The episode originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 30, 2000. It was viewed in approximately 7.46 million households that night. With a Nielsen rating of 7.4, the episode finished 46th in the ratings for the week of April 24–30, 2000. It was the third highest-rated broadcast on Fox that week, following an episode of "Malcolm in the Middle" (which received an 8.2 rating) and an episode of "The X-Files" (which received a 7.7 rating). On October 7, 2008, "Kill the Alligator and Run" was released on DVD as part of the box set "The Simpsons – The Complete Eleventh Season". Staff members Mike Scully, Ian Maxtone-Graham, George Meyer, Matt Selman, Julie Thacker, and Steven Dean Moore, as well as cast member Dan Castellaneta and guest star Diedrich Bader, participated in the DVD audio commentary for the episode. Deleted scenes from the episode were also included in the box set.