The Call of the Simpsons episode, along with his four other appearances on "The Simpsons", the best guest appearance in the show's history. "The Call of the Simpsons" received mixed reviews from critics. Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, the authors of the book "I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide", both criticized and praised the episode saying: "This episode is a bit less than the sum of its parts. The early stuff at the RV Round-Up is much better than the main camping story, although there's some nice Marge-Lisa bonding, and who could resist Maggie and the bears?" In a
The War of Art (The Simpsons) Simpsons" usually pour on the jokes. This particular episode, while still crammed with bits, is more like A Night At The Opera than Monkey Business. They use less actual larfs, bits for an overall finer quality of comedy." Teresa Lopez of "TV Fanatic" gave the episode two out of five stars, saying "Although "The Simpsons" Season 25 Episode 15 was a clearly focused and insightful look at the ways money can ruin relationships, it lacked the necessary humor to balance out the heavy-handed lessons." The episode received a 1.9 rating and was watched by a total of 3.98 million people,