Instead of worrying about The Simpsons‘ pseudo split in Sunday’s season premiere (Fox, 8/7c), perhaps fans should be more concerned about Marge heading to the slammer in May’s finale.
“Marge lets Bart go to the park alone because he’s too irritating, then she ends up getting arrested,” executive producer Al Jean tells TVLine of the Season 27 finale. “I read a column by Mitch Albom, the writer of Tuesdays with Morrie, about a mother who was arrested for letting her son play in the park while she had to work. Albom was saying, ‘When did it become illegal to let your kids play in the park when they’re 10? When did kids have to be on a leash every minute?’ So that’s the basis of our story.”
Despite the finale’s title, “Orange Is the New Yellow,” Jean insists it’s not a parody of the Netflix comedy. “It’s more about dealing with that real issue,” he explains. “Nobody wants a child to be neglected, but I very much feel for a mom who has to work and can’t afford a sitter.”
And here’s another big surprise on tap for Season 27: Is Smithers finally going to come out to Mr. Burns?
“In Springfield now, most people know he’s gay, but obviously Burns doesn’t,” Jean notes. “We deal with that in two episodes. … We actually do a lot with Smithers this year; he gets fed up with Burns not appreciating him and considers his options.”
There’s also a major split on the horizon — other than Homer and Marge’s, of course. Apu will have a falling out with his brother Sanjay, resulting in Sanjay’s nephew Jamshed taking over the Kwik-E-Mart.
“Jamshed is 100 percent American,” Jean reminds us. “He doesn’t speak like Apu and even disrespects his way of speaking.” (So that should be a lot of fun.)
What are your hopes for Season 27? Drop ’em in a comment below, then check back after Sunday’s season premiere for Jean’s explanation of Homer and Marge’s big “divorce” drama.
I’d like to see an episode set in the future. Seems like it’s been awhile since they’ve done one.
The episodes set in the present day are further in the future than the old episodes that were set in the future!
Yeah, lol.
There’s going to be an episode with flashbacks and flashforwards in Bart’s life, which is a parody of Boyhood.
Cool.
If Smithers decides to reveal his feelings..then introduce a new character as a possible girlfriend for Burns. Then, have Smithers reveal himself to another guy…someone unexpected.. like Sideshow Mel.
Ew,no girlfriend for Burns. Would rather haveSmithers and him get together than split them apart, it’s an American institution at this point.
Marge already went to jail when she was arrested for shoplifting, in the season four episode “Margie in Chains”.
She was also arrested for selling Homer’s expired medication in the season 17 episode “We’re on the Road to D’ohwhere
If they split Burns & Smithers up, I’m gonna be so pissed that I’ll vote for Donald Trump so he can ruin this godforsaken country.
I’d love to see a TV-MA rated Treehouse of Horror episode! If Simpsons could do TV-14 ones, then they could do TV-MA ones!
I would like to see Marge get pregnant and have another kid.
I can’t wait for Smithers to finally confess to Mr. Burns! I’ve always been a fan of those two, they have such a fun dynamic. Very excited to see them get more attention this season.