By now you’ve probably heard that The Simpsons recently paid a visit to Boston. Admittedly, I’ve not kept up with everyone’s favorite animated family in recent years, but I felt compelled to tune in to this episode. In short, Bart becomes a fan of Springfield’s visiting football team the Boston Americans and decides he needs to take him to Boston for a “hate-cation.”
The entire episode was a barrage of references and nods to all things Boston including a brief cameo appearance from our beloved Mighty Mighty BossTones. They were a natural fit having already been named “The Most Boston of Boston Bands” by the Globe. I wasn’t watching live but I was tipped off by the band and City Councilor Matt O’Malley.
Simpsons crowd shots (who am I missing?). @elizabethforma, Mighty, Mighty Bosstones… pic.twitter.com/tfBYm2WpTM
— Matt O'Malley (@MattOMalley) October 11, 2016
If you’re not up for seeing the episode yourself, you can catch recaps and rundowns of the jokes at Boston Magazine, the AV Club, Boston.com, and Fox 25. Kudos to the AV Club for being one of the few–and so far that I can find, the only–outlet to mention the really important comment at the end. The family ultimately finds there’s a lot that they like about Boston. As they return to Springfield, Marge and Homer are chatting about some of Boston’s lesser qualities.
Marge: The traffic was pretty annoying.
Homer: Not to mention the unspoken racism.
Marge: It wasn’t that unspoken.
Thank you to the show’s writers for including that. We can love this town and still criticize it. If we truly love it, we’ll want to do everything we can to make it better. Talking about racism is a crucial first step. I fully believe as ska fans, we have an obligation to be a part of that conversation. More on that to come…
Watch the full episode on the web or On Demand. You’ll be glad you did.
Trailer: The Simpsons Season 28 Episode 3, “The Town”
The Bosstones next perform at their annual Hometown Throwdown in December at the House of Blues.