The Simpsons Corrects A Big "Mistake" in Season 36 Premiere

The Simpsons showrunner says it was a "mistake" to suggest Homer wouldn't choke Bart anymore

By Nick Valdez

The Simpsons really took off with fans and gained a lot of notoriety last season with a joke that seemed to tease that Homer wouldn't be choking his son Bart anymore, and the showrunner behind the series revealed it was a "mistake" to have suggested this following the gag's return in Season 36's premiere. The Simpsons has officially kicked off Season 36 of the long running animated series, and lapsed viewers were drawn to the premiere as it was surprisingly revealed to be the "series finale." Pitching all kinds of endings for Springfield's citizens, the episode ended with Bart and Homer resetting the status quo. 

The Simpsons Season 36 premiere, "Bart's Birthday," saw an artificial intelligence compiling all the episodes of the animated sitcom, and all of the famous series finales in TV history, to come up with a proper "series finale" for the series. Bart starts to break out of this fearing change, and what ultimately saves the show is Bart angering Homer to the point where Homer strangles Bart on screen for the first time in years. Speaking with TMZ about the returning classic gag, The Simpsons showrunner Matt Selman explained that the whole thing has been a "mistake." 

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(Photo:

Homer chokes Bart in The Simpsons Season 36 premiere

- 20th Television Animation)

The Simpsons' Biggest Mistake 

Selman told TMZ that the suggestion that Homer choking Bart would go away was a "mistake," and that he regretted that the line doing so, "felt more like an announcement" and that "it was just a joke" that "people took it in the wrong direction." Selman reiterated on the fact that The Simpsons doesn't condone child abuse just like many years before, and stressed that this joke is built into the "the DNA of the series." In fact, it's still very much on the table for future episodes when it can be "funny or impactful." This all stems from a line that Homer had in Season 35. 

In the Season 35 episode, "McMansion & Wife," Homer shakes someone's hand and they compliment his strong grip. Homer then quips to Marge that all that time choking Bart has paid off before stating, "Just kidding. I don't do that anymore. Times have changed." It was a small line in the episode that not many fans had caught (because not many fans pay attention to the series' modern episodes), but started to really catch fire with fans online as Homer choking Bart is one of the many classic gags from the earlier seasons. 

Why Homer Will Still Choke Bart in The Simpsons

Although Homer hasn't physically choked Bart on screen for several years before that joke in Season 35, it seems that now the team behind The Simpsons brought this classic gag back to bring the series full circle. It was used as the meta-fictional way for Bart to break out of its "series finale," and a way for the team behind the series to ease fans' worries about the joke maybe not being suitable for the series anymore. It's something the creative team has commented on before, and now it's built into the series itself. 

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But while the showrunner feels as if this was a "mistake," The Simpsons got a notable level of conversation out of it that it really would not have otherwise. Because of this moment, more fans than ever have started to see how the latest few seasons in particular have been experimenting with the classic series formula to offer notable new experiences. It's come to a climax with the Season 36's series finale fake out, and is a good sign for the future that there will be more experiments as the season continues. 

HT – TMZ

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