The Simpsons: 25 Greatest Chalkboard Gags

25. I Will Not Defame New Orleans (Season 4, Episode 3 - Homer The Heretic)

This chalkboard gag was quickly cobbled together in a week following the controversy surrounding the previous week's episode, A Streetcar Named Marge, which featured a mocking song about the city of New Orleans (including lyrics that it was the "home of pirates, drunks and whores"). This gag was an effort to make light of the controversy and hopefully smooth things over in an amusing way, and showrunner Al Jean commented that, "We didn't realize people would get so mad...It was the best apology we could come up with in eight words or less." As such, Homer the Heretic forever embeds itself in pop-culture infamy thanks to this cheeky reference to one of the show's most contentious episodes, which makes total sense even if it's aired on TV completely out of order.
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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.