10 Times The Simpsons Blatantly Trolled The Audience

9. Who Shot Mr Burns? Part Two

Bart Simpson FLash
20th century Fox

This one is deservedly infamous, and it’s one of the show’s most successful trolls as it found the sweet spot between encouraging viewers to invest emotionally in the lives of this small town and its quirky cast of characters, only to pull the rug out from under us and remind viewers that anything can happen in the show’s random, anarchic cartoon world.

Revealing it was Maggie who shot Mr Burns, one of the only characters who seemed utterly impossible, after delaying the reveal for an entire months-long season break, was a stroke of genius designed to throw viewers off and leave them laughing at the fact that they became consumed by a mystery in a show as zany and silly as The Simpsons in the first place.

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