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 for 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.