The Simpsons finally give answer to 36-year long gag

Sunday's episode (15 February) of The Simpsons, titled ‘Irrational Treasure’ finally explained a long-held gag that went totally ignored for 37 seasons of the hit family cartoon.

It’s the couch joke.

If you’ve watched the show, you’ll know that ever since the beginning, the opening intro to the family is always the same at its core, despite minor modifications depending on the season and episode subject matter.

Basically, the family always end up on the couch before the show begins, and every variation of the gag has occurred, until the creators threw a new one at us.

There have been aliens, the Flintstones, Itchy and Scratchy, Halloween horrors, and so much more taking place on the Simpson family couch, but accountability for causing grievous harm was never seen.

If you know the show, you'll also know that Homer is always the victim of his wife’s distracted driving, but it’s never addressed by the man himself.

But while you might think it’s odd that not once did the creators acknowledge Marge’s crime against her husband, now they have.

In the latest episode, Homer can be seen crawling into the family living room as everyone else sits and waits for him.

Bloodied and battered, Homer asks ‘how are you just sitting there? Your mom just hit me with her car!,’ as his family avert their gaze.

In the end, he passes out on the floor, and the episode begins.

Now, viewers feel like the inclusion of Homer’s reaction to the moment gave the show a resolution.

One person wrote: “Finally! After 30+ years of Marge running over Homer, we get the aftermath.”

Another said: “Classic Simpsons humor — finally acknowledging a long-running intro gag and turning it into a self-aware joke. Dark, but perfectly on-brand.”

Essentially, the episodes always begin with an interlocked journey of each member of the Simpson family’s daily route home.

There’s Homer, the father, who works at the local nuclear power plant who accidentally drops a rod of plutonium into his suit, ruining the ‘days without incident’ countdown in the background.

He gets into his car after clocking off, while his son, Bart, is just wrapping up his disciplinary lines reciting whatever offense he's caused before hopping on his skateboard to zoom home.

Whilst the pair are racing to the house, Marge, the mother, is grocery shopping with their baby, Maggie, as Lisa (eldest daughter) finishes her saxophone lessons and rides home on her bike.

The scene takes us through the small town of Springfield, giving many of its staple characters a nod on the screen as the family goes about their route.

At the end of the intro, all members of the house arrive at the same time, with Homer pulling into the driveway, only to be met with Bart on his board, who skates over the roof of the car.

Homer then quickly dodges his daughter’s bike as she speeds into the garage but isn’t so lucky moving away from Marge and her car as she texts on her phone.

After being involved in either a connected hit and run, or being chased by the car, the family all make it to the couch, where they switch on the TV and the episode begins.