‘The Simpsons’ reveals how Homer keeps his job at a power plant

Oh!

36 seasons later, “The Simpsons” has finally explained a baffling mystery about its main character.

During Sunday’s episode of the animated showIt was finally revealed how Homer Simpson (Dan Castellaneta) has managed to keep his job despite being a bad employee.

Since the series’ debut in 1989, Homer has never been fired from the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, owned by Mr. Burns, even after his many mistakes on the job.

In the last episode, titled “Shoddy Heat,” it is explained that Homer’s father, Abe Simpson (also Castellaneta) made a deal to ensure that his son would never end up unemployed.

Flashbacks show that Abe worked as a private investigator. After his partner, Billy O’Donnell, disappears, Mr. Burns ominously tells Abe that Billy took a “one-way ticket to paradise.”

Mr. Burns then promises Abe that he will give Homer a job for life at the power plant in exchange for Abe ending the investigation into Billy’s disappearance.

Showrunner AI Jean teased the big reveal about Homer on X (formerly Twitter) days before the episode aired.

“This Sunday a new @TheSimpsons will solve a mystery that has baffled me (at least) since the beginning of the show…” wrote Jean, 63.

Viewers had a positive response towards the big reveal and shared their reactions on X.

“Kudos to the new episode for revealing the answer to the question, ‘How come Homer was never fired from his job despite all the mistakes he made?’ in the most surprising and strangely wholesome way possible,” said one fan. wrote.

“Wow, that’s why Homer has never been fired from his job no matter how many mistakes he made,” another person said. saying.

“The Simpsons” returned for season 36 last month and quickly created a stir on the Internet because the show dubbed the episode. its “series finale” – leaving viewers confused.

But the show later revealed that the entire story of the episode It was generated by artificial intelligence.

Showrunner Matt Selman said People how the idea of ​​that complicated episode came about.

“I was in New Zealand and then the writers’ strike ended, so I immediately started working on the show again in New Zealand a year ago,” he explained. “And part of that was doing press for season 35, which was about to start. And the question journalists always ask you is what would you do in the last episode of the show?

“I always felt like there was no good answer to that question because the show was never supposed to end,” he added. “It was meant to last forever. “It was intended to make fun of the idea of ​​the last few episodes and everything we do, every episode is both the first and the last episode of the show.”

“The Simpsons” airs Sundays at 8 pm ET on Fox.