this month, Talking Simpsons is really in the toilet

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Like a great episode of Simpsons, it left me with many thoughts. I look forward to hearing good-faith responses to this ep, and Apu and Manjula's return. I want to listen to the thoughts from South Asian and other voices on this, if they feel like it addresses Apu well after all this time

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More meta is that the ep took time in the episode for lines from other recent recasts, including a new Dr. Nick Riviera. It made Apu (and Majula, now played by Janina Gavankar) a kind of finishing touch to the work the producers have done in the last decade to inclusively expand the voice cast

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I hope lapsed fans watch it. I felt real emotion as Homer spoke to Apu about the good times we had with the character in the classic Simpsons seasons. It argues for Apu's return while working with a new actor who could help the show understand when jokes about the Indian immigrant miss the mark

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Hari Kondabolu's The Problem With Apu was an important doc in 2017, and The Simpsons didn't respond well at the time. They did jokes/media comments that missed the issues Kondabolu was spotlighting for viewers, and then the show pretty much buried Apu rather than learn from good-faith criticism

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