A writer on The Simpsons has explained how he worked with his gay son to make Smithers a “three-dimensional gay character”.
As viewers of the long-running animated series will know, The Simpsons has a long history of joking about Smithers’ sexuality – but that all started to change in 2016, when the character officially came out. Recently, the show proved that it’s committed to making Smithers even more authentic with the episode “Portrait of a Lackey on Fire”, which sees Smithers whisked off his feet by fashion mogul Michael De Graaf (voiced by Victor Garber).
Writer Rob LaZebnik wanted to make sure the episode was realistic, so he enlisted the help of his gay son Johnny. The pair appeared on the Gayest Episode Ever podcast to discuss how they made Smithers into a more relatable gay character.