I wouldn't mind so much that Sideshow Bob episodes are becoming tired and predictable, if I didn't actually like the character so much. Sideshow Bob happens to be my favourite Simpsons character - and that's precisely why I feel he has to die. The problem with Bob is that he has become a threatless villain. When he first plotted to kill Bart, it was funny, it was edgy, and it was cool. A grown man trying to murder an irritating 10-year-old? Give me more! Now, however, it's time to stop. We're into season 25 of the Simpsons now - that's nearly 25 years of Bob attempting to kill Bart, only to be foiled, and we know he's never going to succeed in his efforts - just as we knew Dick Dastardly was never going to win the race in Wacky Races. We may have wanted him to, but it was never going to happen. Which begs the question - does Sideshow Bob even serve a purpose anymore? Or has he merely become a running gag? If it's the latter, then for the sake of preserving the legacy of one of animation's most popular of characters, it's time to bid farewell.
Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
