This Is the ‘Simpsons’ Character Who Originally Shot Mr. Burns

Today marks the 30th anniversary of one of the greatest events in TV history that involved a gun-toting baby nearly murdering an elderly billionaire. 

Back in 1995, fans of The Simpsons obsessed over the show’s very first interactive mystery show, “Who Shot Mr. Burns?” When the first half of the two-parter aired in May, viewers were tasked with figuring out who was behind the attempted murder of Springfield’s oldest resident. 

When “Who Shot Mr. Burns? Part Two” aired on September 17th, we all learned that the culprit was, in fact, Maggie Simpson, which paid off several subtle clues. Although there are still some who believe that Homer was secretly behind the crime and let his infant daughter take the fall for him.

But before they landed on Maggie, another Sprinfieldian’s name was floated as the episode’s potential gunman.

“Bill (Oakley) and Josh (Weinstein), based on a notion by Matt (Groening), said, ‘Let’s do something like ‘Who Shot J.R.,’’” producer David Mirkin revealed on the episode’s DVD commentary. “And Bill and Josh changed that to ‘Who Shot Mr. Burns?’ They pitched it at one of our story retreats, and we were instantly talking about who was going to be the one who did it.” 

“We wanted Barney,” Weinstein recalled. “And we said, ‘Barney’s going to go to prison and he’s going to go away for years, and we’ll never see him again.”

Barney being the shooter actually would have made a lot of sense, considering that he had a solid motive for murder (fumes from Burns’ oil drill forced Moe’s to close down). And the show had already established that Barney A) owns a gun; and B) is willing to use it when his beer supply is cut-off.

Barney is also prone to moments of violent rage, as evidenced by the time he sucker-punched Wage Boggs during an argument about Lord Palmerston and Pitt the Elder.

This might explain why Barney was one of the fake shooters depicted in the show’s decoy endings, which were produced to keep plot details from leaking to the media.

Still, having Barney go to prison for attempted murder would have been a pretty extreme twist for The Simpsons. As Mirkin pointed out, it would have "changed the dynamic” of the show, not unlike Milhouse’s parents divorce the following season. 

Mirkin and producer James L. Brooks believed that Maggie was the “funnier” choice. Still, Oakley and Weinstein weren’t totally convinced. “Bill and Josh were a little concerned about it at the time,” Mirkin noted, adding that they were eventually won over because “Maggie shifts her eyes at the end,” implying that the shooting “wasn’t a complete accident.”

Since the show’s been renewed for another four seasons, it may be only a matter of time before Maggie strikes again.