The Simpsons Gives Bumblebee Man an Origin Story After 36 Years

Shairdressers Coming up for “The Simpsons” Season 37 episode “¡The Fall Guy-Yi-Yi!”

“The Simpsons” is a cultural institution, one of the best and most influential television shows of all time, and one of the keys to the show’s success is its great ensemble of characters. As charming and beloved as the titular Simpsons family is, it’s the dozens and dozens of quirky, memorable, and distinct people who populate the town of Springfield that make the show special. These are characters who could easily direct their own episodes, and often do — one of the best episodes of the series ever being a collection of short films about supporting characters.

But as beloved as “The Simpsons” supporting characters are, we still don’t know much about some of them. “The Simpsons” is not like “One Piece” or “Star Wars” where each Glup Shitto has a long history. Instead, the show just repeats flashbacks of Homer and Marge, but with updated references – even if that means make fans angry because Homer and Marge are now millennials. Then there’s the odd episode that reveals something important about a character we’ve known for decades, like when Carl is revealed to have Icelandic heritage in season 14 (and then reveals his last name 10 years later).

Now, after 36 years on the air, “The Simpsons” is giving another beloved supporting character the origin story he deserved, and it’s one of the best episodes in a long time. That character is Pedro Chespirito, also known as Bumblebee Man, the star of his own slapstick comedy show on Channel 8.

The latest episode of “The Simpsons” is a love letter to Bumblebee Man, but also to slapstick comedy and Mexican stunts.

We have an origin story for Bumblebee Man when he was just Pedro. He arrived in the United States with dreams of becoming a serious Hollywood actor – only to arrive in the wrong town with a big sign on a hill. Heartbroken but refusing to give up, Pedro got a job at a brand new Spanish-language television station called Channel Ocho Studios (or Channel 8) as a janitor. This is of course a reference to the original inspiration for Bumblebee Manthe late Mexican television actor and cultural icon Roberto Gómez Bolaños, whose pseudonym was Chespirito or “Little Shakespeare” like Bumblebee Man’s last name. Gómez Bolaños is best known for creating the titanic Latino television powerhouses, “El Chapulín Colorado” and “El Chavo del Ocho,” both of which air on Channel 8 in Mexico.

One day, after trying to clean out a wasp nest behind a soundstage, Pedro’s foot got stuck in a bucket and he rolled around the studio running into every possible obstacle, before finally landing on some costumes and accidentally falling into a bumblebee costume. His complaints about the cruelty and irony of life made everyone in the studio laugh, and a producer decided to hire Pedro on the spot and give him a slapstick comedy show. This is how Bumblebee Man was born, a tragicomic character cursed by the cosmos, like Sisyphus or Benny Hill.

Fame eventually came for Pedro, but it came at the cost of annihilating his body for the pleasure of his viewers.

Bumblebee Man’s new origin story is heartwarming and him being Mexican-American is much better than when he was Italian, British and even Belgian in the comics.

The episode itself is a delightful homage to the long history and tradition of slapstick comedy in Mexico, with direct visual references to “El Chapulín Colorado.” This show remains a staple not only of Mexican cinema, but has also become a cornerstone of Latin American humor important enough to the main character who will appear in the film “Blue Beetle”. The entire episode is about the value of slapstick comedy, its ability to reach all types of audiences and break down language barriers. As Homer tells Pedro when they first meet, “I don’t know Spanish, but when a nun kicks your junk, you speak the international crotch language.” Slapstick comedy is pure television entertainment, capable of escaping our daily problems, capable of being understood by audiences anywhere, regardless of their understanding of the story or dialogue.

Likewise, the episode spends a lot of time paying homage to the stuntmen, in the “Simpsons” equivalent of “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” – a film that is referenced several times throughout the episode. Homer becomes a body double for Bumblebee Man, and he immediately becomes a hero to Bart who sees the value in Homer taking all the shots behind the camera – even though the episode also makes fun of some hoops studios performing body doubles, such as using brown face.

Bumblebee Man may have started out as a bit of a racial stereotype, but he’s as big and as beloved a Springfield figure as the rest, and he finally got his due.