Family trees can be complicated and bring some surprises, as happened in The Simpsons, where Homer and Mr. Burns turned out to be distant relatives. Created by Matt Groening, The Simpsons has been around since 1989, though before its proper debut, it was a series of animated shorts appearing in The Tracey Ullman Show. The Simpsons’ success and popularity have grown over the years, becoming the longest-running American sitcom and expanding to other media, most notably comic books and film.
The Simpsons follows the daily adventures of the title family and other colorful characters from the fictional town of Springfield, including enemies of the Simpsons. One character who often serves as a villain is Mr. Burns, Springfield’s richest man and owner of many companies and businesses across town, most notably the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. As such, Mr. Burns is also the boss of Homer, who has fired him a couple of times, but he is also part of his family, and not exactly thanks to his romance with Jacqueline Bouvier, Marge’s mother.
Mr. Burns’ backstory is a bit confusing as it has changed various times over the course of the show, but what hasn’t changed are the names of his parents: Clifford Burns and Daphne Burns (maiden name Charles). From there, his family tree can be traced back many, many generations to find the connecting link between him and his laziest employee at the Nuclear Plant. Mr. Burns’ paternal grandmother was Evelyn Graycomb, born to Otto Graycomb and Lolly DuBois. She was born to Lance DuBois and Clarice Stemple, and the latter was the sister of Gaylord Stemple. It was thanks to Gaylord’s actions that Mr. Burns and Homer are related, so if there’s anyone Mr. Burns would like to blame, it’s him.
Gaylord Stemple married Trixie Simpson, the sister of Garwood Simpson. He married a woman named Clowta Stillman and had a son, Howland Simpson, who married Gabby Crouse and had a son named “Old Tut” Simpson. This last one married “Happy” Dinsdale and had a son named Orville Simpson, who later married Tuma Hickman and together had a son: Abraham Simpson II, best-known as Grandpa Simpson. Abraham married Mona Simpson, and they had a son named Homer. This means that Abraham is Mr. Burns’ fourth-cousin, and so he’s also related to Homer. Many fans have pointed out the irony and comedy of this as Bart was close to becoming Mr. Burns’ official heir in season 5’s episode “Burns’ Heir” – thanks to that complicated family tree, Bart and Mr. Burns are relatives (though very distant ones), so with that in mind, it wouldn’t be that surprising to have him as his heir.
Mr. Burns and Homer being related doesn’t change their history so far nor their future, but is a fun piece of information that adds to the irony and comedy style of The Simpsons. Perhaps Springfield is smaller than it seems and everyone is somehow related to everyone or it was simply a decision Groening made to add more fun to the backstory of Homer, as it’s very ironic that his super-rich, selfish, and cruel boss is actually his distant relative.