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It seems the Simpsons producers are having a little fun with the media faux-hoopla created this week by the “news” that the show will be doing away with one of its long-recurring gags — Homer strangling Bart.
Now the creative voices behind the first family of primetime animation are firing back the way they do best — with the power of the pen. Simpsons producers created a drawing and shared it with Hollywood trade magazine Variety that pokes fun at the controversy. In the black and white drawing, Homer is seen strangling Bart for falling prey to an online story on his phone about the Simpsons no longer strangling, and Homer chastises his son with a twist on his familiar refrain: “Why you little clickbaiting-!!”
The executive producers also included a one line caption to the picture, which read “Homer Simpson was unavailable for comment as he was busy strangling Bart.”
The implication seems to be that this development isn't really news. What's unclear is whether the Simpsons is chastising media outlets for making much ado about nothing for the sake of clicks, or whether the producers simply feel that this isn't news because the change in direction has already been clear for a while.
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Indeed, Homer strangling Bart hasn't been seen on the show since nearly four years ago in Season 31, but a reference to the action on a recent episode reignited the issue. In episode 3 of the currently airing Season 35, Homer commented on his handshake being so firm thanks to all his years of strangling Bart. He then made clear that he was joking, and added, “I don’t do that anymore. Times have changed.”
Social media users posted the clip, which quickly went viral, and the piece was reported on as if it was an official press release from Fox that definitively announced the change.
Perhaps with this latest drawing response, producers of The Simpsons are just trying to get us all to take the whole thing a little less seriously, as would be in keeping with their general attitude toward most hot-button issues the show has touched upon in its 35 years and counting. That's occasionally difficult however, with the show's prescient tendency to predict real-world events with alarming accuracy.
