Although the Season 27 finale of The Simpsons is titled “Orange Is the New Yellow,” executive producer Al Jean says it’s not a parody. In the episode, Marge is arrested for child negligence after she lets Bart go to the park alone. Jean says the episode was inspired by a column Mitch Albom (Tuesdays with Morrie) wrote about a woman who left her son to play in a park while she went to work. “Nobody wants a child to be neglected,” says Jean, “but I very much feel for a mom who has to work and can’t afford a sitter.”
There is a comedic twist to “Orange Is the New Yellow” of course. In jail, Marge realizes that prison is actually a not-so-bad break from her demanding life as a wife and mother of three. The Simpsons airs Sundays at 8pm on FOX.
