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[UPDATE 2] Co-creator and producer of The Simpsons, James L. Brooks, told People that Homer will not stop choking Bart. “Don’t think for a second we’re changing anything,” he said.
“Nothing’s getting tamed. Nothing, nothing, nothing,” Brooks said. “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.”
[UPDATE] The producers of The Simpsons have responded to reports that Homer will stop choking Bart on The Simpsons via an image showing Homer choking Bart.
“Homer Simpson was unavailable for comment as he was busy strangling Bart,” the producers said in a statement on social media. An image showed Homer strangling Bart but instead of saying, “Why you little!” he is saying, “Why you little clickbaiting!!”
The original story follows below.
The Simpsons, one of the longest-running and most iconic TV shows ever, is seemingly doing away with one of its most well-known recurring gags. On a recent episode of The Simpsons, Homer explains that he no longer chokes his son Bart because “times have changed.”
As part of the Season 35 episode “McMansion & Wife,” which debuted on October 22, Homer confirms that he no longer throttles Bart by wringing his neck with his hands. Homer meets a new neighbor, Thayer, and shakes hands. “Whoa! That’s quite a grip,” Thayer says to Homer. He replies, “See, Marge, strangling the boy has paid off. Just kidding. I don’t do that any more. Times have changed.”
The producers of The Simpsons have yet to officially comment on whether or not this is a permanent change for the show.
As IGN reminds us, Homer has not strangled Bart since an episode of The Simpsons from Season 31 years ago. In a Season 22 episode, “Love is a Many Strangled Thing” from 2011, Homer attends a “father enrichment class” with NBA legend Kareem Abdul Jabbar. He teaches Homer that choking someone is actually no fun at all, and so Homer quits choking Bart.
The strangulation of Bart by Homer dates back decades. Homer is known to choke bart when he does something bad, preceding the act by saying to him, “Why you little.” Homer chokes Bart so hard that his eyes bulge and his tongue emerges from his throat.
It’s not limited to Homer, alone, as Bart strangled an ostrich once. Then there was the time that an adult President Lisa choked grown-up Bart. In a Treehouse of Horror episode, Homer clones himself and then proceeds to choke himself. You can see a strangulation compilation below.
Homer no longer choking Bart, if this indeed a permanent change, isn’t the only significant update to the show in recent times. In 2020, it was announced that The Simpsons will no longer use white actors to voice non-white characters. Characters who were recast included Apu and his wife Manjula, Dr. Hibbert, Lou, Cookie Kwan, Drederick Tatum, and Bumblebee Man, among others.
In January, The Simpsons was renewed yet again, bringing the show through 2025 and beyond 800 episodes. Seasons 1-34 are streaming on Disney Plus.
