“The Simpsons” will make history Sunday night when it features the series’ first deaf actor and the first use of American Sign Language on the long-running animated series.
The episode, titled “The Sound of Bleeding Gums,” will follow Lisa Simpson as she chases Monk, the deaf son of her favorite saxophone player, the late Bleeding Gums Murphy, to help him get a cochlear implant, People reported. Bleeding Gums Murphy died in Season 6, according to CNN.
“It’s very hard to do a ‘first’ after 722 episodes,” executive producer Al Jean told the news network. “But I couldn’t be more excited about this one.”
@TheSimpsons Meet Monk Murphy voiced by @johnautryll in The Sound of Bleeding Gums, Sunday @8 An episode that makes me smile whenever I think about it. pic.twitter.com/PjmN8z9b8Q
— Al Jean (@AlJean) April 4, 2022
John Autry II will be the deaf voice actor for the episode, according to Variety. The only potential snag for the series creators was that the show’s animated characters have only four fingers, even though they will be using ASL during the episode.
“That was a little tricky, especially because the one thing we’re translating is Shakespeare,” writer Loni Steele Sosthand told the entertainment website. “But I think we pulled it off.”
Sosthand said the episode was inspired by her own family.
“I’m mixed race; my father’s Black and jazz was big in our house,” Sosthand told Variety. “We grew up in the suburbs, and it was a way for my dad to bring in that aspect of our culture. But when I think about music, I also think about my brother, who was born deaf. When we were talking about this Bleeding Gums character in our initial brainstorms, we thought, wouldn’t it be cool if Lisa discovers this whole other side of his life. That led to him having a son, and then we based that character at least somewhat on my brother. And the story grew from there.”
Sequences of ASL will be shown throughout the episode, People reported.
Autry commended the creators of “The Simpsons” for hiring a deaf actor to play the role.
“It’s so incredible,” Autry told Variety. “It’s life-changing equality and participation. This can impact change for all of us. It’s about hard of hearing and hearing characters coming together. It’s a part of history.”
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