Overview

• Homer Simpson, on the latest episode of 'The Simpsons,' announced he's stopped the long-running gag of strangling his son, Bart. The decision seems to reflect the societal shift towards taking issues like child abuse more seriously, even in an animated sitcom context.
• While the show lightly alluded to the gag's end during the episode titled 'McMansion & Wife,' Homer hasn't actually strangled Bart since season 31 (2019-2020) according to reports. The last time Homer actually choked Bart occurred during the episode 'The Winter of Our Monetized Content.'
• The end of the choking gag was first hinted at in the Season 22 episode 'Love Is a Many Strangled Thing,' where Homer went to therapy and realized the harm he was causing Bart. However, the gag resumed in following seasons.
• The recurring gag itself was initiated back in 1988 when the Simpson family first made their appearance on 'The Tracey Ullman Show.'
• 'The Simpsons,' now owned by Disney and streaming on Disney+, has slowly been reconsidering some problematic aspects of its storylines, reflecting the sensibilities of modern audiences.