ned then tells Krabappel he forgives her past, but Krabappel angrily tells him off by saying she is not sorry about her past and does not want or need his approval, she only wants to date him again. She then tells him that, if they are going to stay together, her past must never get in their way. Ned sighs and says "I guess this is gonna have to be decided... by a higher power." As soon as he says this, the image of him and Krabappel freezes and zooms out and Homer and Marge walk on screen.

The end of the episode and the season ends with a cliffhanger with Homer and Marge giving a link to TheSimpsons.com and encourage viewers to vote on whether Ned and Krabappel should stay together. The results were revealed during the first episode of the 23rd season,^[1] making this the second cliffhanger episode of The Simpsons, the first being "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" sixteen years earlier.

An alternate version of the credits aired during the September 19 airing of the episode, with Marge saying that the contest was over and that the fans would have to wait until the premiere of Season 23 (just as she did in the original version) to see if they remained together. Homer insults the show's viewers, saying something along the lines of "They're the kind of people we don't need." Marge corrects him, saying there is plenty for the fans to check out on TheSimpsons.com. Marge and Homer then say goodbye to the viewers, ending the episode.

Production

On The Simpsons, when characters become couples, they usually break up at the end of the episodes. Executive producer Al Jean said in an interview that the writers decided it would not be interesting for them to do another episode where a relationship ended, and they thought it would be interesting "to see what people think, [...] the Internet certainly has a lot of opinion on the show, might as well have them have their say."^[2] When asked why the writers thought Ned and Edna were the right characters for a cliffhanger like this, Jean said that "In life, unusual things happen. People couple together in ways you would not expect, and he's single and she's single. We thought it would be funny, the fact that they both have these connections to the Simpsons but they never really met or if they have met it was minimal."^[2]

Reception

In its original American broadcast, "The Ned-Liest Catch" was viewed by an estimated 5.25 million households and received a 2.5 rating/7% share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49.^[3] This means that it was seen by 2.5% of all 18–49 years olds, and 7% of all 18–49 year olds watching television at the time of the broadcast. The episode stayed even with the ratings from the previous episode, "500 Keys".^[3][4]

References

1. ^ "‘Simpsons’ Fans Play Cupid For New Springfield Couple ‘Nedna’". accesshollywood.com. NBC Universal, Inc.. May 20, 2011. http://www.accesshollywood.com/simpsons-fans-play-cupid-for-new-springfield-couple-nedna_article_48292. Retrieved June 1, 2011. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Fienberg, Daniel. "Watch: Al Jean talks Season 23 of 'The Simpsons'". HitFix. http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/the-fien-print/posts/watch-al-jean-talks-season-23-of-the-simpsons. Retrieved 2011-09-27. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Gorman, Bill (2011-05-24). "Sunday Final Ratings: ‘Billboard Music Awards,’ ‘Celebrity Apprentice,’ ‘Funniest Videos,’ ‘Family Guy,’ ‘American Dad,’ ’60 Minutes’ Adjusted Up - Ratings | TVbytheNumbers". TV by the Numbers. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2011/05/24/sunday-final-ratings-billboard-music-awards-celebrity-apprentice-funniest-videos-family-guy-american-dad-60-minutes-adjusted-up/93754/. Retrieved 2011-06-05. 
4. ^ Seidman, Robert (2011-05-13). "TV Ratings Sunday: ‘Survivor’ Finale Trumps ‘Desperate Housewives’ Finale, Trump and Everything Else - Ratings | TVbytheNumbers". Tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2011/05/16/tv-ratings-sunday-survivor-finale-trumps-desperate-housewives-finale-trump-and-everything-else/92678/. Retrieved 2011-05-17.