Thread by @dailysimpsons

#OnThisDay #OTD May 21, 1995, "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One)" (S06E25) first aired on the Fox network. Dir: Jeff Lynch. Wr: @thatbilloakley & @Joshstrangehill. EP: @DaveMirkin. Guest-starring Tito Puente as himself. #TheSimpsons (Promo @joecip)

The idea for the episode came from Matt Groening, who had wanted to do an episode in which Mr. Burns was shot, which could be used as a publicity stunt. The writers decided to write the episode in two parts with a mystery that could be used in a contest.

While deciding who the culprit was, Oakley and Weinstein pitched Barney Gumble because he was a character that could go to jail and it could change the dynamic of the show. Mirkin suggested Maggie; he felt it was funnier and wanted the culprit to be a Simpsons family member.

It was important for them to design a mystery that had clues, took advantage of freeze frame technology, and was structured around one character who seemed to be the obvious culprit. A number of subtle clues, and a few red herrings, were planted in Part One...

There were many shots with clocks, some set at three o'clock, but almost all at the top of an hour. The point of the clocks was to teach the viewer to view the sundial at the end upside down.

When Mr. Burns collapses on the sundial, he points at W and S, although from his viewpoint, the W looks like an M. Many of the suspects have the letters S and W or M in their initials and the intention was that several "obvious" suspects could be eliminated by the letters.

Several characters already had names with those initials, but some were made up specifically for this episode. Principal Skinner's full name is revealed to be "W. Seymour Skinner" on a diploma in his office.

Smithers' full name is "Waylon Smithers."

Mr. Burns calls Santa's Little Helper the "Simpson Mutt".

Moe's liquor license reveals that his full name is Moe Szyslak.

Melvin Van Horne is known to everyone by his stage name "Sideshow Mel".

Grampa's gun is a Smith & Wesson.

Just before entering Mr. Burns' office to spray paint his name, Homer passes in front of the words "ONLY IN" on the pavement (upside down from the viewer's perspective), and very briefly blocks all of the letters except "NO" and a small arrow pointing at him.

A television in Moe's Tavern shows that "Pardon My Zinger" is broadcast on weekdays at 3 p.m. on Comedy Central. It is later revealed that Burns is shot at 3 pm. (You might also notice @MST3K is playing on TV.)

Smithers reveals at the meeting that he never misses the show, and afterward is seen heading in the opposite direction that Burns heads.

During the scene at the town hall, several citizens are seen stroking guns: Smithers and an unidentified woman have revolvers, Moe has a shotgun, Skinner has a semi-automatic pistol with a suppressor attached, and Barney has a derringer. Snake arrives with a revolver.

Mr. Burns smugly asks the townspeople “Who here has the guts to stop me?” During this shot, Maggie, at the bottom of the screen in Marge's arms, appears to be the only one to continue glaring.

As Mr. Burns collapses on the sundial, it is seen that the gun he was previously carrying has gone missing. This was inserted as an intentional freeze frame clue to show that he had been shot with his own gun.

The scene where Burns explains his sun-blocking plan to Smithers appears to be a reference to a similar scene in Goldfinger (1964). (Video: Onikorp)

There were bets running in Vegas on who was the culprit, shown in the Mirage Hotel, though they didn't use full names that were later revealed or in some cases, correct spelling.

So who was the culprit? We'll have to find out September 17. I couldn't possibly solve this mystery... can YOU?