Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for The Simpsons season 36, episode 1
Although he is often blamed for heralding the end of the show’s Golden Age, The Simpsons season 36, episode 1 brought back one of its most controversial supporting characters ever. The Simpsons has been on the air for over 35 years and, in this time, its critical decline has been well documented. It is broadly agreed that the so-called Golden Age of The Simpsons began around season 3 and ended before season 12, meaning 23 of the show’s seasons arrived after its peak. Despite this, recent years have seen YouTube creators and critics like Vulture‘s Jesse David Fox alike question whether The Simpsons is good again.
Seasons 34 and 35 of The Simpsons received markedly better reviews than the much-maligned seasons 30-33, so it was a surprise when The Simpsons season 36, episode 1 announced itself as the series finale. In reality, “Bart’s Birthday” was the season premiere, but its elaborate self-parodic framing device presented the outing as an AI-generated finale for the long-running show. To this end, plenty of supporting stars from earlier in the show’s history returned for Bart’s birthday in season 36 episode 1, including a controversial character whose original arrival is closely linked to the decline of The Simpsons.
How The Real Seymour Skinner Started The Simpsons’ Decline Back In Season 9
The Principal And The Pauper Heralded Future Simpsons Problems
Martin Sheen’s Principal Skinner first appeared in season 9, episode 2, “The Principal and The Pauper,” where the Vietnam veteran returned to his hometown of Springfield and revealed that Principal Skinner was a fraud. This episode’s bizarre story saw Sheen’s no-nonsense veteran prove that the principal, whose real name was Armin Tanzarian, had assumed his identity when he thought that Skinner had died in the war. This revelation was almost as absurd as many of The Simspons season 36 episode 1’s outlandish twists but, surprisingly, it wasn’t retconned by the episode’s ending. Instead, the show found a novel solution.
The pointlessness of the episode’s circular plot and its odd tone left many long-time fans cold.
To maintain the show’s status quo, the characters of The Simpsons decided en masse that they would send the real Skinner out of town, reinstate Armin Tanzanian as “Principal Skinner,” and never mention the episode’s events again. This audacious gag mocked the ways that sitcoms work around awkward plot twists, but not everyone was left laughing. The pointlessness of the episode’s circular plot and its odd tone left many long-time fans cold, and the outing’s zanier, more pointedly far-fetched writing garnered criticism. Many fans online still highlight this episode as the beginning of the end of the Golden Age of The Simpsons.
Why The Simpsons Brought Back The Real Skinner In Season 36
Skinner’s Return Proved Something Was Wrong In Springfield
It is no surprise that “Bart’s Birthday” brought back the real Seymour Skinner, as the entire episode was designed to mock the show’s unchanging status quo. Presented as a potential series finale, “Bart’s Birthday” saw Principal Skinner and Police Chief Wiggum leave Springfield, Milhouse move to Atlanta, Lisa get a scholarship to Juilliard, and Moe shut his famous tavern. These events, along with Bart finally turning eleven, proved the world of the series was finally, unavoidably changing. This turned out to be a fakeout and normality was reinstated, but Skinner’s return to The Simpsons reinforced the episode’s status quo disruption.
Sources: YouTube
Vulture‘
