Tennis the Menace

"**Tennis the Menace**"
"Tennis the Menace"
The Simpsons episode
Episode no.	Season 12; Episode 12
Directed by	Jen Kamerman
Written by	Ian Maxtone-Graham
Production code	CABF07
Original air date	February 11, 2001
Guest appearances
	Andre Agassi as himself; Pete Sampras as himself; Venus and Serena Williams as themselves
Episode features
Chalkboard gag	"I will not publish the principal's credit report"
Couch gag	The living-room floor is frozen over. The Simpsons ice skate to the couch. When Homer sits down, his side of the couch falls through the ice.
Commentary	Mike Scully; Al Jean; Ian Maxtone-Graham; Matt Selman; John Frink; Don Payne; Max Pross; Phil Rosenthal
Episode chronology
← Previous; "Worst Episode Ever"	Next →; "Day of the Jackanapes"
	The Simpsons season 12
	List of episodes

"Tennis the Menace" is the twelfth episode of the twelfth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 11, 2001. In the episode, the Simpsons build a tennis court in their backyard and are ridiculed by the entire town because of Homer's inferior tennis ability. Homer therefore tries to please Marge by entering the two into a tournament, but they quickly turn into rivals when Marge replaces Homer with Bart as her partner.

The episode features guest appearances from tennis professionals Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, and the Williams sisters as themselves. "Tennis the Menace" was directed by Jen Kamerman and written by Ian Maxtone-Graham, who also directed the Williams sisters' performance. The episodes title is a parody of Dennis the Menace. The animators of The Simpsons experimented with digital ink and paint on "Tennis the Menace", making it the first episode of the series to be animated using the process since season 7's "Radioactive Man".

"Tennis the Menace" has received generally positive reviews from critics with particular praise for its guest stars.

Around eight million American homes tuned in to watch "Tennis the Menace" during its original airing, and in 2009 it was released on DVD along with the rest of the episodes of the twelfth season.