Waylon Smithers, TV's most compelling personal assistant and noted bow tie connoisseur, will officially come out as gay on a forthcoming episode of The Simpsons. The American standard, now in its 27th season, will reportedly have Smithers reveal his sexual orientation to infamous nice guy Mr. Burns in an episode centered on his frustrations with being unappreciated and largely ignored.
"In Springfield now, most people know he’s gay, but obviously [Mr. Burns] doesn’t,” longtime Simpsons showrunner Al Jeantells TV Line. "We deal with that in two episodes. We actually do a lot with Smithers this year. He gets fed up with Burns not appreciating him and considers his options.” Jean was also characteristically forthcoming about this season's finale, playfully entitled "Orange is the New Yellow." Sadly, confirms Jean, the finale will not be a parody of the Emmy-hungry Netflix series.
Of course, the road to the current batch of Simpsons episodes hasn't been without its complications. Earlier this year, heated contract disputes played out largely in the public eye, temporarily threatening the future of iconic Springfield residents. Thankfully, all disputes were eventually resolved, allowing the historic animated juggernaut to return to TV your phone without incident.
