Posted on 02/10/2024 8:37:17 PM PST by nickcarraway
One of the most unexpected legacies generated by The Simpsons is the repeated insistences in which the creative team have some form of clairvoyancy, with so many real-world events appearing to be predicted well ahead of time by Springfield’s most famous family.
With that in mind, it was inevitable that an episode removed from the airwaves in the aftermath of the September 11th terror attacks gave rise to a predictive conspiracy theory, even if it was nothing more than a matter of coincidence and a show of respect.
The first episode of the ninth season, ‘The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson’, was celebrated by critics and audiences at the time of its first airing in September 1997. The writers had always wanted to make an episode where the titular family was forced to head off to New York City, and they even ended up winning awards when they finally got around to it.
The song ‘You’re Checkin’ In’ landed a Primetime Emmy in the ‘Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics’ category, but almost four years to the day after its premiere, ‘The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson’ was removed from reruns and syndication, and it wouldn’t return to the fold until 2006. Even at that, several pointed references to the World Trade Centre were removed ahead of the rebroadcasting.
Having huge swathes of the episode set in and around the building – especially a barb from one character that “they stick all the jerks in Tower One” – wasn’t something The Simpsons showrunners wanted to be shown in the name of generating laughs, not that it stood any chance of doing so in the wake of 9/11.
Of course, online conspiracists claimed the series had foreshadowed the attacks themselves, with a brochure spotted on-screen featuring an advertisement for a $9 bus fare against the Twin Towers, combining to form an image that looks something like a 9/11.
Al Jean would shoot that sentiment down in an interview with The New York Times, even if he did admit it was somewhat foreboding. “There is a frame where there’s a brochure that says New York at $9 a day, and behind the nine are the twin towers,” he said. “So they look like an 11, and it looks like a 9/11. That one is a completely bizarre, strange thing.”
The episode’s main creative driving force, Bill Oakley, would offer a similar assessment when responding to the latest in the never-ending line of ‘Simpsons Did It’ theories, acknowledging the inadvertent prescience. “$9 was picked as a comically cheap fare. To make an ad for it, the artist logically chose to include a silhouette of NYC. I signed off on the design. It’s pretty self-explanatory,” he stated. “And I will grant that it’s eerie given that it’s on the only episode of any series ever that had an entire act of World Trade Centre jokes.”
Unfortunate happenstance more than anything else, then, but still enough to ensure ‘The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson’ would never again be screened in its original and unedited form.
A classic episode.
Back when The Simpsons was still a funny, entertaining series.
Yep.
Back to the Future Predicts 9/11
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFqOJO1Gn34&ab_channel=ChristianVideoVault
I remember thinking on 9/11 that that Simpson’s episode would never be seen again.
Are people too sensitive?
Yes
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