In Sunday night’s episode, Waylon Smithers comes to terms with his love for his boss, Mr. Burns, as the character officially came out as a homosexual for the first time.
The Simpsons episode, number 591 (season 27 episode 17) “The Burns Cage“, aired on Sunday 3rd April 2016, and sees C. Montgomery Burns’ long-suffering right-hand-man come out as gay.
Homer Simpson is among a number of regular Simpsons characters who attempt to find a new beau for Smithers, after Mr Burns rejects his assistants advances. Smithers is eventually paired with a character called Julio, in an episode which features more than one cringe-worthy homosexual stereotype.
The episode was written by Rob LaZebnik, who was apparently inspired to the storyline when his own teenage son came out.
The news video above was produced by ABC News in the US, and published via their YouTube Channel.
What do you think? Was The Simpsons better when Smithers’ sexuality was merely hinted at? Leave your comment, below.