If you count any television show that has aired for thirty-six years, it is inevitable that some early episode will continue to revolve around it. There are “South Park” showrunners who have written entire episodes apologizing for how bad they looked in their early years, while “Family Guy” has its characters now “phasing out the gay jokes” that were so common in its early seasons. .
Meanwhile, “The Simpsons” was at the center of the national conversation in 2020 due to the character's signature laugh. They also quietly removed Abu from the show, leading to a national debate about the character's legacy after comedian Hari Kondabolu as one of the only Indian characters many Americans had known for decades. The fan debate on these two topics continues and is still confusing and at the very least heated.
However, one of the show's biggest apologies is one that isn't often talked about among fans: Season 3's “delusional father” was destroyed. In 2019, the Disney+ streaming service quietly pulled the episode from its platform and the producers of “The Simpsons” opted to pull the episode from distribution. This was in response to growing accusations that the episode's main guest star, Michael Jackson, had abused several children.
Although Jackson died ten years ago and was never found guilty in a court of law, in 2019 the HBO documentary “Leaving Neverland” brought many of the accusations against him back into public light, and they looked pretty good. Executive producer James L. Brooks described banning “Stark Raving Dad” as “the only option to make,” adding: “I'm against any kind of book burning. But this is our book and we're allowed to dedicate one more chapter.”
It's part of a discussion about the messy history of television.
“Stark Raving Dad” is the only episode of “The Simpsons” banned in the United States, although it is not the first to be removed from distribution. After 9/11, networks aired “New York City Vs. Homer Simpson” stopped reruns of the 1997 episode. Most notably, it had twin towers. But this episode emerged years later under the assumption that Americans had recovered from the traumatic event; Meanwhile, it doesn't look like “Stark Raving Dad” will be returning anytime soon. Since the New York episode was removed for tactlessness, while the Michael Jackson-focused episode was removed for moral sense, the key question here is: Is it morally acceptable for the show/network to profit from the episode?
Similar conversations have played out over the years in previous television episodes featuring white characters in blackface. Context or (in the case of “Mad Men”) the period the show represents. The argument in favor of banning these episodes is that they promote harmful/degrading stereotypes that no longer reflect (or rather, should not reflect) modern sensibilities. On the other hand, the argument against banning these types of episodes is that it can be seen as a superficial attempt to sanitize history, rather than limiting those episodes to serve as an uncomfortable reminder of how the world used to be. .
So how was Stark Raving Dad as an episode of The Simpsons?
Even if you ignore the giant elephant in the room, “Stark Raving Dad” isn't one of the best episodes of a consistently strong third season, but it is an interesting look at Michael Jackson's reputation in 1992. Obligatory jokes about lightening the tone of Jackson's skin, as well as a general feeling that the best days of Jackson's career were behind him, but he was still present. Lot Widely known and loved around the world. When Bart lets slip that Michael Jackson is visiting Springfield, the entire town is thrown into an excited frenzy.
The episode lends an air of mysticism to Jackson, refusing until the end to confirm whether the Jackson impersonator (real name: Leon Gombowski) is really him. This confusion exacerbated Michael Jackson's lack of official credit for the episode, leading to much debate over whether it was his voice years later. To complicate matters further, yes, it is Jackson's voice during the usual dialogue, but it is not his voice every time the character sings; Due to complicated contractual obligations Jackson had with his recording studio, the song was sung by actor Kip Lennon.
The bottom line is that “Stark Raving Dad” is still an entertaining movie, but only if you look at it as a history lesson about a more innocent time in American pop culture. There's no easy answer about what to make of an episode like this, but its tribute to Jackson helps explain why the world was so willing to sweep the allegations against him under the rug. (The first major allegation against Jackson was 26 years before “Leaving Neverland” came out back in 1993.) After all, he was the King of Pop and he sang that sweet birthday song to Lisa; Few wanted to believe that he was capable of such terrible things.
