The Simpsons has been on TV since December 17, 1989. That’s right. Taylor Swift is four days older than The Simpsons. Absolutely wild. A lot of things have changed over the last 34 years, and many of the jokes that were laughed at and accepted years ago are thankfully no longer okay or tolerated by society today. One of the longest-running gags on The Simpsons is dad Homer strangling his oldest son, Bart. Even if you’ve never seen an episode, you probably still know this pop culture reference because images of Homer strangling Bart have become memes and gifs to indicate frustration. Well, in the name of keeping up with the times, the showrunners of The Simpsons have decided they’re officially retiring that running joke.
In a recent episode titled “McMansion & Wife,” which aired on Oct. 22, Homer Simpson (Dan Castellaneta) met with his new neighbor Thayer (Hank Azaria), who noted that Homer had “quite a grip” as they shook hands.
“See, Marge, strangling the boy has paid off,” Homer quipped to his wife. “Just kidding. I don’t do that anymore.”
Homer then added with a smile, “Times have changed!”
Homer’s strangulation of his oldest child Bart (voiced by Nancy Cartwright) has been deployed for laughs since the show’s debut in 1989. (Homer has also been strangled himself — by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who played himself in a cameo during the season 22 episode “Love Is a Many Strangled Thing.”)
And although Homer only recently declared he wouldn’t throttle his 10-year-old toon son, the TV dad hasn’t actually done so in several years. According to IGN, Homer last strangled Bart on screen during the show’s 31st season, which aired from 2019 to 2020.
The Simpsons has had to reexamine some of its more problematic characterizations in recent years, most notably when its the Indian-American character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon (also formerly voiced by Azaria) drew criticism for its portrayal of negative stereotypes, even sparking the 2017 documentary The Problem with Apu.
Azaria, 59, later stepped down from the role in January 2020, noting that it was “the right thing” to do. The part has yet to be recast, with Apu only making background appearances in the years that followed.
“I really didn’t know any better,” Azaria said on the Armchair Expert podcast in April 2021, according The Guardian. “I didn’t think about it. I was unaware how much relative advantage I had received in this country as a white kid from Queens. Just because there were good intentions it doesn’t mean there weren’t real negative consequences to the thing that I am accountable for.”
It was also announced in February 2021 that the long-running character Dr. Hibbert, who is Black, would be recast with Kevin Michael Richardson after decades of being voiced by Harry Shearer, who is White.
I’m glad that after all these years, they finally got there and acknowledged that even as a joke, depicting abuse is never funny. Was it tacky to announce it while still making a joke out of it or does that just give it closure? It took them too long to correct the problematic casting, though. That seems to be an issue that Hollywood is still having lingering trouble with. I’m giving a hard side-eye to the fact that they never recast Apu. I think the “I didn’t know better” excuse can be cringey, but I also try to allow space for genuine growth and progress because we’re all works in progress. Do better now.
But yes, times have changed. It can be tough to watch shows and movies from even a decade ago and not cringe from at least one problematic joke or storyline. I’ve really enjoyed some of the new entertainment geared towards Gen Z, which are more diverse and body positive. I love that they demand better and we’re starting to see that reflect in new TV shows, books, and movies being made now.
I just found out that, after over 30 years, The Simpsons has finally retired their long-running gag of Homer strangling Bart.
Took them long enough lmao pic.twitter.com/JuHyNu1eiK
— Simon A. (Baby Lamb Creations) (@BabyLamb5) November 2, 2023
Images are screenshots from Youtube
The Simpsons seasons 3-9 take up about 90 percent of my brain in trivia and references (1 and 2 were good but not as quotable, lol) so nobody can say I’m not a fan but they just need to end it already!!! I mark the official end, for me, as the episode where they go to Japan – and that was like 23 years ago! NO they are not still good, I will die on this hill 😅 and poor Julie Kavner’s voice as Marge is about to disintegrate!!
I agree, the early Simpsons were the best (after the first couple of seasons). I have a Simpsons quote for every occasion, but at a certain point, it dropped off for me. & yeah, some aspects have always been weird and awkward. they did pretty well for the time, but the bar was not high considering what else was on tv back then.
I saw an interview of Julie Kavner and she was saying that the main thing about voicing Marge is that she is just so, so tired, and you can really hear it.
Nancy Cartwright is a scientologist stooge, and actually used the Bart voice in an ad for scientology! somehow she got away with it.
they’re never going to stop as long as it’s still printing money.
the upshot of all of this is that I don’t need new Simpsons content in my life. I will sit here on my flat rock under a heat lamp and watch my DVDs of the best seasons. if I want more Harry Shearer there’s always Spinal Tap.
I am an avid Simpsons-lover. I put at least one episode from the early seasons on every night, and can even tolerate as late as the high-teens/early-20s season episodes. But the new voicework is just entirely too distracting. Listening to Julie Kavner almost physically hurts my throat, she sounds so ragged (and so different to Marge as we know her).
To speculate about the comment below; maybe they haven’t re-cast Apu simply because they know the character is so stereotyped that they can’t possibly find an Indian-American actor to stoop to voicing him. Best to relegate him to the background, I guess?
Anyway, I never even realize new seasons are airing until I see them on a streaming platform. I try to give them a chance and feel the same way every time; there are just no funny jokes any more! I get my fix watching old episodes and perusing the Simpsons subreddit.
Yes! Thank you! Seasons 2-9 are t.v. gold, everything after that is dead to me.
Visible bruising is only present on around 10% of the neck injuries secondary to strangulation. ER should be ordering imaging on all reported strangulations.
Unfortunately, not all ER or police staff are aware of this, and patients should insist.
I was watching that episode and I thought,” You know now that they mention it, I haven’t seen Bart get strangled in a long time.” I probably would have noticed eventually but it’s cool that they came out and acknowledged it without any prompting.
I love to tune into a new Simpson’s episode every now and then. I watch the first couple of seasons religiously, but times (and time slots and syndicated repeats on practically every cable channel) have changed.
I STILL love the pilot episode where they buy the broken down RV.