In the past 26 years, The Simpsons has delivered seemingly thousands of different recurring characters, gags and situations, and one of the most beloved of the bunch is going to come to an unexpected fruition in Season 27. Fans of the show will finally get to see the frizzled-haired villain Sideshow Bob achieve his ultimate goal of killing his nemesis Bart Simpson. Not so utterly, utterly hopeless a plan now, is it? And don’t worry, this isn’t a weird repercussion of Harry Shearer’s absence.
Producers from The Simpsons were on-hand at this weekend’s ATX Festival in Austin for a panel, and longtime executive producer Al Jean revealed that they’re going to give Sideshow Bob his due victory for next season’s “Treehouse of Horror” episode. So just in case you thought The Simpsons was trying to pull a Family Guy when they killed off Brian, they’re not; this will fit right into the non-canonical storytelling that each Halloween episode has. And apparently Sideshow Bob will have no idea what to do with himself once he has committed this long-sought act. Something tells me a fine wine and some classical music is in order.
So why allow the murderous former TV star to slay his preteen enemy now after all these years? Jean told EW that he “hated frustration comedy so we’ll scratch that itch,” saying he always wanted to see Wile E. Coyote get the Road Runner. Considering that classic run of cartoons was one of the inspirations behind Bob and Bart’s tumultuous relationship, it’s weird that it’s also the impetus for its (albeit temporary) denouement.
This will be the 19th time (or so) that the Emmy-winning Kelsey Grammer will lend his voice to Sideshow Bob, and there are a couple of things that we will need to see in this “Treehouse of Horror” segment. We need a killer song, and one that is as spooky as possible. And since Halloween takes place in the fall, when there are loads of leaves on the ground, we’re going to need to see a new rake gag.
Though it’s a major bummer that we won’t be getting another Simpsons film any time soon, the show’s producers revealed that Season 27 will also feature a Simpsons Movie character making a long-awaited return to the family’s lives, and fans can expect to see Spider-Pig once again. That excites me almost as much as seeing Spider-Man enter the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The Simpsons will return to Fox for Season 27 this fall.
