Smithers to Finally Come Out in Season 27 of ‘The Simpsons’

Season 27 of The Simpsons is finally here, and although it may have stumbled out of the gate, there are a lot of things to be excited about.

In an interview with showrunner Al Jean, TVLine learned that Waylon Smithers, Mr. Burns longtime right-hand man, will finally come out of the closet.

“In Springfield now, most people know he’s gay, but obviously Burns doesn’t,” Jean said. “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.”

Not only does this reveal a plot point, but it also suggests that The Simpsons will work a little continuity into their episodes, something that began last year.

Aside from the pseudo split in the premiere, Apu will also have a falling out with his partner – not Manjula, but his brother and business partner Sanjay. After a quarrel, Sanjay’s nephew Jamshed takes over the Kwik-E-Mart. However, there’s an interesting twist with this “new” character.

“Jamshed in 100 percent American,” Jean says of the nephew only briefly seen in cameos up until this point. “He doesn’t speak like Apu and even disrespects his way of speaking.”

In one last spoiler, Marge is apparently heading back to jail in the season finale. Not for accidental shoplifting like last time, but instead for letting Bart go to the park by himself – a story ripped straight from a real news headline.

“Marge lets Bart go to the park alone because he’s too irritating, then she ends up getting arrested,” Jean revealed. “I read a column by Mitch Alborn, 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. Alborn 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.”

That episode is entitled, “Orange is the New Yellow,” but it’s not a parody of the Netflix series. “It’s more about dealing with that real issue,” Jean said. “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.”

So the jail thing has been done, but that’s not the real focus. Instead, The Simpsons are once again lampooning a real-life event, and that’s something that has been working consistently for 27 years now.

Be sure to come back here to find out how it all went down!

[via TVLine]