After a "couple's colonoscopy," Abraham Simpson (Dan Castellaneta) goes on a cruise with his new girlfriend, Vivienne St. Charmaine (Morgan Fairchild), a former TV star.
Meanwhile, Channel 6 News anchorman Kent Brockman (Harry Shearer) attends a podcast convention, where he is dismayed to see how wildly popular podcasts have become. Then he comes home to find that his whole family engrossed in podcasts.
At his next newscast, Brockman is very bored as he reads the news, until he comes across the news of Abe Simpson being the primary suspect in the maritime murder of Vivienne St. Charmaine. Brockman immediately gets the idea to do a podcast titled Guilty Grampa, and quits his anchorman job on the air.
Brockman's Guilty Grampa podcast becomes immensely popular, so much so that a mob gathers outside the Simpsons residence to throw bricks. Even the Simpsons listen to the podcast, including Abe himself, who then concludes he must be guilty even though he doesn't remember killing Vivienne.
Agnes Skinner (Tress MacNeille) was on the same cruise, and she remembers Vivienne yelling "Abe, don't!" Also, Abe is the sole beneficiary of a life insurance policy worth millions of dollars.
Dr. Hibbert (Kevin Michael Richardson) has an important revelation in the case. With the Simpsons, he goes to the auditorium where Brockman is dragging out the Guilty Grampa story to a rapt audience. The doctor explains that for their colonoscopy, Abe and Vivienne ingested camera pods that also have GPS for some reason.
The GPS data clearly shows Vivienne swimming to shore then traveling to Mexico. Brockman realizes he was a little too quick to jump on the podcast bandwagon, and Stellan Skarsgård is happy that he hasn't fully committed himself to a TV series based on the Guilty Grampa podcast.
Abe is released from prison and is surprised to find Vivienne on the street. She explains that she yelled "Abe, don't forget the plan" as she went overboard. But Abe did forget the plan, and so he failed to follow her to Mexico. There's nothing for them to do now other than hide in plain sight at the Springfield retirement home.
Tropes
- As Herself: Lisa's voice actress Yeardley Smith makes an appearance, representing her true-crime podcast "Small Town Dicks" and tries to get Kent to tone down his podcast to no avail as he already had shirts made. She also does the "Lisa groan" at the end of her cameo.
- As Himself: Stellan Skarsgård.
- Broken-Window Warning: The family deals with a mob outside certain of Grampa's guilt and start tossing bricks through the panes of their front window. When one brick lands on the end, Homer announces it to the crowd who cheer for the accomplishment.
- Cash-Cow Franchise: In-universe: Kent wants to milk the supposed murder case, and by extension his podcast, as much as possible, even having clothing made based on it.
- Celebrity Paradox: Kent Brockman meets Yeardley Smith.Kent Brockman: Your voice sounds familiar. Where do I know you from?Yeardley Smith: From my true crime podcast Small-Town Dicks...and nowhere else.
- Chekhov's Gag: The cruise is one of several activities Abe mentions that he and Vivienne are doing together that evening, one of the other items being a "couple's colonoscopy." This is what ultimately reveals his innocence; each of them swallowed a microchip designed to record internal data that also broadcasts a GPS signal, and Vivienne's reveals that she's very much alive, having left the country after swimming safely to shore.
- Convicted by Public Opinion: Kent's podcast has everyone convinced Abe Simpson killed Vivienne St. Charmaine, even members of his own family. Even Abe himself is convinced he's guilty and turns himself in.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Lisa's obsession with true crime podcasts is presented like a substance addiction.
- Faking the Dead: Vivienne St. Charmaine faked her own death to get away from the public spotlight. Abe was in on the plan, but he forgot.
- False Confession: Kent's podcast stacks the narrative against Abe so compellingly that, upon listening to it, Abe himself becomes convinced that he murdered Vivienne and confesses.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus:
- Guilt by Association: The rest of the Simpsons are briefly attacked by the rest of Springfield because of Abe's presence in the house. Though Homer and the mob do come together when a brick thrown through the window lands on its end.
- Heh Heh, You Said "X": As Marge and Lisa start to reel off the evidence that Abe is guilty, which now includes his own confession, and it sinks in that neither of them has a good counterargument anymore, Marge admits, "I'm not sure I have a 'but'!" An agitated Lisa replies "I'm not sure I have a 'but' either!" as Homer and Bart sneak glances at each other and struggle to keep it together behind her.
- Instant Sedation: A non-drug version. Lisa tries to convince Homer and Marge she wasn't listening to true crime podcasts late at night, saying that it was ASMR to help her sleep and imitating some ASMR sounds to prove her point. Homer protests that those don't actually work before conking out mid-sentence. Later in the episode, Homer crumples a piece of paper and falls asleep instantly.
- Insurance Fraud: Grampa was supposed to cash in the insurance money and meet Vivienne in Mexico so they could start a new life there but he forgot the plan.
- Never Found the Body: Abe's girlfriend disappears at sea and he's believed to have killed her. No points for guessing that she's alive and well.
- Non-Protagonist Resolver: Just as even Lisa and Marge, who were seeking to prove Abe's innocence, become convinced that he's really guilty of the murder he's accused of, Dr. Hibbert shows up to reveal evidence that Abe's alleged victim is alive and fled the country.
- Not Helping Your Case: Bart's defense of Abe on Kent's podcast could have used some workshopping.Bart: My grandfather is not only a great man, he's a World War II hero! They used to call him "Johnny Flamethrower." He said the fires would tell him who to burn!(Marge facepalms behind Kent.)
- Shout-Out:
- The episode title references Broadcast News (which by the way was directed by Simpsons EP James L. Brooks).
- Vivienne starred in Falcon Landing, combining the names of two famous '80s prime time soaps, Falcon Crest and Knots Landing.
- Vivienne escapes to Zihuatenejo, Mexico, the same town the main characters of The Shawshank Redemption go to.
- Strange Minds Think Alike: Immersed in true crime, Marge and Lisa hear a news report about a missing woman and immediately call that "the husband or boyfriend" is responsible—only to learn that the missing woman is Abe's girlfriend:Marge: Grampa's the husband or boyfriend?!Kent Brockman: Authorities say the missing woman is retired starlet Vivienne Saint Charmaine. Her boyfriend or husband, Abraham Simpson, has been detained for questioning.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: Late in the game, Lisa and Marge realize that, like many family members of criminals, they've been blinded by their emotions toward Abe and failed to take the evidence—which squarely implicates him—into account, relying instead on their conviction that someone they know and love can't possibly be a murderer. Needless to say, though, Abe really isn't one.
