The Simpsons paid tribute to Marcia Wallace with the saddest chalkboard gag you'll ever see

In a classic bait and switch akin to sending love letters attached to a photo of hockey legend Gordie Howe, only to stand viewers up at their appointed date time, “technical issues” prevented producers of The Simpsons from clearing and airing “Bart The Lover” as part of their previously announced tribute to the late Marcia Wallace. Instead, viewers had to make do with 2011’s “The Ned-liest Catch,” an episode in which Wallace’s Mrs. Krabappel began dating Ned Flanders, and old fans who hadn’t watched in a while began to wonder when the hell that happened. Still, it wasn’t totally a cold, zinc-less world: The show paid proper tribute in its regular primetime slot with the above, heartbreaking image replacing the chalkboard gag, then closed the episode with the following moment (helpfully translated into GIF format by UPROXX). Goodbye, Marcia Wallace. Truly, yours is a butt that won’t quit touching our hearts for a while.