2 Classic The Simpsons Gags Were Originally Just Filler, And Faced Criticism For It: "What The Hell Was That?"
The Golden Age of The Simpsons was so well-written that even its filler jokes became iconic, surprisingly influential TV comedy moments.
The Simpsons is a long-running animated TV series created by Matt Groening that satirically follows a working-class family in the misfit city of Springfield. Homer, a bit of a schmoe who works at a nuclear power plant, is the provider for his family, while his wife, Marge, tries to keep sanity and reason in the house to the best of her ability. Bart is a born troublemaker, and Lisa is his super-intelligent sister who finds herself surrounded by people who can't understand her. Finally, Maggie is the mysterious baby who acts as a deus ex machina when the series calls for it. The show puts the family in several wild situations while constantly tackling socio-political and pop-culture topics set within their world, providing an often sharp critique of the subjects covered in each episode. This series first premiered in 1989 and has been a staple of Fox's programming schedule ever since.
The Golden Age of The Simpsons was so well-written that even its filler jokes became iconic, surprisingly influential TV comedy moments.
Although The Simpsons has been on the air for decades, season 35's Treehouse of Horror saw the series pull off a clever meta-twist for the first time.
Although The Simpsons season 34 seemingly featured a major revelation about Maggie's character, season 35 has since ignored this massive twist.
These eight theories offer in-universe reasons for why the Simpsons family never ends up broke despite Homer's lazy attitude and non-stop adventures.
The Simpsons' latest episode is similar to a classic of the show's Golden Age, hitting the same emotional core from a new comic perspective.
The Simpsons season 35 episode 12 saw Homer ignore an epiphany he had in the season 34 finale, but this did keep a promising new story trend alive.
The Simpsons season 35 episode 12 seemingly set up a perfect sequel to a classic Golden Age outing, only to then ignore this plot in favor of another.
The Simpsons season 35 episode 12 brought back a pair of format changes that ensured the show's new outing felt fresh even after 760 episodes.
Of all the guest stars in The Simpsons and Futurama, only two have played a version of themselves in both Matt Groening animated shows.
The Simpsons' ultimate villain has a long-standing rivalry with one of the family that stretches back decades before the events of the series.
The Simpsons' latest tweak to Homer's backstory is a wild ret-con that still feels consistent with one notable aspect of the character's personality.
Homer's latest professional enemy in The Simpsons season 35 shares elements with one of the show's most infamous episodes.
The Simpsons season 35 episode 11 referenced the events of The Simpsons Movie and, in the process, the show retconned a major spinoff plot point.
The classic Simpsons side-story of Uncle Moe's Family Feedbag comes to life in an impressively rendered cosplay, complete with sparklers.
Homer Simpsons somehow holds down a job while trying countless other careers on for size, something that The Simpsons season 35 finally acknowledged.
The Simpsons season 35 episode 11 featured a first for the long-running TV comedy, which never included a common trope in its preceding 760 episodes.
A selection of Springfield residents show their power, as the world of The Simpsons merges with a roster of iconic Street Fighter 2 characters.
The Simpsons addressed that infamous "the whole show is Homer's coma dream theory," and the long-running series thoroughly debunked the idea.
There are a great many iconic names that pop up in The Simpsons, but there's also an interesting naming pattern that was set in motion in the 1950s.
The Simpsons is set to parody The White Lotus soon, but this will be the latest of many outings that repeat familiar plots the show has already used.
The Simpsons season 35 will parody HBO's The White Lotus soon, but this upcoming outing runs the risk of repeating a recent mistake made by the show.