The Simpsons: 10 Episodes Probably Made Out Of Spite
2. Two Bad Neighbors
Whilst The Simpsons had its fair share of controversies in its earlier years, very few public figures had a feud with the show quite like George H. W. Bush did. During his presidency he famously said that he wished that more families were “more like the Waltons and less like The Simpsons”. The show fired back in its own way the next week, saying that “like the Waltons, we’re also waiting for the end of the depression”.
Two years later, in which time Bill Clinton had replaced Bush in office, writer Bill Oakley’s idea to bring the feud to TV was put into production. Whilst many jokes would poke fun at his politics, the concept was not one that was meant to attack Bush’s agenda so much as satire his “crotchetiness”. With George and his wife Barbara moving to Springfield, Bush essentially took the role of Mr Wilson to Bart’s Dennis the Menace.
Bart and Homer act exactly how Bush and his wife would expect them to, childishly pranking their uptight new neighbors. It was one of the first times The Simpsons got into the face of politics to such a degree.
Two Bad Neighbors was a great success, although George H.W. Bush never did make any statement about this parody of himself.