Current Events > Was the 'Who Shot Mr Burns' shooter identity a disappointment? *spoilers*

(+) Yeah! (+)

It was the only cliffhanger in Simpsons history. It had a massive marketing campaign. It ended up being Maggie who shot Burns after a fight over a lollipop.

I don't remember if people got pissed back then. I think they would today if it happened.
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A mild one, yeah.

no
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I was only young when I watched that, but even then I remember thinking "really? Is that it???"
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They did that so years later someone could be all "simpsons did it" when the Mass Effect 3 ending happened
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I was 10, and I vividly remember me and my parents looking at each with confused, "uh, really?"-looking faces after the reveal.
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I liked how later in the show, Maggie and Mr. Burns looked at each other, and she made a shooting gesture at him
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The joke is that after all the buildup, that's what it turned out to be.
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Ha, I remember arguing with other kids on the playground over who did it between part 1 and 2

fun days
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DarkTransient posted...

The joke is that after all the buildup, that's what it turned out to be.

exactly. I appreciated it more and more as i got older
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It seemed like everyone knew before the episode aired. At least in my group of friends at school, we figured out who it was
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DarkTransient posted...

The joke is that after all the buildup, that's what it turned out to be.

This!
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I thought the whole thing was a joke from the start and that it'd be something like that.
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boxington posted...

I liked how later in the show, Maggie and Mr. Burns looked at each other, and she made a shooting gesture at him

I remember Maggie shot away a bunch of gangsters or something too?

Bad_Mojo posted...

It seemed like everyone knew before the episode aired. At least in my group of friends at school, we figured out who it was

I think most people thought it was Smithers. They ran a competition and barely anyone chose Maggie IIRC.
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I don't watch the Simpsons. Was it built up as a real mystery? Did Burns die or something? Or was it always played as a joke and people just took it too seriously?
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I first saw those episodes in reruns, well after they originally aired.
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lilORANG posted...

I don't watch the Simpsons. Was it built up as a real mystery? Did Burns die or something? Or was it always played as a joke and people just took it too seriously?

it was a play on Dallas' "Who shot J.R."

Burns got shot in the season finale, they ended with the open question of "who did it?"

the season premier was part 2 of the mystery

edit : he didn't die, was hospitalized
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Nah, It was funny to me as a kid and it's still funny now. Really all I remember of the episode was that part. In fact, maybe I just saw the other one where maggie shot someone...
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DarkTransient posted...

The joke is that after all the buildup, that's what it turned out to be.

yea. it was very simpsons-esque at the time.
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That's right. The year is 1965 and you and I are undercover detectives on the hot rod circuit, now lets burn rubber baby!
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The reveal never bothered me personally. Both episodes are so damn good.

Homer flipping out over Mr Burns not knowing his name was extremely funny.
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I had always wondered what happened with the contest they had for it. According to the commentary for that episode only one person on some internet bulletin board got the answer right but the showrunners were never able to get in contact with him.

Bryfang posted...

Darmik posted...

boxington posted...

I liked how later in the show, Maggie and Mr. Burns looked at each other, and she made a shooting gesture at him

I remember Maggie shot away a bunch of gangsters or something too?

Bad_Mojo posted...

It seemed like everyone knew before the episode aired. At least in my group of friends at school, we figured out who it was

I think most people thought it was Smithers. They ran a competition and barely anyone chose Maggie IIRC.

One of the alternate reveals was Smithers.

The punchline was Mr. Burns saying, And for trying to kill me, Im giving you a 25% salary cut. With Smithers moaning in disgust.

No idea where I saw that at but it was pre-internet so maybe they did a behind the scenes special at some point.

It was shown off in the 138th Episode Spectacular. They also animated several characters shooting Burns.

__aCEr__ posted...

I had always wondered what happened with the contest they had for it. According to the commentary for that episode only one person on some internet bulletin board got the answer right but the showrunners were never able to get in contact with him.

I believe a lady won and she decided to take the money instead of being drawn as a character in the show.
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Bryfang posted...

Darmik posted...

boxington posted...

I liked how later in the show, Maggie and Mr. Burns looked at each other, and she made a shooting gesture at him

I remember Maggie shot away a bunch of gangsters or something too?

Bad_Mojo posted...

It seemed like everyone knew before the episode aired. At least in my group of friends at school, we figured out who it was

I think most people thought it was Smithers. They ran a competition and barely anyone chose Maggie IIRC.

One of the alternate reveals was Smithers.

The punchline was Mr. Burns saying, And for trying to kill me, Im giving you a 25% salary cut. With Smithers moaning in disgust.

No idea where I saw that at but it was pre-internet so maybe they did a behind the scenes special at some point.

That was the behind the scenes episode with Troy McClure
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I remember the buildup right before it aired, they had John Walsh from America's Most Wanted do a whole bit about it. It was great.
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I remember a later episode poked fun at it

Marge: Homer, I don't guns in my house! Don't you remember when Maggie shot Mr. Burns?
Homer: I thought Smithers did it.
Lisa: That would have made a lot more sense.
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Darmik posted...

I think most people thought it was Smithers. They ran a competition and barely anyone chose Maggie IIRC.

This makes me wonder if that was the original plan to begin with, or if they just picked any option that barely anyone managed to guess, at the final editing stage, to ensure low cost on whatever the winning prize was
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not to me

i laughed my ass off
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I started watching the Simpsons after seeing the movie, and I didn't watch in order, and in a few episodes (I think the one with Spring Shield), they mentioned her shooting Mr. Burns, so I already knew the answer in advance.
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The cool thing is that Part 1 of the episode actually gives Smithers his alibi before it's explained in Part 2.

He mentions he doesn't miss Pardon My Zinger at 3pm. You see him leaving the Town Hall meeting early to go and watch it.

They could have ignored it but it's cool that paid off. If you put all of the clues together I think Maggie is the only character who fits them all. The sun dial removes any suspect that isn't WS (or MS). Sure Burns admits that was accidental but it wasn't from the writers perspective. Burns mentioned in Part 1 that he wants to steal candy from a baby.
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who shot dr Mephesto? was it officer Barbrady? Chef? .....
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To those disappointed , who would you want it to be? I mean what character wouldnt be disappointing?
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TheVipaGTS posted...

DarkTransient posted...

The joke is that after all the buildup, that's what it turned out to be.

yea. it was very simpsons-esque at the time.

Nope. Not funny.

Yeah, it was kinda disappointing. It was an annoying "Gotcha!" moment because a lot of suspicion and evidence was thrown at a large amount of cast members and not Maggie. It was only slightly less left field than some random side character who wasn't even hinted at in the first episode like Milhouse's mom.

In retrospect, Maggie was the best candidate to let the show return back to "normal" after the episode. Like, if it was Smithers subsequent episodes of him interacting with Burns would be drastically different. But... maggie's a baby which absolves her of any wrong doing. Also the joke of "as easy as taking candy from a baby" gets a chuckle.
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It was like the opposite of the episode where Skinner goes missing and they think the mob did it, when instead it was Skinner trapped under news papers.
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The worst thing is the contest they did for it. Nobody guessed it right so they randomly picked some 85-year-old who never watched the show as winner.
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This sidewalk's for regular walkin, not fancy walkin
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I remember at the time I thought it was Santa's Little Helper.

I wasn't far off. They even made a scene for that. Would've been just as hilarious.

"Officer, arrest that dog!"
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I was in 6th grade and all summer told everyone it would be Maggie because they would want to make it "the most unexpected person" and they wouldn't need to change anything
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It would've been far more disappointing if Smingers did it.
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