The Simpsons has been the hallmark of television for decades.
After all, it is the longest-running scripted TV series in history, with over 654 episodes and counting. But with that many episodes, there are bound to be some mistakes and bad scenes.
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With time, these mistakes have only gotten worse. Here are 10 times The Simpsons didn’t age well.
1. Homer’s job at the nuclear power plant:
Nuclear powerplants have earned a negative reputation thanks to animated characters like Homer working there.
That’s because it shows Homer being, well, the opposite of S-M-R-T. In other words, he constantly messes things up.
2. The racial stereotypes of Apu’s character:
Racial stereotypes are never going to age well.
When it comes to The Simpsons , they have a double-whammy of offensiveness since Apu is voiced by a white actor, Hank Azaria.
Well, *was*, we should say, as the show quietly dropped the character.
“That’s old news as far as I know,” Simpsons writer and director Jay Kogen said on Twitter.
“A few years ago people made it clear they thought Apu was a hurtful racist stereotype. And Hank rightfully doesn’t want to be a part of it.”
3. Homer lashing out at his kids:
Homer has been the central character of the show for over 654 episodes.
But he has also been at the center of fatherly abuse, as they have shown him strangling Bart since he was a toddler.
4. When Homer feared that Bart was gay:
When he wasn’t strangling Bart, Homer was being the Worst Homophobic Dad Ever.
In the episode, “Homes Phobia,” he worries that a gay man’s presence will rub off on his son.
His plans to “remedy” the situation are messed up, but either way, the episode is hard to watch.
This Redditor agreed.
“I’m not sure how well Homer’s Phobia episode would be taken today. There was a lot of stereotyping which may offend some.”
5. When they used the term “shemale”:
This has happened a few times during the series. And each time it happened, it didn’t age well.
Offensive terms like that would not fly today. J.K. Rowling learned that when she took on transgendered people.
6. When Nelson had to walk down the street naked:
In the 1996 episode, “22 Short Films About Springfield,” Nelson made fun of a tall man driving a small car.
To get revenge, the man made Nelson walk down the street with his pants around his ankles while everyone pointed and laughed.
This is a super inappropriate thing for a grown man to do to a child.
Male trauma should never be used as a punchline.
To make the scene worse, the people in Springfield didn’t find anything wrong with it.
7. When Bart was handcuffed naked to a pole:
This would be a traumatic thing to happen to any child, but it was played out as a joke in The Simpsons Movie .
Also, it wasn’t bullies who handcuffed Bart naked to the pole. It was the police!
8. When George Bush Sr. moved into Evergreen Terrace:
This simply hasn’t aged well since Bush hasn’t been President for decades.
The “Two Bad Neighbours” episode also featured appearances by Mikhail Gorbachev and Gerald Ford. It wasn’t the worst of episodes, at least.
9. The “Homerpalooza” episode:
Do you know these bands: The Smashing Pumpkins, Cypress Hill, and Sonic Youth? Nope? Well, you’re not alone, which is why this episode hasn’t aged well.
During it, Homer was upset that nobody remembers ’70s rock. But a lot of young folks probably don’t!
10. Any episode that features a celebrity:
“Honestly, any episode with a heavy presence of a pop star or famous person who will not be remembered in the next few years (like Lady Gaga) will not age well,” wrote this Reddit user .
“As new generations watch these shows, they won’t understand the jokes that are made and in some ways, they wont’ know who the person is.”
They continued:
“This is why I have a hard time enjoying early seasons of the simpsons. I wasn’t born until ’94 so all the older jokes during the time I was young go over my head.”
11. The “Beyond Blunderdome” episode:
While it’s a funny episode, it hasn’t aged well due to Mel Gibson being in it.
The actor fell from Hollywood’s grace quite a few years ago, for several things, including his offensive comments about the Jewish religion.
12. When Bart brought a rifle to school:
Yes, this screenshot was part of a dream sequence where everyone agrees to trash the school.
But, it’s still poorly-aged, given the fact that school shootings are never okay to paint in a humorous way.
13. When a guy working at a record store doesn’t know what Apple is:
You’d have to be a living-in-a-cave type of hipster to not know what Apple is.
How else would this guy explain why no one is coming into his record shop to buy records anymore??
14. When Homer drove home drunk:
Homer being an alcoholic is already a punchline. But things were taken too far when he drove him and Marge home drunk.
To make things worse, he then framed Marge for the DUI.
