It is difficult to list even a handful of tv shows that have had as substantial an effect on pop culture as The Simpsons. The quirky, outrageous yet surprisingly heartfelt problems that plague the town of Springfield and its premier family, the titular Simpsons, has changed the face of modern animation and re-written the rules of sitcoms.
Its tremendous popularity worldwide has made it a phenomenon quite unlike any other. Here are 10 details from the show that might have escaped your notice:
The Entire McBain Saga
From time to time, we see characters from the show watching snippets of action movies featuring the show's pastiche of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rainier Wolfcastle. But it turns out we have been watching, not parts of different movies, but scenes from the same McBain movie spread across various episodes of the show.
The film even has a long, complicated plot involving the hero forsaking his police badge and going outside the law to take down a drug cartel.
Cost Of Raising Maggie
In the original intro for the show, when we see Maggie being bounced across the cash register at the supermarket, a cash amount shows up on the register briefly. The original amount in this scene was $847.63.
This was not a random number, but rather the amount of money per month needed to raise a baby in America, according to a study published at the time of the show's first season.
Krusty Is Homer's Clone
Krusty the Clown is as far removed a personality from Homer as you can imagine. But the cynical, jaded, self-centered children's show comedian was originally meant to be Homer's alter-ego.
The writers had originally conceived of Krusty as a secret identity that Homer occasionally dons, which is why the two have a practically identical physical appearance. However, this idea was eventually scrapped and Krusty was given his own individual backstory.
Secret Cameos
Some would say that modern Simpsons episodes have started using celebrity cameos as crutches in an effort to remain relevant instead of having them be an organic part of storylines, but older seasons used celeb appearances sparingly to tell some unforgettable stories. And sometimes the world was not even aware that a celeb cameo had taken place.
For instance, Dustin Hoffman voiced the character of Lisa's favorite teacher in a poignant episode, and his name was not credited in the show. Another time, Micheal Jackson played a character who was convinced he was the real Micheal Jackson, and even sang a song with Bart that MJ had a hand in writing.
Fulfilling A Musical Promise
After airing a clip show, meaning the entire episode was just a series of clips from past episodes strung together by a wafer-thin plot, the show's creators acknowledged their laziness while promising they had not run out of ideas, by singing a song about all the stories that they still have left to do.
While many assumed the ridiculous storylines mentioned in the song were only meant as a joke, like Marge becoming a robot and Moe buying a cell phone, almost all the stories that found mention actually came to pass in one episode or another during the next decade. The only story we have yet to see is Bart owning a bear, although this could be the writer's way of informing viewers they still have some ideas left up their sleeves.
Groening's Signature
Matt Groening has made a name for himself in Golden Letters in the annals of television history as the creator of The Simpsons, and to a somewhat lesser extent, Futurama. But he has also left a mark in a more direct manner in every single episode of The Simpsons.
If you study Homer's head, you will see his hair and ear outlines combine to create the initials M.G., representing the name of the man who created the character. Talk about putting your stamp on your creations.
Frink's bragging
The Treehouse of Horror segment Homer Cubed had a shoutout that only the most hardcore of mathletes would be able to ever decipher. The episode features a series of numbers and letters in the background of one of the dimensions Homer travels through which are hexadecimal numbers.
When paired together and represented using the ASCII protocol, the sequence turns into a brief message which spells out "Frink Rules." Which he kind of does, for discovering a means of interdimensional travel, but still not a very modest moment for the genius inventor.
Rock Bottom's Retractions
When Homer finds his life in shambles due to the actions of Rock Bottom, a trashy news outlet, he has no choice but to fight back. A victory of some sort is achieved by the end, and Rock Bottom is forced to publish a retraction for all the fake news they had been spreading.
The retractions are only scrolled through the screen for a couple of seconds at a time, but if you pause and read them, they say all kinds of unflattering things like “everyone on TV is better than you” and “If you are reading this, you have no life.”
God Has An Extra Finger
God and Jesus are the only two characters on the show with five fingers while everyone else has four fingers. While drawing four fingers is simpler and easier in animation, the animators made a rare departure from the existing norm to give extra digits to the almighty creator.
This could be a clever way of indicating that God is a higher being than the rest of the show's humanity that was created in his image.
Why Scratchy Keeps Getting Wrecked
Itchy and Scratchy are the violent, gleefully psychotic parodies of Tom and Jerry that kids in Springfield adore. In the parody, the rivalry between the cat and the mouse is very one-sided, with Scratchy the cat inevitably suffering some horrifying fate at the hands of its smaller rival.
This is no coincidence since Scratchy is a black cat, an animal widely associated with bad luck. In this case, however, all the bad luck seems to affect the cat itself instead of those who happen to cross its path.