After decades of choking Bart, Homer finally acknowledges his changed ways of fatherhood in the Simpsons' household. "I don't do that anymore" – simple as that!
We're on season 35 of The Simpsons at this point, and it took Homer long enough to finally stop something that was a running gag on the show, but he's finally done with strangling Bart whenever he's frustrated with him.
In 1989, when the show had its debut, domestic violence as a joke was way easier to overlook than it is these days. The Simpsons got popular by making fun of issues and other controversial topics like these in the past, but now, jokes about serious matters don't fly that well anymore, and The Simpsons were progressive enough to go with the flow.
"I Don't Do That Anymore" – Homer Doesn't Strangle Bart Anymore
Season 35 marks the time where Homer addresses his changed ways for the first time. After shaking hands with his new neighbor who comments on his tight grip, he casually says that's from choking Bart, but he doesn't do that anymore because "times have changed." Take a look for yourself:
I just found out that, after over 30 years, The Simpsons has finally retired their long-running gag of Homer strangling Bart. Took them long enough lmao pic.twitter.com/JuHyNu1eiK
— Simon A. (Baby Lamb Creations) (@BabyLamb5) November 2, 2023
The choking has been long gone, actually, and there's a whole episode about it. Season 22, released in the prehistoric year 2010, had Homer visit a "fathering enrichment class" to get a grip on his violent relationship with Bart. That's how long he's been managing his anger (apart from the occasional special episode where they dug up the old joke).
So, no "Why you little...!" anymore, because times have indeed changed. And Homer did, too.