Channel 4 appeared to make the last-minute decision to pull a scheduled episode of The Simpsons at the last minute over the weekend, following the assassination attempt on former US president Donald Trump.
On Sunday morning, Channel 4 aired several back-to-back instalments from The Simpsons’ seventh season, with listings including the episode Lisa The Iconoclast among them.
However, this was swapped out for a more recent episode from 2018 instead, prompting speculation on X (formerly Twitter) as to why.
One Simpsons fan pointed out this could have been due to the events of the previous evening, when Trump was shot at during one of his rallies in Pennsylvania.
The viewer in question pointed out that one moment in Lisa The Iconoclast features a sniper pointing a gun at Lisa during a public event, while another sequence includes a flashback to a fictional assassination attempt on George Washington.
Wondered at first why Channel 4 just pulled the scheduled broadcast of 'Lisa The Iconoclast', but I think I get pic.twitter.com/vMjvTawacn
— RopesToInfinity (@RopesToInfinity) July 14, 2024
Just to add to this that Jebediah Springfield trying to kill George Washington is also a major plot point in the episode, so it might have been pulled because of that without anyone remembering this specific sniper scene pic.twitter.com/vy8np7nusT
— RopesToInfinity (@RopesToInfinity) July 14, 2024
I did wonder why a random later season episode was thrown in the middle of this Season 7 mini marathon.
— Jim's Limbs (@jimmywim) July 14, 2024
unreal pic.twitter.com/hI4f3mmcXd
— MrFlaneur (@mrflaneur) July 14, 2024
They had a perfectly cromulent reason https://t.co/yBZ6ZMzIWs
— Michael Lugo (@miclugo) July 14, 2024
They probably just had Chester A Arthritis
— Paul (@Paul0Kneel) July 14, 2024
HuffPost UK has contacted Channel 4 for comment.
In the past, Channel 4 has faced backlash due to ill-timed broadcasts of classic Simpsons episodes.
Back in 2005, the broadcaster aired the episode A Streetcar Named Desire – which included a parody of Sweeney Todd’s There’s No Place Like London featuring disparaging references to New Orleans – a week after the Hurricane Katrina disaster.
After multiple complaints were made to the TV watchdog Ofcom, Channel 4 issued an on-air apology, and vowed at the time to update its review process.
Lisa The Iconoclast features the voice talents of Donald Sutherland, with fans revisiting the episode following the actor’s death last month.
