- 6 weeks ago
The times when Springfield's favourite family had some snarky things to say.
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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
00:08depth. It 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. It was the duty of the
00:20residents of Springfield to represent the different shades of grey. That being said,
00:25sometimes the show feels pretty potently about things and it makes sure we know about it.
00:29I'm SciForWhatCulture.com and these are 10 Simpsons episodes probably made out of spite.
00:3510. Brother's Little Helper
00:37In this season 11 classic, Bart, ever the wild child, is placed onto an experimental drug called
00:43Focusing. It proves fruitful at first, but it isn't long before Bart starts wearing tinfoil and ranting
00:48about being spied on. The episode culminated in him swallowing a handful of tablets and riding a
00:53tank through Springfield streets. The episode was written by George Myers, who had found decent
00:57success writing part-time for the show, but was feeling burnt out at the time. Struggling
01:02psychologically, Myers turned his pain into a memorable episode that critiqued the rise in
01:06diagnosing children with attention deficit disorders. Myers hated the first draft of the episode and was
01:11so ashamed of it that he turned it in under a pseudonym. Producer Tim Long joked that the script
01:15was moist with contempt. Amongst the ongoing debate at the time, Myers had heard plenty of stories of
01:20children misdiagnosed and placed onto drugs such as Ritalin and the damage it caused their psyche,
01:25when presumably they just needed better schooling. When it released on DVD, Myers admitted in the
01:30episode's commentary that, whilst he wasn't sure on his stance on the issue, he wrote Brother's
01:34Little Helper out of concern for children being prescribed behavioural drugs so readily.
01:39Number 9. There's something about marrying. By 2005, The Simpsons was no stranger to talking
01:44about homosexuality, back in a time when it wasn't quite as normal as it is today. This episode
01:49certainly continued the show's trend of showing LGBT people in largely more positive lights.
01:54Around this time, the subject of same-sex marriage was a hot-button subject in America
01:59and the centre of a lot of debate as some states, such as Massachusetts, began to legalise the
02:04process. And so, as with many great talking points of the day, The Simpsons used Springfield to explore
02:08the issue. There's something about marrying, see Springfield legalising same-sex marriage to
02:13cynically increase its tourism income, and in the lead-up to the show, the network announced that a
02:17key character would 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 a large part
02:27of the episode's story. Producer Al Jean said of There's Something About Marrying that we don't take a
02:32position as much as explore everybody's perspective. Whilst the episode tended to be apolitical, it was
02:37definitely giving the message that those that demonised homosexuality were of an outdated sort.
02:43Number 8. Itchy and Scratchyland. During seasons 5 and 6 of The Simpsons, the show was led under
02:48showrunner David Merkin, who immediately began to receive pushback from Fox. Specifically, the
02:53feedback was about the show within the show, Itchy and Scratchy. Fox were concerned with the
02:57animated ultra-violence and asked David Merkin to basically cut the two characters completely.
03:02In reaction, The Simpsons writers went the other way entirely and crafted a season 6 episode that
03:07takes The Simpsons family to Itchy and Scratchyland. The story allowed them to write as much animated
03:12brutality as they liked. Fox said that if such an episode were produced and they would remove the
03:16itchy and scratchy parts themselves, although it's fair to say that wouldn't leave much of an episode.
03:20All the same, Merkin told his superiors that if that were the case, then he would tell the media
03:24what they had done. Fox relented and the episode aired in 1997. Additionally, the episode serves as
03:30a parody of Disneyland 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, there's some
03:40delicious irony to be had in that The Simpsons is now owned by Disney and continues to be censored to
03:45appease the worldwide Disney Plus audience.
03:47Number 7, The Fool Monty slash How Munched Is That Birdie In The Window?
03:52This one is not so much an episode written out of spite, but a reaction to one that impacted another.
03:56The episode Fool Monty tells the story of an amnesiac Mr. Burns being taken in by The Simpsons.
04:01Then, for all the troubles he's caused, Burns is essentially used and abused until Lisa takes
04:06him home and his memory returns. Whilst the episode does poke fun at Vice President Dick Cheney in its
04:11side story, there was one particular moment that caught the ire of the Republican Party.
04:15At the start of the episode, a Fox News helicopter swings into frame emblazoned with the phrase,
04:19not racist, but number one with racists. Conservative TV host Bill O'Reilly in particular was upset with
04:25the show, crying foul that the Fox Network was letting its cartoon characters run wild and bite the hand
04:30that feeds. Happy to have stirred the pot, especially with such a vocal and well-known political figure,
04:35The Simpsons poked back. A helicopter was written into the following episode,
04:38How Munched Is That Birdie In The Window, which reads,
04:41Fox 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 six, you won't believe what this episode is about. Act three 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 two and a half
05:04years after The Simpsons was embroiled in its biggest controversy surrounding the character of
05:08Pooh. In the episode's plot, unfortunate accidents lead to Homer trapping Santa's little helper in a
05:13car and not picking up the kids. The town proceeds to label him as a pariah. Instead of reading a
05:18prepared apology, Homer essentially calls Springfield soft and accidentally pushes Reverend
05:22Lovejoy out of a window. The family gets doxxed and Homer loses his job, but he is eventually
05:27invited to the Institute, where those who have had their reputations ruined on the internet can find
05:32repentance. Clearly a critique on the public perception of The Simpsons during the era,
05:36the episode takes shot at clickbait and society's tendency to believe a headline rather than read a
05:41story's context. It also toys with a current day controversial figure by featuring Theo, a podcaster
05:46with a pretty clear inspiration in Joe Rogan, who wants to delete news of his misdeeds from the
05:51internet. Whilst the episode was decently well received, it was kind of a case of The Simpsons
05:55already did it with the episode Homer Badman.
05:58Number five, Homer Badman.
06:00After spending their day at a candy convention, Homer loses track of his stolen and incredibly rare
06:05gummy 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 misunderstands this
06:14act as sexual harassment and Homer becomes publicly disgraced. Homer Badman at large is a criticism of
06:20television's growing need to turn tragedy into entertainment, an issue which has only gotten
06:24bigger over time. In particular, the episode satirised Hard Copy, an over-the-top news show that ran from
06:301989 to 1999 in the US and was guilty of dramatising its stories. Hard Copy had a habit of not only
06:36presuming their targets as guilty, but also cutting footage to support their arguments and even camping
06:41outside of their houses. The show's parody version, Rock Bottom, does all of the above and also contains
06:46a memorable made-for-TV retelling of events starring actress Dennis Franz as Homer. Homer Badman also parodies
06:52the OJ Simpson's chase footage, late show with David Letterman and television talk shows in general by
06:57giving the real-life bear gentle Ben his own show. David Merkin would say in a DVD commentary that
07:02anyone could host a talk show because all they needed is a microphone and an audience.
07:07Number 4, Lisa vs Malibu Stacy. In the early 90s, Mattel released a new Barbie doll called the
07:13Teen Talk Barbie, which would read 270 different phrases. They were the kind of thing you'd expect if
07:18you've seen this episode that parodies the doll. Low-hanging fruit of feminine tropes about how
07:23great shopping is and, most controversially, how hard math class is. Due to public reaction,
07:28Mattel said that future revisions of this doll would not say this particular phrase.
07:32Always reacting to the real world, The Simpsons use their already existing doll, Malibu Stacy,
07:36in exactly the same way. Giving her a voice that only said the most vapid thing shatters
07:41Lisa's illusions that she had of the character. This prompts her to make a stand and make her own
07:45talking doll that empowers women. Largely mocking the toy industry and Mattel, Bill Oakley,
07:50one of the writers for the episode, even based Lisa's story on some of his own experiences.
07:54He went to several Barbie collecting conventions and met superfans due to his wife's own interest
07:58in the toy line. Despite Lisa's issues with the doll being founded in logic, the fact that the
08:03less intelligent Malibu Stacy outsells hers is a Simpsons-style cynical look on how having fun
08:08often wins over the importance of making a statement.
08:11Number 3, Panic on the Streets of Springfield.
08:14In season 15, the Simpsons family travelled to the UK for the episode The Regina Monologues
08:19and encountered several British figures that made voice cameos. One of those approached,
08:24Stephen Patrick Morrissey turned down the opportunity to be on the show.
08:28Over 15 years later, the Simpsons finally hit back at Morrissey's disinterest, not to mention
08:32his steadily more damaged public perception born from his controversial political stances.
08:37In 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
08:50imaginary friend convinces Lisa to steal Homer's credit card to go see the real him perform.
08:55Lisa sees that in the current day he has become an overweight, meat-eating, immigrant-hating
09:00wash-up. In a touching moment, imaginary Quillaby tells Lisa to remain true to her values
09:05before vanishing. 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
09:14team said 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
09:24Whilst The Simpsons had its fair share of controversies in its earlier years, very few public figures
09:29had a feud with the show quite like George H.W. Bush did. During his presidency, he famously
09:34said that he wished more families were more like the Waltons and less like The Simpsons.
09:39The show fired back in its own way the next week, with Bart saying that like the Waltons,
09:43we're also waiting for the end of the depression.
09:452 years later, in which time Bill Clinton had replaced Bush in office, writer Bill Oakley's
09:50idea to bring the feud to TV was put into production. Whilst many jokes would poke fun at his politics,
09:55the concept was not one that was meant to attack Bush's agenda so much as satire his crotchety-ness.
10:01With George and his wife Barbara moving to Springfield, Bush essentially took the role of Mr Wilson
10:05to Bart Dennis the Menace. Bart and Homer act exactly how Bush and his wife would expect
10:09them to, childishly pranking their uptight new neighbours. It was one of the first times
10:13that Simpsons got into the face of a politician to such a degree. Two Bad Neighbours was a great
10:18success, although George H.W. Bush never did make any statement about this parody of himself.
10:231. The Itchy and Scratchy and Poochy Show
10:26The 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 show
10:45to shake up the formula, an idea that the writers' room laughed off. Parodying Fox's real-life
10:50worries, The Itchy and Scratchy and Poochy Show sees the popularity of Bart and Lisa's favourite
10:55cat-and-mouse duo waning. Much like Fox had suggested to The Simpsons writers, the fictional
11:00heads behind Itchy and Scratchy propose the idea of adding a new character to freshen things up.
11:04Naturally, Poochy's over-the-top persona and position as the shiny new thing is poorly
11:09received, and kids just want the thing they loved back. The episode morphed Fox's request into one of
11:14the show's best outings. Many jokes from it are still remembered fondly today, taking aim at the
11:19fickleness and sometimes obsessive nature of television viewers. And hey, Fox can't say the writers
11:24didn't do as 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 and let
11:38us know of any other Simpsons episodes that you can think of that were either made to rile someone up,
11:42or made in a reaction to something out of spite. Make sure you like this video, subscribe, hit the
11:47notification bell and share it with your friends. I've been Cy for WhatCulture and have a good week.
11:52here's the description.
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