The Sound of Bleeding Gums

"The Sound of Bleeding Gums" is the 17th episode of the 33rd season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 723rd episode overall. It aired in the United States on Fox on April 10, 2022. The episode was directed by Chris Clements and written by Loni Steele Sosthand.

Plot
Lisa sees a commercial for the Springfield Lottery and realizes that the jingle uses a Bleeding Gums Murphy song with new lyrics. She argues that Murphy disliked gambling, but the townspeople are all playing the lottery and singing the jingle. She goes on the news to debate what Murphy would want, and she finds out that Murphy had a son.

To learn more about Murphy, Lisa visits Murphy’s son, Monk, and discovers that he was born deaf. Although Murphy wanted a cochlear implant for his son, he could not afford one. When she realizes that Monk is not receiving money for licensing Murphy’s music to the lottery, she plans to find a way to compensate him.

Lisa tracks down Murphy’s music publisher and learns that he sold the rights to his publisher who sold them to a consortium. She wants to keep fighting, but Monk is not interested. She realizes that she cannot win with only her idealism. She apologizes to Monk, saying that she was trying to save Monk the way Murphy saved her, but Monk did not need to be saved. He has won the lottery and intends to use his prize money to get the implant. Two months later, Lisa plays Murphy’s song for his son as the first thing Monk hears.

Production
The plot of the episode was inspired by the life of its writer, Loni Steele Sosthand, whose brother, Eli, is hearing impaired. Sosthand grew up with a father who introduced jazz to the family and considered a situation where Lisa discovers Bleeding Gums Murphy has a deaf son. American Sign Language was also used in the episode, and the producers used two ASL consultants to make sure the ASL was as accurate as possible, despite the limitation of Simpsons characters only having four fingers on each hand. Other roles were played by three other deaf actors – Ian Mayorga, Kaylee Arellano, and Hazel Lopez – from No Limits, a nonprofit dedicated to deaf children.

This episode marked the first time a deaf actor was cast on The Simpsons: John Autry II as Monk. Sosthand recommended casting Autry as Monk to executive producers James L. Brooks and Al Jean. Autry was previously cast in a television pilot that Sosthand developed based on her and her brother's lives. Sosthand's brother Eli and deaf comedian Kathy Buckley also voiced characters in the episode.

This is also the first speaking appearance of Bleeding Gums Murphy since the death of his original voice actor, Ron Taylor, in 2002. Here, Murphy is voiced in flashback and ghost form by Kevin Michael Richardson.

Viewing Figures
The episode was the most watched program of the night on Fox, scoring a 0.3 demo rating and 0.95 million viewers.

Critical Response
Tony Sokol of Den of Geek gave the episode a 3.5 out of 5 stars stating, "'The Sound of Bleeding Gums' is sweet, but not cavity-inducing. Homer is never prouder of Lisa than when she’s ready to quit, and even more so of Bart who never even tried. There is always dubious hope. The Simpsons’ latest season has seen a lot of character development liberally scattered throughout Springfield, much of it lateral."

Bubbleblabber gave the episode an 8.5/10 stating, "Overall, 'The Sound of Bleeding Gums' sees the show making history once again in its 33-season run. Its representation of the deaf community and a solid Lisa-focused storyline makes this a worthy historic moment for The Simpsons. Its humor also injected some enjoyment into the episode, mainly from Bart bothering Lisa and the flashback involving Lisa and Murphy performing 'Driving Miss Daisy'. With 'CODA' winning Best Picture and this week’s episode, it’s safe to say that the deaf community has a bright future in the media industry, especially in animation."

Awards and nominations
Writer Loni Steele Sosthand was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Animation at the 75th Writers Guild of America Awards for this episode.