Just when Simpsons voice Hank Azaria seemed to turn a corner on the Apu controversy, creator Matt Groening drags us right back. The longtime producer accuses viewers of “pretending” the character is more offensive than they actually believe.
The Simpsons’ response to decades of Apu concerns proved less than ideal, and it’s still unclear if the FOX animation staple will consider changes. Star Hank Azaria is rethinking his role, however, and now claims he’s “willing to step aside.”
Days after The Simpsons tried to address criticisms of Apu, showrunners have acknowledged their mistake. Writer Al Jean promises the long-running animated comedy will find a better way to address the character’s controversial history, and hopefully stay “popular.”
The Simpsons re-ignited controversy around the show’s portrayal of Apu, and The Problem isn’t going away. TruTV will re-air comedian Hari Kondabolu’s The Problem With Apu on Sunday, and even pit it against its inspiration.
It’s been months since comedian Hari Kondabolu laid out The Problem With Apu, and The Simpsons at last responds. A short aside from Sunday’s latest sees Lisa brushing off the stereotype controversy as “something that started decades ago and was applauded and inoffensive,” and unlikely to be changed.
It’s been almost 23 years since The Simpsons left viewers in a tizzy over “Who Shot Mr. Burns,” and every fan now knows the culprit. That said, Simpsons writer Josh Weinstein now shares an early look at the first pitch, which might have featured Barney – or even Selma – as the shooter.
As often as The Simpsons predicts reality, America’s favorite family can sometimes make their own. Such is the case with a perfectly cromulent new addition to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, dating all the way back to a 1996 Simpsons episode.
Thousands of years from now, alien archaeologists will come to one inescapable conclusion: The Simpsons dictated humanity’s every advance. The latest evidence is none other than today’s giant Disney-Fox merger, which America’s favorite family jokingly predicted in 1998.