10 Shameless Attempts By TV Shows To Boost Their Ratings

Pretending to kill off beloved characters isn't the only way an animated show can attempt to boost its ratings. It can also pretend to split them up, too! Indeed, in 2015 The Simpsons came under heavy criticism for promoting the fact that the season twenty-seven opener Every Man's Dream was to see Homer and Marge split up once and for all.

The episode sees Homer diagnosed with narcolepsy, after which he and Marge attend marriage counselling and go on a trial separation. Except...most of the episode's events don't even happen, and are in fact nothing more than a dream (yeah...seriously).

It'd be easy enough to put the whole thing down to it being a product of "modern Simpsons", but controversy was intentionally drummed up before the premiere by exectuive producer Al Jean, who claimed the two were set to legally separate.

In the end the stunt barely even worked, as the episode was one of the least watched of the season, significantly eclipsed by episode two which pulled in nearly double as many viewers.

Can you think of any other TV episodes that were just ratings grabs? Let us know down in the comments.