Homer’s SHAME
BraCE yourselves: Sunday’s shocking season opener of “The Simpsons” finds Homer and Marge’s marriage in tatters — with unforseen consequences for TV’s most beloved animated characters.
“I’m so amused that this is a huge story,” says “Simpsons” executive producer al Jean. “I wish I was smart enough to say we planned all the publicity we’ve gotten … but I never cease to be shocked. This has made worldwide headlines.
“I never saw it coming.”
In Sunday’s Season 27 opener, “Every Man’s dream,” Homer’s narcolepsy (he can’t stop sleeping, even at work) drives him out of the house — away from Marge, Lisa and Bart — and into the arms of Candace, a tattooed, much-younger pharmacist (voiced by “Girls” star Lena dunham) who fills a prescription for him.
“We always conceived this episode in exactly this way,” says Jean. “Marriage is constant work, and we’ve done a lot of shows about trouble in [Homer and Marge’s] marriage. So we said, let’s really explore this as much as we can regarding how Marge would handle something like this — and the only way we could do that was to split them up.”
“The Simpsons” has been renewed through 2017 — and Jean believes it has a lot left in the tank.
“next season we’re doing 22 [episodes] for sure and that will take us to at least 625 episodes and december 2017,” he says. “and the cast is signed for two more years. I can’t say for sure, but I see us going to 30 seasons.”