No laughing matter: how can The Simpsons solve its problem with Apu?

It is now the longest-running scripted US TV show. But celebrations are tainted by a race row over its Indian storekeeper…Twenty-nine seasons in and 636 episodes since it first aired, The Simpsons last week officially became the longest-running scripted show in American primetime television history. But celebrations have been overshadowed. Once considered to be the high-water mark for biting satire, The Simpsons is the subject of a furore over racist stereotyping that is dividing cast and crew. The row can be summed up in one question: is it time to retire Apu Nahasapeemapetilon?Born in episode eight of the first series, Apu was written simply as “clerk” on the script, with the single line: “35 cents, please.” In his forthcoming book, Springfield Confidential, writer and former leading executive producer Mike Reiss reveals: “Because Hindu convenience store clerks were a movie cliche even back then, I inserted this stage direction under his line: ‘THE CLERK IS NOT INDIAN.’” Continue reading…
Via: No laughing matter: how can The Simpsons solve its problem with Apu?