Warning: Spoilers Ahead
Last October, Al Jean, the executive producer "The Simpsons," told reporters during a conference call that the writers were "working on a script where a character will pass away."
At the time, Jean said it was a major character and hinted that "the actor playing the character won an Emmy" for the role. Since then, fans have been intensely speculating who would be killed off the show.
After nearly a year of anxious speculation, "The Simpsons" finally said goodbye to someone during Sunday's season 26 premiere.
Despite rumors that Krusty the Clown would be the "Simpsons" character to say farewell, it was a less major character — his father, Rabbi Hyman Krustofski — who ended up being sent to “Jewish Heaven." Comedian Jackie Mason, 83, had voiced the Rabbi Krustofski character since 1991 and won an Emmy for it in 1992.
But fans felt the minor character's death was a letdown after a "major death" had previously been teased.
Many took to Twitter Sunday to express their frustration after the episode aired:
#RIP Krusty's Dad, no one cares, let's move on! #TheSimpsons
— TheBrianMo (@TheBrianMo) September 29, 2014Rabbi Krustovsky (Krusty the Clown's dad) died. He was one of my guesses. Now it happened. I'm underwhelmed. #TheSimpsons
— Michael Oleaga (@EditorMikeO) September 29, 2014Sooooo Krusty's father the rabbi died. I expected more of a bigger role character. #TheSimpsons
— Rashawn Rezwan (@King_doubleR) September 29, 2014On Facebook, fan reacton varied:
"Simpsons" EP Al Jean tweeted after the episode:
.@thesimpsons#everysimpsonsever And thx to world wide media for rampant over speculation and blatant misinformation. It worked like a charm!
— Al Jean (@AlJean) September 29, 2014.@thesimpsons#EverySimpsonsEver Kudos to the many who put together our 3 easy clues and guessed who dies. Also V important: his last word
— Al Jean (@AlJean) September 29, 2014The rabbi's last word was "Eh," in response to what he thought of Krusty’s comedy.
Jean elaborated to The Hollywood Reporter :
"It was something that we did not plan in any way as a possible event. I had suggested that we do an episode where Krusty's father passes away and the last word he says to Krusty is, 'eh.' I thought it would be funny and sad to deal with that being the last thing your father says to you. The whole thing has been pretty funny in the way that people took something that was not intended to be a brainteaser and completely tied themselves into a knot and then wouldn't believe it when someone told them the truth."
As for the wild fan speculation leading up to the season premiere, Jean told THR:
"I was doing an interview where they asked what episodes we had coming up and I said, 'Well, a character dies and the actor who played the character won an Emmy for that portrait,' and that turned into this huge puzzle. People all over the world were trying and are trying to solve still this mystery."
But Jean assured fans that one "Simpsons" character isn't going anywhere: "I'd lose my job in two seconds if I killed Homer; nothing is happening to him, trust me!"
SEE ALSO: 15 Images From The Upcoming 'Simpsons'-'Family Guy' Crossover