A Memorable Simpsons Episode Almost Had Multiple Endings
"The Simpsons" rarely does two-part episodes, which is part of why the show's season 6 finale, "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One)," was such a huge deal. The episode ends with the supposed death of long-time villain Mr. Burns; he's been shot by a mysterious assailant, a situation made even juicier by how the previous 20 minutes had established over a dozen characters with plausible motives for murder. "I couldn't possibly solve this mystery. Can you?" Dr. Hibbert asks, looking directly at the viewers.
Hardcore "Simpsons" fans studied the episode obsessively over the summer of '95. The showrunners claimed the mystery was solvable from the first part alone, so plenty of "Simpsons" fans tried their best. Fox even put up a website (which is tragically no longer up) for fans to theorize together. As Newsday reported at the time:
"At the 'Who Shot Mr. Burns' site you're greeted by a color image of a very nervous-looking Mr. Burns, which leads you to the 'Bullet-in Burns Bulletin Board,' where users are encouraged to post their crackpot theories about the shooting. There also are suspect profiles encompassing just about every character, with reasons he or she could have done the dastardly deed."
Top at fans' suspect list was Waylon Smithers, whose disillusionment with his boss in "Part One" made for a pretty dramatic shift for the character. Meanwhile, one writer for the Boca Raton News pointed the finger at Seymour Skinner, arguing, "All those years dealing with wild kids could have sent this sniveling principal over the edge." Elsewhere, a writer at the Tampa Bay Times predicted it was Homer, based on the showrunners' early reveal that Burns would survive the gunshot, meaning the killer must've been incompetent. "If that's the case, and with no other information to go on, bet on the series' one consistent loser, the guy who screws up in his sleep: That'd be Homer Simpsons, murderer-for-hire," the writer rasoned.
"The Simpsons" creator Matt Groening was understandably worried about the big reveal of the killer leaking early, and took great pains to assure it wouldn't. "Most of the people who work on the show don't know," Groening explained in a September 1995 interview. "Some of the people who work on the show and have big mouths think they know, but they don't [...] We animated more than one ending, and we also did a series of animation cels that were extremely misleading."
Who Shot Mr. Burns? nearly had multiple endings
Spoilers for "Who Shot Mr. Burns? Part Two" to follow.
Back in September 2024, "The Simpsons" writer/producer Josh Weinstein took to Twitter/X to share a 1994 production note from the writing room's conference for the episode reading, "Could do different endings to air on the east and west coasts." Weinstein responded to a fan clarifying that he didn't remember who pitched the idea, implying that the idea probably didn't get very far. It makes sense: airing different versions of the episode would've been a fun gimmick, but would it have been worth all the confusion? Not to mention, how exactly would this idea work with syndication?
The biggest problem with multiple aired endings is the canon implications. If there were different endings with different killers, which continuity would the show stick to going forward? The big reveal of Maggie being the one who dunnit in "Part Two," as silly as it is, is still something that would be referenced now and again throughout later seasons of the series. But how would those jokes work if Maggie had been the would-be killer in just one of two "Simpsons" timeline?
The other issue with multiple endings is that, in hindsight, Maggie was the only perpetrator the show could've chosen. The "Simpsons" writers may have half-heartedly floated around Barney or Apu as potential murderers, but it was pretty much always going to be the baby. While a lot of fans were trying to solve the mystery largely through looking at character motives, the case gets a lot simpler once you look at it in the meta terms of, "What's the only killer reveal that wouldn't mess with the series' status quo?" If the killer had been an adult, they'd have gone to jail — whereas Maggie can shoot whoever she wants without any repercussions. "The Simpsons" has long hesitated to mess around with its status quo in major ways, so it's unlikely that anyone too important would've been written out of the series.
Did anyone guess Maggie was the shooter?
Although you'll often find "Simpsons" fans today who claim they totally figured the mystery out before "Who Shot Mr. Burns? Part Two" aired, it's a lot harder to find actual proof of viewers who called it. That's because Maggie truly was not on most fans' radar. "About the only characters who don't have motives are Marge and Maggie Simpson," wrote one critic in the Tampa Tribune, the sort of statement that went relatively uncontested by the fanbase. In the behind-the-scenes DVD commentary for "The Simpsons" season 6, the showrunners remarked that they knew of at least one fan who properly guessed it, but the person wrote it under an anonymous username on a fan message board and the writers never managed to track them down.
Maggie was so under the radar, in fact, that the "Simpsons" creatives were able to give some hints about her without any issue. Animator David Silverman drew a picture of Maggie during the wait for "Part Two," and the Chicago Tribune writer didn't even seem to consider that this might a clue. Likewise, when Matt Groening was asked about the possible shooter, he replied, "People are guessing everyone from guest stars who were on the show in seasons past to Bobo the stuffed bear that Mr. Burns stole from Maggie." There Groening was, a month before "Part Two" aired, subtly reminding viewers that a beef between Maggie and Mr. Burns had already been established.
At least a few fans did seem to pick up on Groening's hint, although they weren't taken too seriously. As The Oregonian reported in a piece that placed Skinner as the top suspect, "A few Web surfers suspect little Maggie Simpson, who tangled with Burns over possession of a stuffed teddy bear, Bobo. And the alt.fan.simpsons group includes one vote for Itchy and Scratchy."
Looking through the newspaper archives, it seems the only person on the record for guessing Maggie is Dan Castellaneta, the voice of Homer himself. "I have no idea who shot him. I guess Maggie," he told the LA Times in May 1995. Granted, it's not clear if this was really Castellaneta making a genuine guess or if he, as the main voice actor on the show, had already been made privy to the reveal. Either way, it's telling that the lead actor straight up said Maggie's name on the record and she still wasn't considered a reasonable guess by most viewers.
Of course, the reason why Maggie wasn't a popular guess was because it wasn't a particularly satisfying answer. Described as the "biggest anti-climax in a sitcom" by the Miami Herald, most fans found the episode funny but not quite matching up to what they'd built up in their heads. "OK, a bit disappointing," wrote TV critic Mike Duffy. "I was rootin' for Smithers myself. But at least it wasn't all a dream."