Burns' Heir

Realizing that he has no one to carry on his legacy when he dies (Smithers is to be entombed alive with him), Mr. Burns decides to find an heir to inherit his vast fortune.

Bart's parents sue to get their son back, but the court rules in favor of Burns due to the incompetence of the Simpson family's lawyer, Lionel Hutz.

Bart decides that Burns is his "true father" and they celebrate by firing several Springfield Nuclear Power Plant employees.

"Burns' Heir" was the first episode in which Jace Richdale received a writers' credit, although he was a part of the show's staff for several seasons.

[5] A deleted scene from the episode sees Mr. Burns release a "Robotic Richard Simmons" as a way of getting rid of Homer, which dances to a recording of K.C.

Simmons was originally asked to guest star; according to David Mirkin, he was "dying to do the show", but declined when he found out he would voice a robot.

[5] According to Bill Oakley, there was a "significant division of opinion amongst the staff as to whether Richard Simmons was a target The Simpsons should make fun of" because it was "well-trod territory".

[5] To the production staff's surprise, the scene would make the audience "erupt with laughter" when screened at animation conventions and college presentations, so they decided to insert it in the season seven clip show "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular".

[7] The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, wrote that, "the episode lacks the emotional punch of others in which members of the family are separated.

[11] Paul Campos of Rocky Mountain News described the Robotic Richard Simmons scene as "a level of surreal comedy that approaches a kind of genius".