10 Biggest TV Controversies Of 2023

10. Homer Will Keep Strangling Bart - The Simpsons

For better or worse, depending on your perspective, one of the defining characteristics of Homer Simpson's relationship with his son Bart is his tendency to wring the boy's neck when he annoys Homer, complete with an utterance of "Why you little!"

During the recent season 35(!) episode "McMansion & Wife," Homer mentions that he no longer strangles Bart due to changing social norms, prompting fans to note that The Simpsons had seemingly retired the act of father throttling son.

Some quarters praised this as a meaningful evolution of Homer's character, while others decried it as a reactionary deletion of one of the show's most willfully absurd gags.

Either way, it was subsequently pointed out that Homer actually hasn't strangled Bart on-screen since the season 31 episode "The Winter of Our Monetized Content," seemingly confirming that The Simpsons had indeed put the long-running joke to bed.

But Simpsons producers promptly responded by releasing an image of Homer strangling Bart with the caption, "Why you little clickbait!," seeming to suggest that they haven't taken quite such a hard stance on the issue.