- 2 years ago
The times when Springfield's favourite family had some snarky things to say.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Whilst its best years are certainly behind it, The Simpsons rose to be one of the most
00:03important television shows for many years due to the combination of great wit and emotional depth.
00:08It wasn't just a silly cartoon, it often handled the important subjects of the day.
00:13Typically, the Simpsons writing team has always been pretty even-handed with their approach.
00:17Using the subject to tell a story rather than pick a side,
00:19it was the duty of the residents of Springfield to represent the different shades of grey.
00:24That being said, sometimes the show feels pretty potently about things and it makes
00:28sure we know about it. I'm Sy for WhatCulture.com and these are 10
00:32Simpsons episodes probably made out of spite.
00:3510. Brother's Little Helper
00:38In this season 11 classic, Bart, ever the wild child, is placed onto an experimental drug
00:43called Focusin. It proves fruitful at first, but it isn't long before Bart starts wearing tinfoil
00:48and ranting about being spied on. The episode culminated in him swallowing a handful of
00:52tablets and riding a tank through Springfield streets. The episode was written by George Myers,
00:56who had found decent success writing part-time for the show, but was feeling burnt out at the
01:01time. Struggling psychologically, Myers turned his pain into a memorable episode
01:05that critiqued the rise in diagnosing children with attention deficit disorders.
01:09Myers hated the first draft of the episode and was so ashamed of it that he turned it
01:12in under a pseudonym. Producer Tim Long joked that the script was moist with contempt.
01:17Amongst the ongoing debate at the time, Myers had heard plenty of stories of children misdiagnosed
01:22and placed onto drugs such as Ritalin and the damage it caused their psyche when presumably
01:26they just needed better schooling. When it released on DVD, Myers admitted in the episode's
01:30commentary that, whilst he wasn't sure on his stance on the issue, he wrote Brother's Little
01:34Helper out of concern for children being prescribed behavioural drugs so readily.
01:399. There's Something About Marrying
01:41By 2005, The Simpsons was no stranger to talking about homosexuality, back in a time when it wasn't
01:47quite as normal as it is today. This episode certainly continued the show's trend of showing
01:51LGBT people in largely more positive lights. Around this time, the subject of same-sex
01:56marriage was a hot-button subject in America and the centre of a lot of debate as some states,
02:01such as Massachusetts, began to legalise the process. And so, as with many great talking
02:06points of the day, The Simpsons used Springfield to explore the issue.
02:09There's Something About Marrying sees Springfield legalising same-sex marriage to cynically increase
02:13its tourism income and, in the lead-up to the show, the network announced that a key character
02:18would come out as gay. Whilst not necessarily anyone's favourite, Patty was a long-standing
02:22part of the show's cast and a member of the Simpsons family. Her acceptance by others was
02:26a large part of the episode's story. Producer Al Jean said of There's Something About Marrying
02:31that we don't take a position as much as explore everybody's perspective. Whilst the episode
02:35tended to be apolitical, it was definitely giving the message that those that demonised
02:40homosexuality were of an outdated sort. 8. Itchy and Scratchy Land
02:45During seasons 5 and 6 of The Simpsons, the show was led under showrunner David Merkin,
02:49who immediately began to receive pushback from Fox. Specifically, the feedback was about the
02:54show within the show, Itchy and Scratchy. Fox were concerned with the animated ultra-violence
02:59and asked David Merkin to basically cut the two characters completely. In reaction, The Simpsons
03:04writers went the other way entirely and crafted a season 6 episode that takes the Simpsons family to
03:08Itchy and Scratchy Land. The story allowed them to write as much animated brutality as they liked.
03:13Fox said that if such an episode were produced then they would remove the Itchy and Scratchy
03:17parts themselves, although it's fair to say that wouldn't leave much of an episode. All the same,
03:21Merkin told his superiors that if that were the case then he would tell the media what they had
03:24done. Fox relented and the episode aired in 1997. Additionally, the episode serves as a parody of
03:30Disneyland by combining the seemingly perfect majesty of The Mouse's Wonderland with the
03:35various dangers of both Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park and Westworld books. In hindsight,
03:40there's some delicious irony to be had in that The Simpsons is now owned by Disney and continues
03:44to be censored to appease the worldwide Disney Plus audience. Number 7, The Fool Monty Slash
03:49How Munched Is That Birdie In The Window? This one is not so much an episode written out of
03:54spite but a reaction to one that impacted another. The episode Fool Monty tells the story of an
03:58amnesiac Mr Burns being taken in by the Simpsons. Then, for all the troubles he's caused, Burns is
04:04essentially used and abused until Lisa takes him home and his memory returns. Whilst the episode
04:08does poke fun at Vice President Dick Cheney in its side story, there was one particular moment
04:12that caught the ire of the Republican Party. At the start of the episode, a Fox News helicopter
04:17swings into frame, emblazoned with the phrase, not racist, but number one with racists. Conservative
04:22TV host Bill O'Reilly in particular was upset with the show, crying foul that the Fox network
04:27was letting its cartoon characters run wild and bite the hand that feeds. Happy to have stirred
04:32the pot, especially with such a vocal and well-known political figure, The Simpsons poked
04:36back. A helicopter was written into the following episode, How Munched Is That Birdie In The Window,
04:40which reads, Fox News, unsuitable for viewers under 75. Al Jean said of the reaction,
04:46we're happy to have a little feud with Bill O'Reilly, that's a very entertaining thing for us.
04:50Number 6, You Won't Believe What This Episode Is About, Act 3 Will Shock You.
04:54In March 2022, The Simpsons decided to take another swing at the rise of the so-called
04:59cancel culture movement. What was particularly interesting about this decision is that it came
05:03two and a half years after The Simpsons was embroiled in its biggest controversy surrounding
05:07the character of Apu. In the episode's plot, unfortunate accidents lead to Homer trapping
05:12Santa's little helper in a car and not picking up the kids. The town proceeds to label him as a pariah.
05:17Instead of reading a prepared apology, Homer essentially calls Springfield soft and accidentally
05:22pushes Reverend Lovejoy out of a window. The family gets doxxed and Homer loses his job,
05:26but he is eventually invited to the Institute, where those who have had their reputations ruined
05:30on the internet can find repentance. Clearly a critique on the public perception of The Simpsons
05:35during the era, the episode takes a shot at clickbait and society's tendency to believe
05:39a headline rather than read a story's context. It also toys with a current-day controversial figure
05:44by featuring Theo, a podcaster with a pretty clear inspiration in Joe Rogan, who wants to
05:49delete news of his misdeeds from the internet. Whilst the episode was decently well-received,
05:53it was kind of a case of The Simpsons already did it with the episode Homer Badman.
05:585. Homer Badman
06:00After spending their day at a candy convention, Homer loses track of his stolen and incredibly
06:05rare gummy based on the Venus de Milo statue. When he drops the kid's babysitter back home,
06:09he finds the gummy stuck to her behind and reaches out to take it. The babysitter
06:13misunderstands this act as sexual harassment and Homer becomes publicly disgraced.
06:18Homer Badman at large is a criticism of television's growing need to turn tragedy
06:22into entertainment, an issue which has only gotten bigger over time. In particular,
06:26the episode satirised Hard Copy, an over-the-top news show that ran from 1989 to 1999 in the US and
06:32was guilty of dramatising its stories. Hard Copy had a habit of not only presuming their targets
06:37as guilty, but also cutting footage to support their arguments and even camping outside of their
06:42houses. The show's parody version, Rock Bottom, does all of the above and also contains a memorable
06:47made-for-TV retelling of events starring actress Dennis Franz as Homer. Homer Badman also parodies
06:52the O.J. Simpson's chase footage, late show with David Letterman and television talk shows in general
06:57by giving the real-life bear Gentle Ben his own show. David Merkin would say in a DVD commentary
07:02that anyone could host a talk show because all they needed is a microphone and an audience.
07:074. Lisa vs Malibu Stacy In the early 90s, Mattel released a new
07:11Barbie doll called the Teen Talk Barbie, which would read 270 different phrases. They were the
07:17kind of thing you'd expect if you've seen this episode that parodies the doll. Low-hanging fruit
07:21of feminine tropes about how great shopping is and, most controversially, how hard math class is.
07:26Due to public reaction, Mattel said that future revisions of this doll would not say this
07:31particular phrase. Always reacting to the real world, the Simpsons use their already existing
07:35doll, Malibu Stacy, in exactly the same way. Giving her a voice that only said the most vapid
07:40thing shatters Lisa's illusions that she had of the character. This prompts her to make a stand
07:44and make her own talking doll that empowers women. Lastly, mocking the toy industry and Mattel,
07:49Bill Oakley, one of the writers for the episode, even based Lisa's story on some of his own
07:53experiences. He went to several Barbie collecting conventions and met superfans due to his wife's
07:58own interest in the toy line. Despite Lisa's issues with the doll being founded in logic,
08:02the fact that the less intelligent Malibu Stacy outsells hers is a Simpsons-style cynical look
08:07on how having fun often wins over the importance of making a statement.
08:113. Panic on the Streets of Springfield In Season 15, the Simpsons family travelled
08:17to the UK for the episode, The Regina Monologues, and encountered several British figures that made
08:22voice cameos. One of those approached, Stephen Patrick Morrissey, turned down the opportunity
08:26to be on the show. Over 15 years later, the Simpsons finally hit back at Morrissey's disinterest,
08:32not to mention his steadily more damaged public perception born from his controversial political
08:36stances. In Panic on the Streets of Springfield, Lisa is introduced to rock band The Snuffs,
08:41who act as a parody of both The Smiths and The Cure. Inspired by the liberal, vegan frontman
08:46Quillaby, Lisa begins to imagine his younger self to bring her solace. Eventually, this imaginary
08:51friend convinces Lisa to steal Homer's credit card to go see the real him perform. Lisa sees
08:56that in the current day, he has become an overweight, meat-eating, immigrant-hating
09:00washer. In a touching moment, imaginary Quillaby tells Lisa to remain true to her values before
09:05vanishing. Morrissey struck out against the caricature, bemoaning that in a world obsessed
09:09with hate laws, there are none that protect me, yet again missing the point. The Simpsons team
09:14said that Quillaby was actually inspired by several people, and that therefore he couldn't
09:18sue, but it's plain to see who exactly the episode is mocking.
09:222. Two Bad Neighbours Whilst The Simpsons had its fair share of
09:26controversies in its earlier years, very few public figures had a feud with the show quite
09:30like George H.W. Bush did. During his presidency, he famously said that he wished more families were
09:36more like the Waltons and less like The Simpsons. The show fired back in its own way the next week,
09:41with Bart saying that like the Waltons, we're also waiting for the end of the Depression.
09:45Two years later, in which time Bill Clinton had replaced Bush in office,
09:49writer Bill Oakley's idea to bring the feud to TV was put into production. Whilst many jokes
09:54would poke fun at his politics, the concept was not one that was meant to attack Bush's agenda,
09:58so much as satire his crotchetiness. With George and his wife Barbara moving to Springfield,
10:03Bush essentially took the role of Mr Wilson to Bart's Dennis the Menace. Bart and Homer act
10:08how Bush and his wife would expect them to, childishly pranking their uptight new neighbours.
10:12It was one of the first times that Simpsons got into the face of a politician to such a degree.
10:16Two Bad Neighbours was a great success, although George H.W. Bush never did make
10:20any statement about this parody of himself. 1. The Itchy and Scratchy and Poochy Show
10:27The 14th episode of season 8 of The Simpsons saw the show overtake the Flintstones episode
10:32count to become the longest-running animated series on television. It was a perfectly timed
10:36affair as, in the lead-up to the season, Fox had expressed some concerns about the show's
10:40shelf-life and longevity. A suggestion was pitched to add a new main character to the
10:45show to shake up the formula, an idea that the writers' room laughed off.
10:48Parodying Fox's real-life worries, The Itchy and Scratchy and Poochy Show
10:52sees the popularity of Bart and Lisa's favourite cat-and-mouse duo waning. Much
10:57like Fox had suggested to the Simpsons writers, the fictional heads behind Itchy and Scratchy
11:01proposed the idea of adding a new character to freshen things up. Naturally, Poochy's
11:05over-the-top persona and position as the shiny new thing is poorly received, and kids just want
11:10the thing they loved back. The episode morphed Fox's request into one of the show's best
11:15outings. Many jokes from it are still remembered fondly today, taking aim at the fickleness and
11:20sometimes obsessive nature of television viewers. And hey, Fox can't say the writers didn't do
11:24as they asked. The episode also features an unexplained older son of the Simpsons family,
11:29Roy, played totally straight for extra laughs as the main story unfolds around them.
11:34And that's the list. Let us know what you thought of this video down in the comments below,
11:38and let us know of any other Simpsons episodes you can think of that were either made to rile
11:42someone up or made in a reaction to something out of spite. Make sure you like this video,
11:46subscribe, hit the notification bell and share it with your friends.
11:50I've been Si for WhatCulture, and have a good week.
Be the first to comment