The Simpsons Makes History with New Episode Featuring Deaf Actor and ASL

A new episode of The Simpsons will feature a deaf actor, a first for the series that is still making history after three decades on the air. Per CNN, the characters in the episode will be communicating using American Sign Language (ASL) in the episode as well, despite the animated characters having four fingers. The history-making episode, titled “The Sound of Bleeding Gums,” airs on Sunday, April 10.

“It’s very hard to do a ‘first’ after 722 episodes. But I couldn’t be more excited about this one,” said producer Al Jean.

The episode focuses primarily on Lisa Simpson (Yeardley Smith), who “finds out that her role model and favorite musician, the late saxophonist Bleeding Gums Murphy, has a son who’s deaf and needs a cochlear implant. Lisa gets a little too carried away trying to help the son, Monk Murphy.”

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While the hit film CODA, which stars a predominantly deaf cast, recently won Best Picture at the Oscars, this episode has been in the works for a while. It is loosely based on main writer Loni Steele Sosthand’s life. Sosthand says that the show’s producers consulted two ASL specialists about including the use of it in the episode, which included reviewing animatics to ensure that the ASL could still be accurately interpreted despite the characters missing one finger on each hand. Sosthand also notes that the story was personal as it was inspired by her brother, Eli, who’s similarly a hearing-impaired member of a jazz-loving family.

“Having a brother, who is just a year older, who was born deaf, really shaped who I am as a person,” Sosthand said. “So it is a story not just close to my heart, but to my identity. There are many autobiographical themes in the episode regarding the tension between a love of music and loved ones who are deaf — themes also present in CODA, but very much from my own life.”

Related: The Simpsons: When Should the Iconic TV Show End?

John Autry II Guest Stars as Monk Murphy

FOX

Monk Murphy’s introduction throws back to Bleeding Gums Murphy, one of Lisa’s jazz idols who was killed off in storyline back in the season 6 episode “‘Round Springfield.” His son, Monk, is played by deaf actor John Autry II (Glee, No Ordinary Family). Also included in the episode will be three children – Ian Mayorga, Kaylee Arellano, and Hazel Lopez – from the nonprofit devoted to deaf children called No Limits. For his part, Autry says that the role has been life-changing.

“It’s about hard of hearing and hearing characters coming together. It’s a part of history,” Autry explains.

On watching the children record a song that’s included in the episode, Sosthand added, “The song says, ‘If you don’t have a dream, how you gonna have a dream come true.’ While watching them record, I just had tears in my eyes the whole time, realizing this is a dream come true for all of us.”

“The Sound of Bleeding Gums” will premiere on FOX on Sunday, April 10. For more of The Simpsons, every episode from the previous seasons can be found streaming on Disney+.

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Jeremy Dick
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