It only took 27 years, but last night beloved Simpsons character Waylon Smithers came out of the closet.
Waylon Smithers being acknowledged as a gay man might be greeted with a collective shrug of “Didn’t he do that a decade or more ago?” (he hadn’t), but “The Burns Cage” both finally makes Smithers’ sexuality a matter of public record and gives Springfield’s most slavishly dedicated lickspittle a little glimpse of what a life outside of Burns’ contemptuous orbit could be. That he ultimately doesn’t take that step makes sense for the character and is—in Harry Shearer’s performance and the script (credited to Rob LaZebnik)—quite touching in how it reaffirms that being a character on The Simpsons means giving up hope of ever really changing much.
Smithers is busted by fellow nuclear power plant workers Homer, Lenny and Carl when they overhear him singing about his unrequited love for power plant owner Monty Burns. Homer and friends decide to get Smithers a date. This episode’s writer Rob LaZebnik says he wrote it for his son.
In the episode, titled "The Burns Cage" and set to premiere Sunday, Smithers finally comes to terms that his unrequited love for his boss C. Montgomery Burns will never be reciprocated, so Homer Simpson goes in search of a better match for his supervisor. "We didn't really want to have that big moment of 'I'm out,' you know?" Simpsons writer Rob LaZebnik told the New York Post. "Instead, just have it be a big embrace — like everyone knows it."
LaZebnik's son Johnny came out while still in high school. "I am a Midwestern guy, so I don't tend to wear my emotions on my sleeve, but I thought, 'What better way to tell my son I love him than to write a cartoon about it?'" LaZebnik said, adding that he originally pitched Smithers' coming out storyline to producers three seasons ago.