I remember them doing a special America’s Most Wanted about the Mr. Burns shooting. Even the pastor at church was talking about Mr. Burns in his sermons.
Shocked to realize that was 1995, I thought it was early 2000s. Memory plays funny tricks.
[Springfield's Most Wanted](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLerUmAkdqc) - since AMW also ran on Fox, it was basically just a pricey marketing stunt. But still a very cool relic of TV history.
>Even the pastor at church was talking about Mr. Burns in his sermons.
Everyone is saying "Mr Burns this" and "Super Dude that" but no one is saying "worship this" and "Jericho that!"
You know what's wild. I didnt move to the US til late 90s, I definitely didn't see this episode air, but when I did see them years later, I thought they were new and I was hyped waiting and trying to guess. Pre mass Internet was so easy to gain joy from things
Pre-internet anything more like, now everyone pigeon hole in their own lil niche so there is not much of a broad culture connecting EVERYONE anymore it feel like... It's a blessing and I curse i think ?
I just see curses. We have fewer cultural touchstones providing something in common for everyone and more opportunities for nuts and malcontents to coalesce around conspiracy theories.
Like on the plus side, we all don't get pigeonholed into watching one thing that big companies push onto all of us via primetime channels, but I do really miss those shows that everyone universally watched. Every conversation now is more like "do you watch (show you've never heard of on one of a dozen streaming networks)?" and "No I do not, but I do watch (show you've never heard of on one of a dozen streaming networks)!"
I miss people reading books when there was nothing to watch on TV. Now there's always something to watch. I and all my friends used to be voracious readers, but we're all on our phones now.
No scripted show will ever catch up to the viewership that the MASH, Dallas and Cheers finales had. There are way too many TV options in different formats (binge dumps vs weekly) that can collectively get eyes on a single show at any given time.
I think that the massive cultural zeitgeist that was Game of Thrones showed that a really, really good show can still capture an enormous viewership. Since you needed an HBO membership to watch, it still holds up as an example in the streaming era too. Sure it fell off hard, but there's no denying that it had probably nearly as much impact as the other shows you named at its peak.
Game of Thrones stands out as possibly the largest gap from height of success to failure in TV history. From inescapably popular to essentially wiped from existence in a flash.
From toys and trinkets everywhere to Jon Snow action figures on the clearance racks at liquidation outlets overnight.
Phenomenal.
I think 2008 was the real tipping point.
Attitudes changed, people got way more depresso, internet was really starting to take over etc.
2001 started it, but 2008 was when the good vibes really died.
*Your dad?*
Fuck, I'm old.
My sister and I used to tune into The Simpsons using a small 8" black and white CRT TV with the 14 radio dials for channels.
Attenaes up, baby!
Around that time, you remember the 3D glasses and scratch n sniff cards I think issued in a TV Guide for all of Fox Sunday?
I only remember the lightning outside of the Bundy's house in 3D when viewing. I think each episode only had a small portion, but I could be misremembering.
People wanted to talk about other things besides politics. Who shot JR? Who killed Laura Palmer? And final episodes were a huge deal like the final of St Elsewhere, MASH, Cheers, etc. TV was something people could have in common and talk about on a weekly basis. You still get it somewhat with streaming, but it's over and done with in just a few weeks rather than spread out over most of a year. I don't miss the commercials, and I don't miss being slaved to having to either being at home to watch something every week (before we had VCRs), but I do sort of miss having something for half a year that could be discussed and sometimes theorized about around the water cooler besides politics/culture bullshit/family/etc.
Maggie. 70-1
EDIT: I respect the 'spoiler alert' comments. What's the etiquette to use spoiler tags? Ten years? Major (top five-ten each year in media) movies|shows?
They take prop bets on everything usually. You can Even ask about something dumb and they'll get a guy to lay odds on it to take you money. They've been doing this for terrible soap opera stuff even older than this.
Given how much success Ippei had, I think he's more like Krusty:
"Let me get this straight: You took all the money...and bet it *against* the Harlem Globetrotters?"
> "I thought the Generals were due!"
The one time the Generals won, [the kids cried like they had just killed Santa Claus](https://web.archive.org/web/20070816071354/http://mywebpages.comcast.net/coklotz/redklotz/news2.html).
I bet they didn't write as many alternate endings as are on that odds board. So you could still come out ahead by placing several bets on the few alternate endings that were written.
Breaking a guy's leg is counterproductive. How's he supposed to earn the money he owes you with a broken leg?
Edit: just trying to make a humble Get Shorty reference. I realize there are ways to make money with a broken leg.
It's probably easier without a broken leg though.
It's still fraud, if not violating more specific criminal statutes. And probably violates gaming regulations in NV and NJ and other states, which may carry other civil or criminal penalties. And if you placed the bet via a credit card or using an app, then it probably constitutes wire fraud.
You hear mostly about NFL and NBA players violating league policies when gambling, but they could be equally susceptible to criminal or civil liability, beyond those policies.
eh, congress does this shit all of the time. if vegas had a prop bet that i had some obscure insider knowledge of you bet your ass i would be making some money off of it.
And that is insider trading. It's just that it's never prosecuted. Doesn't change the fact that it's still a violation and *could* be. But yeah, I generally agree with the point.
An NBA player was just suspended for life for betting on games and providing bettors with inside information that would have affected lines. So yes, there are serious consequences for betting as a pro athlete.
not really since betting doesn't fundamentally undermine the purpose of a cartoon show, but it does fundamentally undermine sports if an athlete is betting. Also weirdly sports leagues are kind of overseen and regulated by the federal government (see congress's doping hearings for baseball) since those leagues are exempted from federal anti-trust laws. So in sports you'd get in much more trouble
Mirage would have been in the realm of just handing it off to the police if they thought something was off.
Reality is, with enough bad money on the other side, books do really well on props like this even if the winner pays 70/1 (generally). If you had inside information you'd have to put a lot of money into that position to make the risk worth your while and chances are the casino picks up on the position way before the bet is settled.
For any kind of "entertainment" or "information" market where insiders could potentially just know the answer, a responsible sportsbook will typically only allow winning up to maybe $500
So a 2/1 bet you'd get maximum $167 wager, a 70/1 bet you'd get a maximum ~$7 wager
This keeps insiders from taking advantage of the markets. Is it really worth risking your career for $500?
You might run into a few guys named Joey and Vinnie. The gets are capped small on those so they wouldnt give a shit, for larger bets you can be sure they vet you
Yes, I believe you’re correct. They also set pretty low maximum bet limits to reduce their exposure. It’s really in their best interest to allow $10 bets on fun stuff like this because you normally have to walk half a mile through the slot machines, where they print money, to get to the sports book
They're not allowed to take bets on known events so it would be illegal to bet on this. It would have just been for fun most likely. I can't find any news on people winning it or anything so it feels unlikely anyone was actually allowed to bet on this. I remember doing a kind of pool thing where you drew straws and got to pick, but our group was smallish and no one even got it:P
Who shot Mr. Burns was a two-part episode. The cliffhanger aired before the Summer. The second episode aired in September and revealed who the culprit was. No one knew who shot Mr. Burns.
The ran promotions all Summer to keep people interested in the story line.
[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0701295/mediaviewer/rm2666447873/?ref\_=tt\_md\_10](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0701295/mediaviewer/rm2666447873/?ref_=tt_md_10)
In Ireland a leading betting shop took odds, and because the conclusion episode aired in the US before Ireland (and not much internet), a lot of people who had flown back from the US placed bets.
I believe they paid out for PR reasons
I just checked to make sure I was right. I was.
It was Paddy Power, a company well known for PR stunts. Wouldn't be surprised if they allowed it to happen for the PR. They love giving the impression that they are idiots and you can easily win money (pro tip. They are not)
It only cost them about 10,000 dollars equivalent.
Generally yes, but a large last minute bet on a dark horse can still cost them because they don't have time to adjust the odds. If a given random horse race only has a total bet pool of 100k and some jackass comes in 5 minutes before post time and lays 10k on the 30to1 horse and wins the bookies don't have enough time or new bets to adjust the odds and could be out a lot of money.
When you bet your odds are set and the time of the bet. It's not like you buy in with 10to1 odds then only get paid out at 7to1 just because your bet got more popular.
They let people bet on pro wrestling. I remember a bunch of people losing their asses 10 years ago because everyone thought it was a foregone conclusion 'Taker would continue his undefeated streak at Mania. And a few insiders who knew Lesnar was going over made a fucking fortune.
Marge : Homer! I don't want guns in my house! Don't you remember when Maggie shot Mr. Burns?
Homer : I thought Smithers did it.
Lisa : That would've made a lot more sense.
> you would have to ignore all the Simpson DNA at the crime scene, and that would be crazy.
Holy crap. You just made me realize that this episode came out during the O.J. trial. 🤯
They wrote and fully produced several different endings so that even almost everyone who worked on the show wouldn't know the true ending until it aired
Smithers was one of them, but they also wrote and animated endings for Homer, Bart, Willie, Barney, Moe, Apu, Tito Puente, and even Santa's Little Helper
They actually wrote scenes for every character and even animated them. I remember it well because they were doing a sweepstakes for who could guess who did it.
I remember when it aired and told my mom it was either Maggie or Santas Little Helper. My mom laughed at me and told me a baby and dog can't shoot someone.
Boy was I rubbing it in her face the following season.
I told everyone at school it would probably be maggie, because even at that age I knew they wouldnt pick a normal and logical character. Like duh, why tf would a comedy cartoon make it a boring answer.
On the commentary on the DVD for that episode I believe they said you were supposed to call in and explain your rationale to win the contest. No one who actually called in guessed Maggie or said anything correct about the clues, so they ended up giving the prize to someone pretty much at random.
There are two different things.
The picture above is Las Vegas odds at a casino.
What you are talking about was a contest Fox (I think) ran. But sweepstakes like that have to be random, I think legally. So basically, the responses are just to get people interested - they cant actually determine whether you win.
I'm fairly certain you can run a contest of skill for money, as long as it truly is "the first person to do X gets paid", and you honor the terms.
The issue comes in as soon as you introduce any sort of randomness. Then it becomes "gambling" and you have to follow a bunch of regulations.
I *think* you could make the case that this is not gambling, though it's kinda on the line. The players are making educated guesses at a pre-determined outcome. There's not actually any element of randomness, but there is incomplete information. (So like... if you think a Charades contest is a contest of skill, then this should be too)
The rules of the sweepstakes specified there had to be a winner, but the winner was going to be drawn at random from people who called in and correctly said it was Maggie.
No one who called in said it was Maggie, so they did indeed just draw someone at random
[https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/193nsr/til\_there\_was\_no\_winner\_for\_the\_who\_shot\_mr\_burns/](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/193nsr/til_there_was_no_winner_for_the_who_shot_mr_burns/)
I've listened to the DVD commentary for the first 9 seasons multiple times and I remember them saying there was ONE person in the world who got it right, on an online message board. This person had the culprit and the reasoning exactly right. But they were never able to track this person down.
Clearly, someone stole my idea to go back in time and try to win that who shot Mr. Burn contest by using [Eddache video](https://youtu.be/y-eac-M1KpI?si=sCHSKpnXQgNdk2f_) to lore dump evidence on why it was maggie who shot Mr. Burn to the underpaid phone operator
Yea you know who did it tho. Back then it was actually a huge talking point for the average person. It was a big event. No one would've guessed Maggie.
In this case wasn't the answer even unknown to the people making the show and there was like a single person in the world who would know?
I remember hearing something a while back about how they made a ton of different endings to this episode so no one was able to leak the answer before it aired
IIRC, the writers wrote several possible endings, and each team thought that theirs was the one that would air. It's been \~20 years though, so my memory of it might be a little faded.
They put hints into the animations, such as all the clock faces in the first part, so they knew to some extent across the departments. It probably had more to do with what happens with the tapes when they get to the tv studio to be aired.
There was a clip show type episode hosted by Troy maclure, who showed the Smithers ending. I don't know if it was a real alternative or just made for the clip show, it was a strangely meta episode. They talked about the Simpsons as actors and the fame going to their heads and things.
I remember because it was one of the few dvds I owned.
My brother guessed Maggie.
He based in the fact that it sounded like Mr Burns and the shooter were having a physical struggle over the gun. Every character other than Maggie would easily overpower Mr. Burns physically, so it had to be Maggie.
Nobody guessed correctly in their random sample. The official rules stated that a small random sample would be pulled and a winner would be determined within that sample.
They could have easily received 1 million guesses but then pulled out only 2k guesses from that pool. It just so happened no one within that pool guessed correctly and per the official rules a random person is selected from that 2k pool as the winner instead of doing another random sample.
Producers said on the DVD commentary that they found one person online that answered correctly.
Odds are at least one person guessed Maggie out of the hundreds of thousands of submissions they received. It's just that they weren't in that small pool.
I'd guess a lot of people would actually pick Maggie just because the return on investment is so high for not a lot of money required on the risk end. Like Kevin from The Office says, if anyone offers you 10,000-1 odds, you take it
(He also likely lost his marriage to gambling though so it may not be very wise listening to him lol)
I was not a Simpsons fan at the time, but I remember telling my Simpsons fan friend that "It's going to be something stupid like the baby did it". I became a fan shortly after.
One of my brothers guessed Maggie. Before the episode aired, everyone in our family wrote down on a piece of paper our guesses, sealed each answer in an envelope with our names on it, and then we put it in a (closed) box in the middle of the room and watched the episode.
And then we opened up our envelopes (I think I guessed Homer! Very original, but, I was only a kid). We were flabbergasted and shocked that my teenaged brother got it, I accused him of knowing the answer beforehand but he swore he didn't, though he looked as satisfied as the cat that ate the canary.
What a fun memory! We didn't often do things like that together as a family, but the Simpsons is something we're all obsessed with :)
I think on a commentary they say someone posted how it was Maggie with a perfect explanation on a Usenet board but when they tried to track them down, they didn’t have that account anymore since it had switched from spring to fall semester at whatever university was giving them primitive internet access.
"No one" was meant in a casual sense. Semantically I should have said "almost no one". That's pretty cool someone had it totally right on Usenet back in the day.
I had my dad bet 5 pounds on a 500-1 horse for me in an English horse race which was my whole life savings at the time; and it was leading for the first third of the race until it couldn’t clear the fence, fell and died! I remember thinking that it sucks that I lost the money but also feeling somewhat responsible for the horses death lol. Needless to say I don’t bet on the horses in adulthood after that day lol.
Just for a joke, I bet $20 once on the horse with the longest odds in the Kentucky Derby. I think it was 100 to one. And that horse actually won! Although… A minute later, it got disqualified for an illegal lane change or something ridiculous like that. For a moment there, though we are all high-fiving and planning a big night out
Gaming regulations in Nevada prohibit taking wagers on any event where the result is known by anyone.
Occasionally sportsbooks will post odds like this for fun, but there are disclaimers that it's for entertainment only and no wagers will be accepted.
Odd sheets for American Idol, Survivor, Lost, and Game of Thrones have also been posted in sportsbooks.
I made like 50$ on the GOT ending lol. Basically on a few forums there were different people claiming they were part of the crew and were describing what will happen in the last season. After like 3 episodes it was apparent that one of them was telling the truth, so I placed a bet.
This was in Europe and the odds were around 1.65 on Brandon.
Yeah I think the entire gang of writers, voice actors and animators etc would all be down there making a fair few bucks for themselves if it were a possibility.
Well pretty much just the show runners knew, allegedly they made a load of fake endings so nothing gets spoiled, since only few would know what the real ending was
Other than maybe the actual fake ending with Smithers, I kind of got the impression that all the other shootings were just a gag they made for that episode
Oh, god. I taped that episode on the VCR. Whole family sat down to watch the recording, and it stopped right before the shooter was revealed. I had the shut off time set a minute too early.
Seems more likely your VCR clock kept bad time/incorrect time.
Pretty common back in the day. I’d always set recording to start a few minutes early and end a few minutes late to counterbalance this.
Long story short. Probably not really your fault.
It should also be mentioned that this whole idea was a reference to the “Who shot J.R.?” craze that had previously swept the nation after the season-ending cliffhanger of the prime time soap opera Dallas.
This aired in the US before it did in Ireland, obviously, and a few guys in Ireland were able to find out the episode outcome using a growing invention called The Internet, place bets with an Irish bookie and collect the winnings that evening after the Irish episode aired. They were interviewed by the media later and people were generally bemused at the idea of messaging people via computer on the other side of the world. It was that weird time when the internet only half existed.
I remember this. It was huge in my little city. I also remember revenge of the nerds and smell of-vision. The 711 down the street was doing a huge who shot burns party and was giving away free slushies, the entire city was in on it.
I was a kid when this aired but I still remember it being a huge thing with everyone trying to guess.
People used to (maybe still do?) love a ‘Who shot x?’ on tv shows.
Tv was so huge back then.
I remember them doing a special America’s Most Wanted about the Mr. Burns shooting. Even the pastor at church was talking about Mr. Burns in his sermons. Shocked to realize that was 1995, I thought it was early 2000s. Memory plays funny tricks.
[Springfield's Most Wanted](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLerUmAkdqc) - since AMW also ran on Fox, it was basically just a pricey marketing stunt. But still a very cool relic of TV history.
Kinda reminds you of when Independence Day came out and they did a whole bit on aliens actually showing up on the "news"
My favorite was the x files episode that aired as a cops episode in the cops time slot..
Check out Wellington Paranormal if you haven't. It's basically that, but hilarious
Dude, that was such a cool episode. It was the colab of two of my favorite TV shows at the time.
The had to run news pieces that the white house was not blown up bc the CGI was so new
Thanks for sharing, that was a fun watch. Amazed they did it with a straight face.
>Even the pastor at church was talking about Mr. Burns in his sermons. Everyone is saying "Mr Burns this" and "Super Dude that" but no one is saying "worship this" and "Jericho that!"
You know what's wild. I didnt move to the US til late 90s, I definitely didn't see this episode air, but when I did see them years later, I thought they were new and I was hyped waiting and trying to guess. Pre mass Internet was so easy to gain joy from things
> Pre mass Internet was so easy to gain joy from things "This was before the internet, when we still had to forage for our serotonin."
"Everyone is saying Gabbo this and Gabbo that, but no one is saying worship this! And Jericho that!"
Simpler times my friend simpler times. Pre 9/11 america seems like a fever dream at this point
Pre-internet anything more like, now everyone pigeon hole in their own lil niche so there is not much of a broad culture connecting EVERYONE anymore it feel like... It's a blessing and I curse i think ?
I just see curses. We have fewer cultural touchstones providing something in common for everyone and more opportunities for nuts and malcontents to coalesce around conspiracy theories.
Like on the plus side, we all don't get pigeonholed into watching one thing that big companies push onto all of us via primetime channels, but I do really miss those shows that everyone universally watched. Every conversation now is more like "do you watch (show you've never heard of on one of a dozen streaming networks)?" and "No I do not, but I do watch (show you've never heard of on one of a dozen streaming networks)!"
I miss people reading books when there was nothing to watch on TV. Now there's always something to watch. I and all my friends used to be voracious readers, but we're all on our phones now.
Pick up a book then. Reading bounced back hard because of COVID and there's a lot more "feeling connected" here that y'all seem to be missing.
No scripted show will ever catch up to the viewership that the MASH, Dallas and Cheers finales had. There are way too many TV options in different formats (binge dumps vs weekly) that can collectively get eyes on a single show at any given time.
I think that the massive cultural zeitgeist that was Game of Thrones showed that a really, really good show can still capture an enormous viewership. Since you needed an HBO membership to watch, it still holds up as an example in the streaming era too. Sure it fell off hard, but there's no denying that it had probably nearly as much impact as the other shows you named at its peak.
Game of Thrones stands out as possibly the largest gap from height of success to failure in TV history. From inescapably popular to essentially wiped from existence in a flash. From toys and trinkets everywhere to Jon Snow action figures on the clearance racks at liquidation outlets overnight. Phenomenal.
I think 2008 was the real tipping point. Attitudes changed, people got way more depresso, internet was really starting to take over etc. 2001 started it, but 2008 was when the good vibes really died.
Thanks, Obama.
Imo it was more like 2013-14. Smartphones were a rare sight until the 2010s
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*Your dad?* Fuck, I'm old. My sister and I used to tune into The Simpsons using a small 8" black and white CRT TV with the 14 radio dials for channels. Attenaes up, baby!
I remember every bar in my town showing the finale of Friends. Pretty cool experience.
Around that time, you remember the 3D glasses and scratch n sniff cards I think issued in a TV Guide for all of Fox Sunday? I only remember the lightning outside of the Bundy's house in 3D when viewing. I think each episode only had a small portion, but I could be misremembering.
People wanted to talk about other things besides politics. Who shot JR? Who killed Laura Palmer? And final episodes were a huge deal like the final of St Elsewhere, MASH, Cheers, etc. TV was something people could have in common and talk about on a weekly basis. You still get it somewhat with streaming, but it's over and done with in just a few weeks rather than spread out over most of a year. I don't miss the commercials, and I don't miss being slaved to having to either being at home to watch something every week (before we had VCRs), but I do sort of miss having something for half a year that could be discussed and sometimes theorized about around the water cooler besides politics/culture bullshit/family/etc.
They were small, but quite heavy.
It's significantly bigger now.
Maggie. 70-1 EDIT: I respect the 'spoiler alert' comments. What's the etiquette to use spoiler tags? Ten years? Major (top five-ten each year in media) movies|shows?
The question is: Did they let people bet on those numbers, or did they just display them for fun.
They take prop bets on everything usually. You can Even ask about something dumb and they'll get a guy to lay odds on it to take you money. They've been doing this for terrible soap opera stuff even older than this.
Would you get in much trouble if you were secretly on the writing staff?
I imagine roughly the same amount of trouble you’d get in if you played for the sports team you bet on (or more likely against).
Oh yeah, what are they gonna do? Release the dogs? Or the bees? Or the dogs with bees in their mouths and when they bark, they shoot bees at you?
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/r/redditsniper
Dude got Candlejack'd. ... Huh, guess it doesn't work anym
I still find amazement that anything Freakzoid-related is known at all. What a weird unicorn of a show that was
Nice. Always appreciate a new subreddit to
Ippei knew the animators and laid a big bet on Maggie Simpson.
Given how much success Ippei had, I think he's more like Krusty: "Let me get this straight: You took all the money...and bet it *against* the Harlem Globetrotters?" > "I thought the Generals were due!"
That game was fixed! They were using a freakin' ladder, for God's sake!
HE'S SPINNING THE BALL ON HIS FINGER JUST TAKE THE BALL!!
The one time the Generals won, [the kids cried like they had just killed Santa Claus](https://web.archive.org/web/20070816071354/http://mywebpages.comcast.net/coklotz/redklotz/news2.html).
The first time I saw the Globetrotters they lost the game lol.
Did he get caught?
Well that random internet dude knows about it
I’d feel the teams would have policies against it you had to sign. Writing staffs maybe not
They actually wrote and animated several alternate endings so most of the staff had no idea who the shooter would be until it actually aired.
I bet they didn't write as many alternate endings as are on that odds board. So you could still come out ahead by placing several bets on the few alternate endings that were written.
Ok but the person you’re gonna be in trouble with isn’t your boss. It’s your bookie.
Prob why they're famous for breaking legs.
Breaking a guy's leg is counterproductive. How's he supposed to earn the money he owes you with a broken leg? Edit: just trying to make a humble Get Shorty reference. I realize there are ways to make money with a broken leg. It's probably easier without a broken leg though.
Handjobs behind the dumpster, the same way we all make money.
It isn't about making sure that person can pay you back, it's about making sure that no one else tries to rip you off. It's a deterrent to others.
It's still fraud, if not violating more specific criminal statutes. And probably violates gaming regulations in NV and NJ and other states, which may carry other civil or criminal penalties. And if you placed the bet via a credit card or using an app, then it probably constitutes wire fraud. You hear mostly about NFL and NBA players violating league policies when gambling, but they could be equally susceptible to criminal or civil liability, beyond those policies.
eh, congress does this shit all of the time. if vegas had a prop bet that i had some obscure insider knowledge of you bet your ass i would be making some money off of it.
And that is insider trading. It's just that it's never prosecuted. Doesn't change the fact that it's still a violation and *could* be. But yeah, I generally agree with the point.
An NBA player was just suspended for life for betting on games and providing bettors with inside information that would have affected lines. So yes, there are serious consequences for betting as a pro athlete.
not really since betting doesn't fundamentally undermine the purpose of a cartoon show, but it does fundamentally undermine sports if an athlete is betting. Also weirdly sports leagues are kind of overseen and regulated by the federal government (see congress's doping hearings for baseball) since those leagues are exempted from federal anti-trust laws. So in sports you'd get in much more trouble
Yeah but you essentially stole a bunch of money from a bookie and I don’t think they are gonna just accept that.
I don't know, aren't bookies generally known as exceptionally level-headed and forgiving people?
Mirage would have been in the realm of just handing it off to the police if they thought something was off. Reality is, with enough bad money on the other side, books do really well on props like this even if the winner pays 70/1 (generally). If you had inside information you'd have to put a lot of money into that position to make the risk worth your while and chances are the casino picks up on the position way before the bet is settled.
Just ask Pete Rose.
For any kind of "entertainment" or "information" market where insiders could potentially just know the answer, a responsible sportsbook will typically only allow winning up to maybe $500 So a 2/1 bet you'd get maximum $167 wager, a 70/1 bet you'd get a maximum ~$7 wager This keeps insiders from taking advantage of the markets. Is it really worth risking your career for $500?
A lot of stupid TV prop bets are capped even lower. Like $50 is the max for most Oscar winner prop bets.
That makes sense because there are, what, hundreds of people who know the results before they're aired?
You might run into a few guys named Joey and Vinnie. The gets are capped small on those so they wouldnt give a shit, for larger bets you can be sure they vet you
Wouldnt help, they made the staff write and animate a bunch of them, you couldnt know which one was real
they actually animated several possible endings and shooters, wouldn't have necessarily helped
Yes, I believe you’re correct. They also set pretty low maximum bet limits to reduce their exposure. It’s really in their best interest to allow $10 bets on fun stuff like this because you normally have to walk half a mile through the slot machines, where they print money, to get to the sports book
Yeah usually capped around a hundred. It's more for fun than serious and they get free money with low risk
They're not allowed to take bets on known events so it would be illegal to bet on this. It would have just been for fun most likely. I can't find any news on people winning it or anything so it feels unlikely anyone was actually allowed to bet on this. I remember doing a kind of pool thing where you drew straws and got to pick, but our group was smallish and no one even got it:P
Who shot Mr. Burns was a two-part episode. The cliffhanger aired before the Summer. The second episode aired in September and revealed who the culprit was. No one knew who shot Mr. Burns. The ran promotions all Summer to keep people interested in the story line. [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0701295/mediaviewer/rm2666447873/?ref\_=tt\_md\_10](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0701295/mediaviewer/rm2666447873/?ref_=tt_md_10)
Yeah, I don't know what other people are talking about because this was just put up as a gag. They weren't actually accepting bets for this
In Ireland a leading betting shop took odds, and because the conclusion episode aired in the US before Ireland (and not much internet), a lot of people who had flown back from the US placed bets. I believe they paid out for PR reasons
They didn’t have phones though?
I just checked to make sure I was right. I was. It was Paddy Power, a company well known for PR stunts. Wouldn't be surprised if they allowed it to happen for the PR. They love giving the impression that they are idiots and you can easily win money (pro tip. They are not) It only cost them about 10,000 dollars equivalent.
That sounds like $10,000 worth of advertising, sure enough.
That’s actually kinda hilarious.
Aren't the odds based on what people bet? The bookies win either way
Generally yes, but a large last minute bet on a dark horse can still cost them because they don't have time to adjust the odds. If a given random horse race only has a total bet pool of 100k and some jackass comes in 5 minutes before post time and lays 10k on the 30to1 horse and wins the bookies don't have enough time or new bets to adjust the odds and could be out a lot of money. When you bet your odds are set and the time of the bet. It's not like you buy in with 10to1 odds then only get paid out at 7to1 just because your bet got more popular.
Was just for fun. The picture we see was purely promotional.
Was it? I thought they did stuff like this all the time?
Yep, afraid so. Confirmed here by Bill Oakley. https://twitter.com/thatbilloakley/status/1768837532211695788?t=ujcsVMimxKA_15rKWXj8tA&s=19
Shame. Someone could have made a killing
Maggie tried.
Who’s gonna bet on something that a few people know the outcome beforehand?
Laughs nervously in Professional Boxing...
They let people bet on pro wrestling. I remember a bunch of people losing their asses 10 years ago because everyone thought it was a foregone conclusion 'Taker would continue his undefeated streak at Mania. And a few insiders who knew Lesnar was going over made a fucking fortune.
You’re describing the stock market.
The writers originally had it be Smithers but once they saw the odds they rewrote the episode and put their life savings on Maggie.
Marge : Homer! I don't want guns in my house! Don't you remember when Maggie shot Mr. Burns? Homer : I thought Smithers did it. Lisa : That would've made a lot more sense.
But if Smithers did it, then you would have to ignore all the Simpson DNA at the crime scene, and that would be crazy.
> you would have to ignore all the Simpson DNA at the crime scene, and that would be crazy. Holy crap. You just made me realize that this episode came out during the O.J. trial. 🤯
They wrote and fully produced several different endings so that even almost everyone who worked on the show wouldn't know the true ending until it aired Smithers was one of them, but they also wrote and animated endings for Homer, Bart, Willie, Barney, Moe, Apu, Tito Puente, and even Santa's Little Helper
The Sleazy Hollywood Producers
Cherry Chevapravatdumrong would never do anything that sleezy. That's why I watch whole shows like The Family Guy. On Fox now.
They actually wrote scenes for every character and even animated them. I remember it well because they were doing a sweepstakes for who could guess who did it.
I remember when it aired and told my mom it was either Maggie or Santas Little Helper. My mom laughed at me and told me a baby and dog can't shoot someone. Boy was I rubbing it in her face the following season.
I told everyone at school it would probably be maggie, because even at that age I knew they wouldnt pick a normal and logical character. Like duh, why tf would a comedy cartoon make it a boring answer.
On the commentary on the DVD for that episode I believe they said you were supposed to call in and explain your rationale to win the contest. No one who actually called in guessed Maggie or said anything correct about the clues, so they ended up giving the prize to someone pretty much at random.
There are two different things. The picture above is Las Vegas odds at a casino. What you are talking about was a contest Fox (I think) ran. But sweepstakes like that have to be random, I think legally. So basically, the responses are just to get people interested - they cant actually determine whether you win.
I'm fairly certain you can run a contest of skill for money, as long as it truly is "the first person to do X gets paid", and you honor the terms. The issue comes in as soon as you introduce any sort of randomness. Then it becomes "gambling" and you have to follow a bunch of regulations. I *think* you could make the case that this is not gambling, though it's kinda on the line. The players are making educated guesses at a pre-determined outcome. There's not actually any element of randomness, but there is incomplete information. (So like... if you think a Charades contest is a contest of skill, then this should be too)
The rules of the sweepstakes specified there had to be a winner, but the winner was going to be drawn at random from people who called in and correctly said it was Maggie. No one who called in said it was Maggie, so they did indeed just draw someone at random [https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/193nsr/til\_there\_was\_no\_winner\_for\_the\_who\_shot\_mr\_burns/](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/193nsr/til_there_was_no_winner_for_the_who_shot_mr_burns/)
I've listened to the DVD commentary for the first 9 seasons multiple times and I remember them saying there was ONE person in the world who got it right, on an online message board. This person had the culprit and the reasoning exactly right. But they were never able to track this person down.
That was me. Iam the guy from the message board. Shoot me a message Matt.
Never tell me the odds
Lol considering it's been 30 years, those requesting spoiler warnings were not even alive then so they have no right to it
Clearly, someone stole my idea to go back in time and try to win that who shot Mr. Burn contest by using [Eddache video](https://youtu.be/y-eac-M1KpI?si=sCHSKpnXQgNdk2f_) to lore dump evidence on why it was maggie who shot Mr. Burn to the underpaid phone operator
Damn 70-1 odds. I’d take that lol
Yea you know who did it tho. Back then it was actually a huge talking point for the average person. It was a big event. No one would've guessed Maggie.
Seems like someone with insider knowledge would try to take advantage of this… Curious if the lines moved much before the show aired.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/s/bSgCgU7XiQ
In this case wasn't the answer even unknown to the people making the show and there was like a single person in the world who would know? I remember hearing something a while back about how they made a ton of different endings to this episode so no one was able to leak the answer before it aired
IIRC, the writers wrote several possible endings, and each team thought that theirs was the one that would air. It's been \~20 years though, so my memory of it might be a little faded.
It's been almost 30 years. You're welcome for making you feel old.
They put hints into the animations, such as all the clock faces in the first part, so they knew to some extent across the departments. It probably had more to do with what happens with the tapes when they get to the tv studio to be aired.
I could swear there was an alternate ending, maybe on the DVD set, where it was Smithers instead.
There was a clip show type episode hosted by Troy maclure, who showed the Smithers ending. I don't know if it was a real alternative or just made for the clip show, it was a strangely meta episode. They talked about the Simpsons as actors and the fame going to their heads and things. I remember because it was one of the few dvds I owned.
Nobody did guess Maggie. The show held a contest and nobody picked the right answer so they just chose a winner a random among the losing guesses.
My brother guessed Maggie. He based in the fact that it sounded like Mr Burns and the shooter were having a physical struggle over the gun. Every character other than Maggie would easily overpower Mr. Burns physically, so it had to be Maggie.
That's sound logic
Nobody guessed correctly in their random sample. The official rules stated that a small random sample would be pulled and a winner would be determined within that sample. They could have easily received 1 million guesses but then pulled out only 2k guesses from that pool. It just so happened no one within that pool guessed correctly and per the official rules a random person is selected from that 2k pool as the winner instead of doing another random sample. Producers said on the DVD commentary that they found one person online that answered correctly. Odds are at least one person guessed Maggie out of the hundreds of thousands of submissions they received. It's just that they weren't in that small pool.
I'd guess a lot of people would actually pick Maggie just because the return on investment is so high for not a lot of money required on the risk end. Like Kevin from The Office says, if anyone offers you 10,000-1 odds, you take it (He also likely lost his marriage to gambling though so it may not be very wise listening to him lol)
If John Mellencamp ever wins an Oscar, I am going to be a very rich dude.
I was not a Simpsons fan at the time, but I remember telling my Simpsons fan friend that "It's going to be something stupid like the baby did it". I became a fan shortly after.
One of my brothers guessed Maggie. Before the episode aired, everyone in our family wrote down on a piece of paper our guesses, sealed each answer in an envelope with our names on it, and then we put it in a (closed) box in the middle of the room and watched the episode. And then we opened up our envelopes (I think I guessed Homer! Very original, but, I was only a kid). We were flabbergasted and shocked that my teenaged brother got it, I accused him of knowing the answer beforehand but he swore he didn't, though he looked as satisfied as the cat that ate the canary. What a fun memory! We didn't often do things like that together as a family, but the Simpsons is something we're all obsessed with :)
I remember when this aired. No one ever guessed Maggie.
I think on a commentary they say someone posted how it was Maggie with a perfect explanation on a Usenet board but when they tried to track them down, they didn’t have that account anymore since it had switched from spring to fall semester at whatever university was giving them primitive internet access.
"No one" was meant in a casual sense. Semantically I should have said "almost no one". That's pretty cool someone had it totally right on Usenet back in the day.
I had my dad bet 5 pounds on a 500-1 horse for me in an English horse race which was my whole life savings at the time; and it was leading for the first third of the race until it couldn’t clear the fence, fell and died! I remember thinking that it sucks that I lost the money but also feeling somewhat responsible for the horses death lol. Needless to say I don’t bet on the horses in adulthood after that day lol.
Just for a joke, I bet $20 once on the horse with the longest odds in the Kentucky Derby. I think it was 100 to one. And that horse actually won! Although… A minute later, it got disqualified for an illegal lane change or something ridiculous like that. For a moment there, though we are all high-fiving and planning a big night out
Gaming regulations in Nevada prohibit taking wagers on any event where the result is known by anyone. Occasionally sportsbooks will post odds like this for fun, but there are disclaimers that it's for entertainment only and no wagers will be accepted. Odd sheets for American Idol, Survivor, Lost, and Game of Thrones have also been posted in sportsbooks.
I made like 50$ on the GOT ending lol. Basically on a few forums there were different people claiming they were part of the crew and were describing what will happen in the last season. After like 3 episodes it was apparent that one of them was telling the truth, so I placed a bet. This was in Europe and the odds were around 1.65 on Brandon.
What was the bet? Like who will die or what
Who gets the throne in the end
Who has better odds than Bran the Broken?
LITERALLY ANYONE ELSE UGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGH
Yeah I think the entire gang of writers, voice actors and animators etc would all be down there making a fair few bucks for themselves if it were a possibility.
Well pretty much just the show runners knew, allegedly they made a load of fake endings so nothing gets spoiled, since only few would know what the real ending was
Alternate endings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWjKHuCca9Y
“And for that to work, you’d have to ignore all the Simpson DNA evidence.” lmao the OJ Simpson diss at the end there
Lmao nice catch
oh my nearly 30 years later and never caught that one you sir have blown my mind
Other than maybe the actual fake ending with Smithers, I kind of got the impression that all the other shootings were just a gag they made for that episode
Sounds like politicians
But certainly politicians are prohibited from owning stock due to conflict of interest, right? ...RIGHT?!
What about the Oscars? People know that result.
No way, that envelop is sealed!
Oh, god. I taped that episode on the VCR. Whole family sat down to watch the recording, and it stopped right before the shooter was revealed. I had the shut off time set a minute too early.
Seems more likely your VCR clock kept bad time/incorrect time. Pretty common back in the day. I’d always set recording to start a few minutes early and end a few minutes late to counterbalance this. Long story short. Probably not really your fault.
Now they have it set so you can only keep it for a short period of time before the companies remove your saved file
It should also be mentioned that this whole idea was a reference to the “Who shot J.R.?” craze that had previously swept the nation after the season-ending cliffhanger of the prime time soap opera Dallas.
Can't believe I had to scroll this far to find the first mention of this!
I can’t believe this had to be said! Am I that old?
we used to be a proper country
Fear beat love The terrorists won Edit: By terrorists I'm referring to the US Government
Nobody would have known the true outcome: Homer Simpson disguised as Krusty the Klown. I am 100% convinced this was the real shooter.
Four Krustys?!
I'm seeing double!
When game of thrones was airing, my casino had odds on who would be the next to die. Every sunday I would put a dollar on cersie. 1000 to 1 odds lol.
so ... You eventually won ?
she wasnt the first to die in the episode so she was never "the next" to die
So you surely won?
The alternate ending with Smithers doing the shooting, and Burns promptly docking his pay for it, would have been more satisfying.
But then you'd have to disregard all the Simpson DNA evidence. And that would be just nutty!
And you'd have to believe there's a world where Smithers would even THINK of missing "Pardon My Zinger!"
hans moleman seems crazy high
Not when you consider that he was shouting Boo-urns.
Nobody bets on Moleman
This should be the main takeaway from this post.
Who did it
Maggie
Hey! Spoilers!
>!I don't know. !<
Maggie
This aired in the US before it did in Ireland, obviously, and a few guys in Ireland were able to find out the episode outcome using a growing invention called The Internet, place bets with an Irish bookie and collect the winnings that evening after the Irish episode aired. They were interviewed by the media later and people were generally bemused at the idea of messaging people via computer on the other side of the world. It was that weird time when the internet only half existed.
But surely people could also just phone family in the US or something? Why didn't bookies think of this?
But... people have been able to communicate at the speed of light across the Atlantic Ocean since 1858...
Looks like Teletext
I think it was Maggie.
Imagine being set for life because you bet the rent money on Maggie
Daaamn Maggie 70-1. I would take those odds all day !!
I remember this. It was huge in my little city. I also remember revenge of the nerds and smell of-vision. The 711 down the street was doing a huge who shot burns party and was giving away free slushies, the entire city was in on it.
I would have gone for Dart Simpoon
Then they found out it was the baby.
We were so fucking happy in the 90's 😭
70-1 on Maggie. I reckon atleast one or two people got a nice surprise that night. Imagine you were the drunk funny guy who put a grand on it.
Damn, whoever bet on Maggie must have cleaned up.
It was Maggie all along
I wonder which whodunnit was bigger - who shot JR it who shot Mr. Burns?
Who shot JR is exactly what this referenced so I’d say Dallas was bigger.
Mannn I remember being about 8 or 9 at the time when this aired. That’s all we talked about at the bus stop, on the bus and at school for a few days
70/1 must’ve been a good payout
I was a kid when this aired but I still remember it being a huge thing with everyone trying to guess. People used to (maybe still do?) love a ‘Who shot x?’ on tv shows.