The Simpsons Co-Creator Confirms Homer Will Still Strangle Bart
The Simpsons' James L. Brooks confirms Homer will continue to strangle Bart in future episodes.
The Simpsons recently caught fire with fans for seemingly writing off the long running joke of Homer strangling his son Bart, and one of the co-creators behind it all has confirmed that this will not be the case as Homer will continue to strangle his son in the future! The Simpsons is currently working its way through its milestone 35th season, and the third episode had a joke in which Homer says he does not strangle his son any more because "times have changed." This joke then caught on with fans a few weeks later, and even got the attention of those behind the show itself.
It became such a big story that the team behind The Simpsons even went on to respond to the idea that Homer would not be strangling Bart with a new sketch of Homer doing just that (and calling the stories themselves clickbait), and series co-creator James L. Brooks recently expanded on this with People and explained that "Don't think for a second we're changing anything" as "Nothing's getting tamed" as the joke will continue.
Will Homer Strangle Bart on The Simpsons?
"Don't think for a second we're changing anything," The Simpsons co-creator James L. Brooks told People when asked about the recently viral argument among fans. "Nothing's getting tamed. Nothing, nothing, nothing," Brooks continued. "He'll continue to be strangled—[if] you want to use that awful term for it. He'll continue to be loved by his father in a specific way." And while it's been a while since Homer has actually choked Bart on screen, the gag itself has been seen sporadically in the last few years.
Hilariously, the same week that fans were noting that Homer was no longer going to strangle Bart, The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror XXXIV Halloween special actually had a joke in which a Homer had actually strangled another character. It was when both Kirk and Milhouse Van Houten had been turned into Homer clones, and Kirk choked Milhouse as a way to show how they've both become Homer. So while fans seemed to be angry the joke might not be around, the latest episode actually featured it prominently.
How do you feel about The Simpsons keeping this long running gag? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animation and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!