“The Simpsons” Premiers First Episode Featuring Deaf Voice Actor and Sign Language

It took 33 years and 722 episodes.

The Simpsons are the latest Hollywood entity to work with hard-of-hearing actors, premiering its first ever episode with a deaf voice actor and American Sign Language over the weekend.

Sunday’s episode “The Sound of Bleeding Gums” follows saxophone-loving Lisa, who meets the son of her idol, the late musician Bleeding Gums Murphy (who died in season six).

His son, Monk Murphy, is deaf and needs a cochlear implant.

In classic Lisa style, she finds herself getting a little carried away trying to help him.

According to CNN, the episode’s storyline is loosely based off the life of its main writer, Loni Steele Sosthand.

"Having a brother, who is just a year older, who was born deaf, really shaped who I am as a person. So, it is a story not just close to my heart, but to my identity," she told CNN.

She went on to say the show’s producers consulted two American Sign Language specialists to review rough versions of the animations and make sure the meaning of the words were correct, given the characters in the show only have four fingers.

John Autry II, the deaf actor who plays Monk and has also been on Glee and No Ordinary Family, described the role as “life-changing”.

"It's about hard of hearing and hearing characters coming together," he told Variety.

"It's a part of history.”

The history-making episode comes just a fortnight after CODA (which stands for Child of Deaf Adults) won Best Picture at the Academy Awards – a film about a hearing teenage girl who wants to pursue a career as a musician against the wishes of her deaf parents.

The Simpsons Executive Producer, Al Jean, tweeted that the episode airing so soon after CODA’s win was a coincidence.

"It's very hard to do a 'first' after 722 episodes. But I couldn't be more excited about this one,” he said.

Header Image: Fox/20th Television (edited).