The Simpsons Had To Ban A Joke Because Of TV Rules

At a time when every American institution seems to be failing us, it is at least comforting to see that one massive, heavily influential institution remains reliable, funny, and inventive after so many decades — "The Simpsons." Sure, it may not be redefining comedy, animation, and TV as we know it on a weekly basis anymore, but even after 36 seasons, the show is still good, still reinventing itself and exploring new stories. 

Still, time has passed, and that means the approach to comedy, social commentary, and politics has changed over the years. Homer went from a typical everyman who is financially comfortable but not particularly well off, to (in the most recent season) becoming a struggling millennial. Season 35 of "The Simpsons" has several episodes commenting on how the family is struggling to keep their house, how Homer's dead-end job can't pay all the bills, and Marge is even forced to get a job in one episode. Times change, sensibilities change, and thankfully many of the show's homophobic, racist gags and characters from its earlier years have been cast aside, including one of the oldest and most problematic gags — even if it made a recent return. But TV standards and practices also change, which forces "The Simpsons" to change its approach, even if it's just weird and harmless, like not being able to show Homer's butt anymore.

Longtime showrunner Al Jean told Vulture when "The Simpsons" was renewed for season 23 (back when it was nearing the 500 episode milestone) that Fox had become "increasingly prude" and they decreed that Homer Simpson could no longer expose his posterior. 

"There was a period where we could show Homer's a**," Jean said, but then "They said we couldn't." It didn't matter that repeats of past episodes still showed Homer's forbidden cheeks. "I then went back to them and noted that the repeats where we had showed it are airing in syndication at 6 p.m." This was on TV stations owned by Fox. Still, as Jean tells it, the network was not convinced. "Banned. Completely."

Show creator Matt Groening told members of the press earlier this year (via Metro) that the reason was very practical. "Historically, 'The Simpsons' has been on Sunday night at 8 p.m," Groening said. "There are things you can do and can't do at 8 p.m. that you can do at 8:30." This is how, according to Groening, Homer started hiding his behind, but "Family Guy" could carry on showing as much butt as they wanted, "Because they were on at 8:30." No more Dr. Cheeks, who was a little behind in doing his rounds.

Groening doesn't hold a grudge, and actually doesn't think "The Simpsons" needs to be edgy to still be relevant, to compete with shows like "Family Guy," "South Park," or "Rick and Morty." According to the creator, "We're not gonna out them them." Instead, Groening's aim for the future of the iconic cartoon is to "just do emotional, observant, humanity based comedy, and satire."