“The Las Vegas Monorail Declared Bankruptcy And, Yes, Everyone Made A ‘Simpsons’ Joke

“Marge vs. the Monorail” is one of the most famous episodes of The Simpsons, and for good reason. It’s a classic, an effortlessly quotable episode that’s often a go-to pick when people ask where to start with the show’s now-sprawling list of episodes and seasons. The fourth season’s 12th episode features what it sounds like: Marge trying to prevent Springfield from getting suckered by a con man trying to sell the town on building a monorail. And its popularity has gotten new life now that the show is on Disney+, too, but perhaps it also helped that monorails were in the news lately thanks to the city of Las Vegas.

On Tuesday, news broke that the Los Vegas Monorail, which has been shut down since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The Las Vegas Journal-Review had more details on the news, including a statement from the company about the proceedings.

“As a result, it is in the Las Vegas Monorail Company’s best interest to file for bankruptcy and effectuate a sale of the system assets to a party who intends to keep the system in operation and help ensure that the mobility benefits the Monorail provides continue during conventions, events and throughout the year,” Myles said in the statement.

The sale has actually been in the works for a while now, and last week it was announced that the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Bureau will actually buy the monorail. But the bankruptcy proceedings as part of the same went viral thanks to a tweet that let Simpsons fans get their favorite jokes about the episode off.

Thankfully, the monorail in Vegas doesn’t appear to be going anywhere. And if Elon Musk has his way, it’ll actually have some competition in the people-moving business. There just isn’t a very good song attached to that tunnel, though, is there?