Every Simpsons Couch Gag Ever

After a record-breaking 32 seasons, the ever-changing couch gag in The Simpsons’ intro has become as famous as the show itself.

The opening chalkboard sequences, which also change in almost every episode, also hold a special place in pop culture.

There’s something comforting and fun, however, about seeing the entire family come together on their favorite piece of furniture—often in hilarious or highly imaginative ways.

Here’s every couch gag from The Simpsons, ordered by episode air date.

• Season 1
• Season 2
• Season 3
• Season 4
• Season 5
• Season 6
• Season 7
• Season 8
• Season 9
• Season 10
• Season 11
• Season 12
• Season 13
• Season 14
• Season 15
• Season 16
• Season 17
• Season 18
• Season 19
• Season 20
• Season 21
• Season 22
• Season 23
• Season 24
• Season 25
• Season 26
• Season 27
• Season 28
• Season 29
• Season 30
• Season 31
• Season 32

 

Season 1

 

“Bart the Genius” (Episode 2)

This was the first Simpsons episode to utilize a couch gag. In it, the family sits on the couch and squeezes out Bart, who propels into the air and lands in front of the TV.

 

“Homer’s Odyssey” (Episode 3)

When the Simpsons sit on the couch, it breaks and they land on the floor.

 

“There’s No Disgrace Like Home” (Episode 4)

This time, it’s Homer who gets shoved off the couch when the family sits. He then lets out his famous annoyed grunt upon landing on the floor.

 

“Moaning Lisa” (Episode 6)

In this couch gag, Maggie shoots into the air when the Simpsons sit.  However, Marge catches her.

 

“The Call of the Simpsons” (Episode 7)

For the first time ever, nothing happens—the family simply sits on the couch.

 

Remaining Episodes

The rest of the episodes in this season repeat previously used couch gags, while a few feature shortened sequences without any gag in the intro.

 

Season 2

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“Bart Gets an ‘F’” (Episode 1)

When the Simpsons sit on the couch, it breaks the floor and they fall through, sofa and all.

 

“Simpson and Delilah” (Episode 2)

Upon entering, the family performs an Egyptian dance, then sits with a flourish.

 

“Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish” (Episode 4)

In this couch gag, the sofa flings the Simpsons into the air and opens into a pull-out bed, where they land comfortably.

 

“Dancin’ Homer” (Episode 5)

Save for Maggie, the entire family sits on the sofa. Suddenly, Maggie pops out of Marge’s hair.

 

“Dead Putting Society” (Episode 6)

This time, the family pets—Snowball II and Santa’s Little Helper—sit on the couch with the rest of the family.

 

“Bart vs. Thanksgiving” (Episode 7)

The family enters to find Grampa sleeping on the sofa, who jumps up when they wake him.

 

“Bart the Daredevil” (Episode 8)

Due to his weight, Homer tips the couch upon sitting. Everyone is upturned with him, except Maggie—she lands on a cushion on the floor, happily watching television.

 

“Itchy & Scratchy & Marge” (Episode 9)

The couch goes missing in this gag, leaving the Simpsons standing around looking bewildered.

 

“Bart Gets Hit by a Car” (Episode 10)

Homer squeezes out everyone else. Smiling, they remain on the floor, while Homer relaxes.

 

“One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish” (Episode 11)

This time, the couch falls backwards rather than sideways. Maggie then peeks out to watch TV.

 

Remaining Episodes

The first Treehouse of Horror episode appears in this season, and does not use a couch gag—although some later Halloween episodes do feature spooky couch sequences.

As for the rest of the episodes on Season 2, they repeat previously used gags.

 

Season 3

 

“Stark Raving Dad” (Episode 1)

The couch tips when the family sits down, creating a Simpsons-shaped hole in the wall behind them.

 

“Mr. Lisa goes to Washington” (Episode 2)

Homer accidentally sits on top of Santa’s Little Helper, then pulls him out from underneath his butt.

 

“Bart the Murderer” (Episode 4)

Marge and Homer kneel on the couch to form the base of a pyramid, while the kids climb on top.

 

“Homer Defined” (Episode 5)

Before the family enters, a bulbous green alien is sipping a drink in their place. He vanishes through a trapdoor just before the Simpsons run in and sit, unaware.

 

“Like Father, Like Clown” (Episode 6)

In this couch gag, every member of the Simpsons enters and sits except for Bart. When he arrives, he lies down arrogantly across everyone else.

 

“Lisa’s Pony” (Episode 8)

Home is relaxing on the couch when the family suddenly enters and sits on him.

 

“Saturdays of Thunder” (Episode 9)

Upon sitting, the family is sucked into the cushions with their legs up by their heads.

 

“Flaming Moe’s” (Episode 10)

The Simpsons sit while two burglars attempt to steal the couch; however, the robbers then throw them off and steal the couch, anyway.

 

“Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk” (Episode 11)

Santa’s Little Helper, who is enjoying a nap on the couch when the family runs in, growls until they back away.

 

“I Married Marge” (Episode 12)

The family cartwheels in and lands with a flourish. Maggie, who cannot cartwheel, hops into her spot, instead.

 

“Radio Bart” (Episode 13)

When they sit, the Simpsons are bounced around until they’re completely out of their usual order.

 

“Homer at the Bat” (Episode 17)

After Homer, Marge, Lisa, and Bart collide when they run into frame, knocking themselves out, Maggie sits by herself and watches television.

 

Remaining Episodes

In this season, episodes 14-16, as well as 18-24, repeat previously used couch gags.

 

Season 4

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“Kamp Krusty” (Episode 1)

The Simpsons enter to discover Fred, Wilma, and Pebbles Flintstone on the couch. Fred smiles and half-shrugs upon noticing them.

 

“A Streetcar Named Marge” (Episode 2)

When the family sits, the couch turns into a monster with tentacles who devours them.

 

“Homer the Heretic” (Episode 3)

After sitting, the family is spun around on a trick wall, which leaves an empty couch in their place.

 

“Lisa the Beauty Queen” (Episode 4)

The family, save for Maggie—who’s already seated—runs too far off-frame, into the blank space of a film strip. Marge, Homer, and Bart scramble back to their places, while Lisa leaps onto the couch at the very end.

 

“Treehouse of Horror III” (Episode 5)

This is the first Halloween episode of The Simpsons to use a spooky couch gag, rather than the shortened sequence of previous Treehouse episodes.

In it, the family are skeletons. They sit on the couch as they usually would.

 

“Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie” (Episode 6)

When the family sits, the couch deflates.

 

“Marge Gets a Job” (Episode 7)

After realizing their heads are switched, the family swaps until all is well. Maggie then retrieves her pacifier from Homer’s mouth.

 

“Mr. Plow” (Episode 9)

The Simpsons enter to find their couch replaced with a single wooden chair. They sit on it together, with the children on their parents’ laps.

 

“Lisa’s First Word” (Episode 10)

After entering, the Simpsons begin to dance in a chorus line, while the living room opens behind them to reveal a huge stage and elaborate production complete with jugglers, dancers, elephants, and more.

This intro, which is the first extra-long couch gag, is often used on syndicated episodes to increase airtime.

 

“Homer’s Triple Bypass” (Episode 11)

The family is extra small; they climb up onto the couch and sit, anyway.

 

“Marge vs. the Monorail” (Episode 12)

After the family sits, many secondary characters crowd in and block their view of the television.

 

“Selma’s Choice” (Episode 13)

When the Simpsons enter, they’re caught in a rope net and suspended from the ceiling.

 

Season 5

 

“Homer’s Barbershop Quartet” (Episode 1)

In this couch gag, the Simpsons repeat their entrance between multiple takes from a director’s clapperboard.

The first take sees the family shatter, leaving a bewildered Santa’s Little Helper to stare at the shards. In the second take, the family smushes together like clay when they collide on the couch. They then explode in the third take, with Maggie’s pacifier landing in the chaos.

Truncated to the second or third take, this gag often reappears in later episodes.

Syndications of “Homer’s Barbershop Quartet” shorten the couch gag to only the first take, when the Simpsons shatter like glass.

 

“Homer Goes to College” (Episode 3)

When the family sits, they are promptly crushed by a Monty Python foot.

 

“Rosebud” (Episode 4)

When the family runs in, they find identical versions of themselves already seated.

This couch gag often replaces the real ones on syndicated episodes from the first five seasons of The Simpsons, possibly due to airtime requirements.

 

“Treehouse of Horror IV” (Episode 5)

A zombified Simpsons family breaks through the floor and, groaning, takes their place on the couch.

 

“Marge on the Lam” (Episode 6)

The living room is a phony backdrop; when the family runs in, they crash through, leaving silhouette-shaped holes.

 

“Bart’s Inner Child” (Episode 7)

A very obese man sits in the Simpsons’ place. Nonetheless, they try to sit, squished uncomfortably together on one end.

 

“Boy-Scoutz ’n the Hood” (Episode 8)

It’s dark in the Simpsons’ living room, as the audience sees five pairs of eyes enter. When the lights turn on, however, it’s revealed that the eyes are simply floating.

Shortly after, the eyeless versions of the family run in and take their proper places, behind their eyes.

 

“The Last Temptation of Homer” (Episode 9)

The couch is revealed to be part of a late-night talk show set. David Letterman spins around in his chair to face the confused family.

 

“Homer and Apu” (Episode 13)

The Simpsons pop their heads out from behind the sofa in this couch gag, while Maggie pops out of the cushions.

 

“Homer Loves Flanders” (Episode 16)

After the family enters to find two couches, they each split themselves in half to sit on both.

 

“Burns’ Heir” (Episode 18)

The family enters as bouncing balls, unfurling once they land on the sofa. Although Bart almost bounces out of frame, Homer catches him just in time and throws Bart into his proper spot.

 

“Sweet Seymour Skinner’s Baadasssss Song” (Episode 19)

As soon as the family sits, a Fox logo appears in the corner of the screen. Homer gets up and peels it away to stomp on it. The rest of his family soon joins in.

 

Season 6

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“Bart of Darkness” (Episode 1)

The couch enters the living room in pieces, then fits itself together to sit on top of the Simpsons.

 

“Lisa’s Rival” (Episode 2)

Instead of carpet, the Simpsons’ living room floor is water. The family swims into frame and onto the sofa.

 

“Itchy & Scratchy Land” (Episode 4)

The family doesn’t run to their places. Rather, they’re beamed onto the couch à la Star Trek.

 

“Treehouse of Horror V” (Episode 6)

Each family member is composed of the others’ body parts, similar to Frankenstein’s monster. They trade pieces until each is almost completely correct.

 

“Lisa on Ice” (Episode 8)

When they sit, the family is propelled into the ceiling, and only their lower halves are visible.

 

“Homer Badman” (Episode 9)

When the family enters, the couch and rear wall of the living room stretch on and on, forcing them to keep running.

 

“Grampa vs. Sexual Inadequacy” (Episode 10)

After the Simpsons run into the living room, its background keeps repeating while they keep running. This parodies old-style cartoons, where background scenes were often reused—particularly during chase or running sequences—to save money.

 

“Homer the Great” (Episode 12)

In this couch gag, the Simpsons’ house resembles the famous M.C. Escher painting, “Relativity.” Each member enters from a different staircase or doorway, then meet at the couch in the center.

 

“And Maggie Makes Three” (Episode 13)

This James Bond parody features similar music, as well as its famous “barrel of the gun” viewpoint. Homer enters and shoots the camera.

 

“Bart’s Comet” (Episode 14)

A black-and-white, campy Simpsons living room set the scene before the family, animated in a similar early-cartoon style, enters and dances.

 

“Homer vs. Patty and Selma” (Episode 17)

In this couch gag, the Simpsons appear via a light burst effect reminiscent of the show Quantum Leap.

 

“A Star is Burns” (Episode 18)

The Simpsons’ sizes are reversed, with Homer being comparable to Maggie, and Maggie being the same size as Homer. Only Bart appears relatively unchanged.

 

Season 7

 

“Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part Two)” (Episode 1)

When the family sits, the couch slides away. The theme song from the show Dragnet plays, while the police take the Simpsons’ mugshots.

 

“Radioactive Man” (Episode 2)

A fax of the family appears from the couch cushions.

 

“Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily” (Episode 3)

Marge, Homer, Bart, Lisa, Maggie, the pets, and Grampa appear against blue backgrounds in a grid, like the intro the Brady Bunch. The couch resides in the center square. Save for Grampa, who’s asleep, everyone runs to the center and sits.

 

“Bart Sells His Soul” (Episode 4)

Entering in shriner cars and hats, the family drives around before lining up in front of the couch and beeping their horns.

 

“Lisa the Vegetarian” (Episode 5)

Robotic arms paint the family, who enter as vague blobs.

 

“Treehouse of Horror VI” (Episode 6)

The family drops from the ceiling in nooses, seemingly dead—although Maggie still sucks on her pacifier.

 

“King-Size Homer” (Episode 7)

Transformed into wind-up tin toys, the family walk stiffly to the sofa, sparking and buzzing all the while.

 

“Mother Simpson” (Episode 8)

A bowling-pin resetter places the Simpsons on the couch in this gag, after a sweeper bar clears the couch and scares away the family cat.

 

“Sideshow Bob’s Last Gleaming” (Episode 9)

Instead of the Simpsons’ usual living room, the scene is underwater. The family, animated as sea monkeys, enter and sit on a clam-shell sofa.

 

“The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular” (Episode 10)

This couch gag is a montage from previous Simpsons episodes, and includes gags such as the Monty Python foot, “Relativity,” and the big musical number frequently seen in syndication.

 

“Marge Be Not Proud” (Episode 11)

After sitting, Homer pulls a plug in the living room floor, which sucks everything down a drain.

 

“Team Homer” (Episode 12)

When the Simpsons sit, the camera zooms into a mouse hole, where a family of Simpson-esque mice sit on their own sofa as well.

 

“Two Bad Neighbors” (Episode 13)

The family’s heads are mounted on the wall like hunting trophies; Homer is a bearskin rug on the floor. A game hunter enters and sits on the couch.

 

“Scenes from the Class Struggle in Springfield” (Episode 14)

Rock music plays while the family, appearing in neon colors, sit on the sofa under blacklight. Homer then turns on the lights, and everything returns to normal—including the music.

 

“Bart the Fink” (Episode 15)

This couch gag is a repeat from the “fax machine” opening of “Radioactive Man.” In the first appearance of this gag, the paper slid under the couch. This version, however, doesn’t have that element.

 

Season 8

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“Treehouse of Horror VII” (Episode 1)

Upon entering, the family finds the Grim Reaper in their place and dies, one after another. The Reaper then puts his feet up, using the pile of corpses as a footstool.

 

“You Only Move Twice” (Episode 2)

While the rest of the family parachutes down from the sky and lands safely, Homer falls screaming with an unopened pack.

 

“The Homer They Fall” (Episode 3)

Instead of the living room, the couch sits in a desert during sunset. Once the family—dressed like cowboys—is seated, the couch gallops off like a horse.

 

“Burns, Baby Burns” (Episode 4)

The family enters as bubbles, but pop once they land on the couch.

 

“Bart After Dark” (Episode 5)

Parodying the Beatles’ famous Sgt. Pepper album cover, the Simpsons enter dressed similarly to the band, while a crowd gathers behind them.

It includes extras and secondary characters from the show, as well as statues of the Simpsons as they appeared on The Tracey Ullman Show.

 

“A Milhouse Divided” (Episode 6)

When the Simpsons sit, Bart is green. Homer gets up and changes the TV dial, but Bart then turns red.

When Homer sits back down, he smacks Bart on the back of his head, which returns him to his natural color of yellow.

 

“Lisa’s Date with Density” (Episode 7)

The entire living room is upside-down, including the Simpsons, as they enter and sit. However, the family quick falls onto the “ceiling.”

 

“Hurricane Neddy” (Episode 8)

In place of the couch, the Simpsons find a coin slot and a sign that says, “Vend-A-Couch.” Despite putting in a coin, Homer doesn’t receive a couch.

He then pounds on the wall while the family watches, until a sofa falls on him.

 

“The Springfield Files” (Episode 10)

In this couch gag, the Simpsons family enters via jetpacks.

 

“The Twisted World of Marge Simpson” (Episode 11)

The couch and the floor in front of it have become a game of Whack-a-Mole. Circus music plays as a mallet tries to smash each family member when they pop up. Only Homer gets hit.

 

“Mountain of Madness” (Episode 12)

Grampa is asleep on the couch’s pull-put bed, complete with pajamas and nightcap. The family rushes in and folds him into the couch to sit, just when he awakens.

 

“Simpsoncalifragilisticexpialadohcious” (Episode 13)

This couch gag reveals an empty living room, before the camera cuts to the Simpsons’ front door. Homer struggles to get inside, while the rest of the family waits.

 

“Homer’s Phobia” (Episode 15)

The Simpsons’ living room appears on a computer screen with the prompt “Load Family,” in a parody of America Online loading screens from the days of dial-up.

When the load stalls, a cursor tries to exit the window, but can’t.

 

“My Sister, My Sitter” (Episode 17)

Instead of the usual living room setup, the couch is on a ship deck while waves thrash about. The family is dressed in yellow raincoats and hats when they sit, just before a giant wave washes them away.

 

Season 9

 

“The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson” (Episode 1)

Dressed as the Harlem Globetrotters—with music to match—the family passes a basketball around before Maggie dunks it into the net on the wall. The ball then hits Homer on the head.

 

“The Principal and the Pauper” (Episode 2)

When the family, dressed like astronauts, sits on the couch, it blasts off like a rocket.

 

“Lisa’s Sax” (Episode 3)

Homer enters the living room alone, but pops open like a Russian nesting doll to reveal the other members of the family. Maggie, the final doll, stays in Homer’s legs while his top half sits on the couch.

 

“Treehouse of Horror VIII” (Episode 4)

After sitting, the family is bound with shackles and electrocuted via helmets.

 

“The Cartridge Family” (Episode 5)

The bottom of the couch has become a trough, which extinguishes the Simpsons after they enter on fire.

 

“Bart Star” (Episode 6)

After the family is seated, they’re crushed into a junkyard block.

 

“The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons” (Episode 7)

Bart enters and spray-paints the entire Simpsons family, including himself, onto the couch. He tags it as El Barto before running away smiling.

 

“Lisa the Skeptic” (Episode 7)

This couch gag sees the living room turned into a sauna, with three men in towels who glare at the family until they exit.

 

“Realty Bites” (Episode 8)

Once the Simpsons are seated, a live-action hand (belonging to the show’s creator, Matt Groening) spins the shot until the paint splatters.

 

“Miracle on Evergreen Terrace” (Episode 9)

At first, the couch gag appears normal: the Simpsons sit on the couch in the living room. The camera zooms out, however, to reveal all of this has taken place in a snowglobe. Two hands then shake the globe, to make fake snow fall.

 

“All Singing, All Dancing” (Episode 10)

The family runs in, only to find the living room floor has become a treadmill. While Marge, Maggie, Lisa, and Bart make it to the couch, Homer gets stuck and shouts for Marge to “stop this crazy thing,” an homage to The Jetsons.

 

“Bart Carny” (Episode 11)

Just before the Simpsons can sit, Nelson Muntz pulls the couch back so that they fall. He then appears and gives his trademark “haw haw” laugh.

 

“The Joy of Sect” (Episode 12)

Like a previous couch gag, the Simpsons are shrunken down to a tiny size and must struggle onto the sofa. In this version, however, Homer is carried off by Santa’s Little Helper.

 

“Das Bus” (Episode 13)

The Simpsons are frogs, and Maggie is a tadpole. They swim up to where the couch would be, now replaced by a lilypad, and hop up to watch TV–which Homer turns on with his tongue.

 

“Lisa the Simpson” (Episode 16)

In the Simpsons’ living room, a vine grows and bears various fruits and vegetables that each resemble a member of the family.

 

“Simpsons Tide” (Episode 18)

This gag parodies the opening sequence from Rocky & Bullwinkle.

 

“Trash of the Titans” (Episode 21)

The Simpsons run into Mrs. Krabappel’s classroom, where Bart is writing “I Will Not Mess With the Opening Credits” on the chalkboard.

 

Season 10

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“The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace” (Episode 2)

In this couch gag, secondary characters are seated in the living room, watching television, as the Simpsons shuffle past to find their seat on the couch as though they’re in a movie theater.

 

“Bart the Mother” (Episode 3)

While two firemen hold the couch, the family drops safely from above—except for Homer, who plummets through the floor.

 

“Treehouse of Horror IX” (Episode 4)

This couch gag sees the Simpsons struggling to make it through their usual opening credit routines. Bart sustains injuries while skateboarding through town.  Meanwhile, a catapult propels Lisa onto the roof of the garage, and Marge runs Homer down.

The camera then cuts to Jason Vorhees and Freddy Kreuger—of the Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street franchises, respectively—seated on the couch, wondering aloud where the family went.

 

“When You Dish Upon a Star” (Episode 5)

Marge hangs up the rest of the family, as semi-flattened, dripping versions of themselves, on a clothesline.

 

“D’oh-in’ in the Wind” (Episode 6)

After the family is seated, a safety bar secures them to the couch, which then takes them around the room like a roller coaster ride.

 

“Lisa Gets an ‘A’” (Episode 7)

Once on the sofa, the family goes under hairdryer helmets. When they lift, each member has another’s hairstyle. Maggie, who has Marge’s hair, falls over from its weight.

 

“Wild Barts Can’t Be Broken” (Episode 11)

The Simpsons ride the couch like a bomb as it drops from a plane, a reference to Dr. Strangelove.

 

“Sunday, Cruddy Sunday” (Episode 12)

Once again, the typical floor has become water. This time, an iceberg strikes the Simpsons’ couch, which then sinks like the Titanic. Maggie resurfaces on a cushion, while the rest of the family stays under.

 

“Maximum Homerdrive” (Episode 17)

Marge and Homer are kids, while Bart and Lisa are adults—or rather, adult-sized versions of their current selves. Maggie, meanwhile, is a doll that Homer is holding. When he reaches for the television remote, Lisa smacks it.

 

“Simpsons Bible Stories” (Episode 18)

Banana peels cause the Simpsons to slip, but all land safely on the sofa.

 

“Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo” (Episode 23)

The couch sucks the family inside, then spits them out like a paper shredder.

 

Season 11

 

“Beyond Blunderdome” (Episode 1)

In this couch gag, the Simpsons encounter their “former selves” on the sofa—their original drawing styles from The Tracey Ullman Show. Both families scream and run away upon spotting the other.

 

“Brother’s Little Helper” (Episode 2)

Blank and marked like paint-by-number pictures, the family sits and gets painted by a group of Korean inkers. They do not outline Marge and Homer’s eyes, however.

 

“Guess Who’s Coming to Criticize Dinner?” (Episode 3)

Upon sitting, Marge notices Matt Groening’s signature at the bottom left corner of the screen. She cleans it, but a cartoon version of Groening runs in and signs it again.

 

“Treehouse of Horror X” (Episode 4)

The family enters and sits, each portrayed as previous Halloween episode versions of themselves, save for Lisa. Maggie, an alien-baby hybrid, blasts Lisa with a ray gun when she asks what aliens have to do with Halloween.

 

“E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt)” (Episode 5)

A nightclub bouncer lets everyone except Homer into the living room.

 

“Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder” (Episode 6)

One by one, a cement mixer pours out statues of the Simpsons. Homer’s statue breaks, and his upper half lands on the ground.

 

“Eight Misbehavin’” (Episode 7)

Similarly to a previous couch gag, the Simpsons’ living room wall spins around after they sit. Rather than an empty couch, it reveals a scientist (portrayed similarly to Vincent Price) torturing Ned Flanders.

 

“Grift of the Magi” (Episode 9)

Everyone enters via a fireman’s pole, although Homer gets stuck in the ceiling.

 

“Little Big Mom” (Episode 10)

The Simpsons are crash test dummies in this gag, and the couch slams them into the television. Homer’s head then falls off.

 

“Faith Off” (Episode 11)

Before the rest of the family can sit, Homer lies down on the couch and tells a Freudian doctor seated nearby, “Oh, Doctor, I’m crazy!” While he cries, the other members of the family look at each other with sad expressions.

 

“Saddlesore Galactica” (Episode 13)

Dressed in karate outfits, the family chops the couch into pieces with their bare hands before Homer turns on the TV.

 

“Alone Again, Natura-Diddily” (Episode 14)

The family enters in bumper cars. Everyone slams Homer into the rear wall.

 

“Missionary: Impossible” (Episode 15)

Instead of a living room, the family sits on the couch in a subway station. The wall behind them has a tiled sign reading “Evergreen Terrace.”

When a train arrives, they get on and leave.

 

“Kill the Alligator and Run” (Episode 19)

The family crosses a coal walk on the living room floor to reach the couch.

 

“Last Tap Dance in Springfield” (Episode 20)

Everyone but Homer swings onto the couch via jungle vines, dressed in animal skins. Homer crashes into something out-of-frame.

 

“Behind the Laughter” (Episode 22)

After sitting, Bart deposits a coin into a Magic Fingers slot on the couch. It vibrates and moves all of them off-screen.

 

Season 12

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“A Tale of Two Springfields” (Episode 2)

Bart puts a whoopie cushion under Homer’s spot on the couch. The girls all look at Homer when he sits on it, while Bart laughs from the other end of the sofa.

 

“Insane Clown Poppy” (Episode 3)

The Simpsons freeze mid-run as the camera pans around them in a Matrix-style shot. When things unfreeze, they sit as they normally would.

 

“Lisa the Tree Hugger” (Episode 4)

Maggie, already seated, is delighted when the rest of the family enters dressed in Teletubbies outfits.

 

“Homer vs. Dignity” (Episode 5)

Every member of the family does a skateboard trick off a nearby ramp to land on the couch. Homer, however, falls and gets hit in the head by his own board.

 

“The Computer Wore Menace Shoes” (Episode 6)

Santa’s Little Helper dances like Snoopy in front of the couch until the family enters, at which point he slowly sits and barks like a normal dog.

 

“The Great Money Caper” (Episode 7)

Dressed like divers, the family swims to the couch and sits. When the camera pans out, it’s revealed they’re in a fish bowl in their living room.

 

“Skinner’s Sense of Snow” (Episode 8)

The family, in football gear, dives on a ball thrown in front of the couch. Maggie wiggles free with the ball in-hand and does a touchdown dance.

 

“HOMЯ” (Episode 9)

The Simpsons enter via pneumatic tubes. Fry from Futurama, stylized in Simpsons yellow, is deposited on the sofa as well, but gets sucked back up and replaced with Bart.

 

“Worst Episode Ever” (Episode 11)

The squeaky-voiced teen secondary character valet-parks the Simpsons couch with a button, and no one tips him.

 

“Tennis the Menace” (Episode 12)

After ice-skating across the living room floor to the couch, Homer falls through the ice.

 

“New Kids on the Blecch” (Episode 14)

The Simpsons, dressed in prison jumpsuits, tunnel their way to the couch amidst searchlights and sirens.

 

Season 13

 

“The Parent Rap” (Episode 2)

Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie are in the boat painting that hangs over the couch. After they leap into the water, they reappear in the living room, which is now wet.

 

“She of Little Faith” (Episode 6)

Each member of the family, save for Maggie—who appears as a 7—rotate into view on a slot machine as a jackpot spills out onto the floor.

 

“Brawl in the Family” (Episode 7)

Rather than a couch, the audience sees a hedge, which is shaped into the Simpson family by a gardener.

 

“Sweets and Sour Marge” (Episode 8)

After the family sits down, a claw machine lifts Homer into the air by his head.

 

“Jaws Wired Shut” (Episode 9)

The Simpsons are silent movie stars in this couch gag. Most notably, Homer portrays Charlie Chaplin.

 

“Half-Decent Proposal” (Episode 10)

Repo men haul away the sofa. While Homer is upset and Marge stares at him, the children simply watch television.

 

“The Lastest Gun in the West” (Episode 12)

When the family runs in, they discover the squeaky voice teen making out with an unknown blonde character.

 

“The Old Man and the Key” (Episode 13)

Famous performers the Blue Man Group are performing in front of the couch, stopping the family from sitting. Homer then exclaims, “What the?!”

This portion is removed from later repetitions of the gag, and sometimes the group’s music is faster.

 

“Tales from the Public Domain” (Episode 14)

Live-action hands flip through a hand-drawn flipbook to show the family sitting on the couch.

 

“Blame it on Lisa” (Episode 15)

Each member of the Simpsons family is a puppet in this couch gag. When their strings get tangled, the camera pans up to show Matt Groening controlling them. He gets angry and tosses down the puppets.

 

Season 14

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“How I Spent My Strummer Vacation” (Episode 2)

Homer is water-skiing, while the other family members are in formation on top of him. After jumping two sharks, Marge and the children land safely on the couch, but Homer has both his legs bitten off.

 

“Bart vs. Lisa vs. the Third Grade” (Episode 3)

This couch gag parodies the intro from Get Smart—Homer passes through automatic doors, drops through a phone booth, and lands on the couch with the rest of the Simpsons.

 

“Large Marge” (Episode 4)

Animated hands draw the Simpsons family and couch on an Etch-a-Sketch, which is stylized as “Sketch A Etch” in the show.

 

“Helter Shelter” (Episode 5)

This gag is reminiscent of a computer art program: a cursor drags Homer into position, changes the wall color, and swaps out the boat painting for the Mona Lisa.

 

“The Great Louse Detective” (Episode 6)

After the family sits, Homer clicks the remote. This transforms them into cavemen during the Stone Age, then to ancient Romans during a gladiator match, before a third remote click returns everything to normal.

 

“Special Edna” (Episode 7)

Frozen Simpsons are placed in a fryer basket, deep-fried in oil, dumped out onto the couch, and then salted.

 

“The Dad Who Knew Too Little” (Episode 8)

This black-and-white couch gag sees the Simpsons eating lunch on top of a suspended girder, while the television sits across on another girder.

 

“The Strong Arms of the Ma” (Episode 9)

A cutout of the typical couch setup, complete with each character’s body where they usually sit, is placed in the living room.

While a photographer readies his camera, the family sticks their heads out through the holes, with everyone matched to the wrong body.

 

“Pray Anything” (Episode 10)

The Simpsons are now action figures, clutched in the grasp of a drooling baby.

 

“Barting Over” (Episode 11)

In this couch gag, the living room and family are made of gingerbread, frosting, and candy. Homer chomps into Bart’s head.

 

“Dude, Where’s My Ranch?” (Episode 18)

Dressed in mime garb, the family pantomimes sitting on their couch, which is not there.

 

Season 15

 

“My Mother the Carjacker” (Episode 2)

After sitting, the Simpsons decompose and dissolve into dust.

 

“The President Wore Pearls” (Episode 3)

The couch produces a photo, gradually developing to reveal the family.

 

“The Regina Monologues” (Episode 4)

In this couch gag, the Simpsons are molded out of Play-Doh from a Fun Factory extruder.

 

“Today, I Am a Clown” (Episode 6)

The Simpsons enter as Batman-related superheroes, via metal poles from the ceiling. Instead of their living room, they sit in a Batcave version of their home.

 

“’Tis the Fifteenth Season” (Episode 7)

Rather than a sofa in the Simpsons’ living room, this gag sees a bench in Japan, and the family animated as famous Japanese characters such as Sailor Moon, Pikachu, Ultraman, and more.

 

“Marge vs. Singles, Seniors, Childless Couples and Teens and Gays” (Episode 8)

An off-screen knife thrower surrounds the family with knives as they sit on the couch.

 

“I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot” (Episode 9)

A pastry bag squeezes the family, made of frosting, onto a cake.

 

“Diatribe of a Mad Housewife” (Episode 10)

In place of the couch, the audience sees a large slice of apple pie. Each member of the family pokes out his or her head. What’s more, Homer takes a bite out of his section.

 

“Margical Mystery Tour” (Episode 11)

A giant microwave fills the Simpsons’ living room, and the family rises up from a plate as they cook.

 

“Milhouse Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” (Episode 12)

After a character reminiscent of Johnny Appleseed from folklore plants seeds in a garden—sitting in the family’s living room where the sofa would usually reside—the Simpsons sprout and grow into their current selves.

 

“Smart and Smarter” (Episode 13)

A dry-cleaning rack filled with bags of clothes rotates until the family, also in bags, stops in their usual positions on the sofa.

 

“The Ziff Who Came to Dinner” (Episode 14)

The camera zooms out from the couch gag, all the way to outer space. Galaxies become atoms, which then form DNA strands and Homer’s skin cells as, finally, the couch gag comes into view once more.

 

Remaining Episodes

For the rest of the episodes in this season, couch gags are reused.

The couch gag from “The Ziff Who Came to Dinner” is repeated twice more during Season 15, in fact, as it helps The Simpsons meet runtime allotments when an episode’s narrative is too short.

 

Season 16

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“All’s Fair in Oven War” (Episode 2)

The couch is now the basket of a catapult. After the family sits, they are launched into the sky.

 

“Sleeping with the Enemy” (Episode 3)

The Simpsons discover their couch is missing in this gag. It quickly crushes them from above.

 

“She Used to Be My Girl” (Episode 4)

The Simpsons have been replaced by Moe Szyslak the bartender; his head is on every family member’s body, largely unchanged apart from proportional sizes and general hairstyle shape.

 

“Fat Man and Little Boy” (Episode 5)

When the family sits, the couch rises and is revealed to be the lure on an anglerfish, which eats the Simpsons.

 

“Midnight Rx” (Episode 6)

In this couch gag, it appears nothing unusual is planned: they simply sit, and then Lisa asks the audience, “What? Can’t we sit on the couch without something happening?”

Immediately, Homer is stabbed through the chest by a spear.

 

“Mommie Beerest” (Episode 7)

When the family crawls through the living room, constructed entirely out of sand, it breaks down and leaves the family stranded in a hot desert.

 

“Homer and Ned’s Hail Mary Pass” (Episode 8)

After entering, the Simpsons stack themselves up to resemble a totem pole.

 

“Pranksta Rap” (Episode 9)

The Simpsons enter as chess pieces, hopping over a chessboard floor to reach their sofa.

 

“There’s Something About Marrying” (Episode 10)

Dressed in hockey gear, the Simpsons skate into the living room and pose in victory, while Homer brandishes the Stanley cup—in which Maggie is sitting.

 

“Goo Goo Gai Pan” (Episode 12)

In this gag, the living room is dark; upon entering, the family discovers a surprise party awaiting them, filled with secondary characters from the show. Homer then has a heart attack and keels over.

 

“Mobile Homer” (Episode 13)

Homer removes a mask to reveal he’s actually Sideshow Bob. Bart runs away while Bob chases him with a large knife.

Some airings of this episode use a different couch gag. Additionally, the chase scene is not always shown; instead, Bart screams and runs out of the frame.

 

“The Seven-Beer Snitch” (Episode 14)

In this couch gag, the Simpsons get roasted over an open fire once the floor opens to reveal flames. A spit then stabs through the couch.

 

“Don’t Fear the Roofer” (Episode 15)

The Simpsons and their living room are an incomplete puzzle, with each family member’s head missing. Animated hands put each piece where it belongs, with the exception of Homer and Maggie; the hands then switch them at the last second.

 

“Future-Drama” (Episode 16)

Cars and trucks enter the room, changing into Transformers versions of the Simpsons.

 

“The Father, the Son, and the Holy Guest Star” (Episode 21)

Balloon versions of the family float to their positions on the couch. Snowball V—although still called Snowball II, after the events of “I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot”—is startled by the Homer balloon, so it pops him.

 

Season 17

 

“Bonfire of the Manatees” (Episode 1)

Upon entering, the family must pass through a metal detector before being allowed to sit on the sofa. Homer is the only Simpson not allowed to enter. A security guard has him strip to be searched with a wand.

 

“The Girl Who Slept Too Little” (Episode 2)

In this Gumby parody, balls of clay roll into a clay-animation living room. They unfurl to reveal the Simpsons, as well as Gumby, who waves to the confused family.

 

“Milhouse of Sand and Fog” (Episode 3)

After the family sits, a TiVo-esque menu fills the screen. The option “Delete This Recording Now” is then selected, and the screen goes dark.

 

“Marge’s Son Poisoning” (Episode 5)

All the couches in Springfield turn into sentient monsters; the Simpsons are chased from their home, while sofas all over town wreak havoc. Homer escapes into a couch store, where he is attacked by more couches.

This is an extra-long couch gag with a total runtime of 40 seconds, which is unusual for The Simpsons.

 

“See Homer Run” (Episode 6)

Once seated, the family is revealed to be part of an exhibit on Rigel 7, the home planet of Kang and Kodos.

 

“The Last of the Red Hot Mamas” (Episode 7)

Instead of the couch, the Simpsons sit in a bird’s nest. A giant pigeon then feeds Homer a worm.

 

“The Italian Bob” (Episode 8)

Animated hands deal the Simpsons onto the couch as playing cards.

 

“Simpson Christmas Stories” (Episode 9)

An issue of The Springfield Shopper spins and then stops to show a photo of the Simpsons, as well as the headline “Couch Gag Thrills Nation.”

 

“Homer’s Paternity Coot” (Episode 10)

The Simpsons sit on the couch, and a photo is snapped and shown in a frame. This repeats, with each photo progressing in time and showing funny, albeit non-canon, scenarios.

Among these are Homer’s death, Marge marrying Lenny, Lenny presumably marrying Carl, and the children growing older until, finally, all the Simpsons are replaced with metal robots.

 

“We’re on the Road to D’oh-where” (Episode 11)

This gag parodies the opening of Bonanza, although the Simpsons’ couch doesn’t make an appearance.

 

“The Seemingly Never-Ending Story” (Episode 13)

Running down an assembly line, the couch features all family members except Homer. He is soon added by a robotic arm.

 

“Bart Has Two Mommies” (Episode 14)

In this gag, the Simpsons must navigate a gridded laser security system to reach their couch. Although they appear to make it through unscathed, Homer’s head falls off after the family is seated.

 

“Homer Simpsons, This Is Your Wife” (Episode 15)

This live-action couch gag shows actors portraying the Simpsons sitting on a sofa. Syndicated airings use the gag where a spit impales the couch, instead.

 

Season 18

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“The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer” (Episode 1)

Instead of the sofa, the Simpsons find four stools and play Musical Chairs. Everyone but Homer gets a seat when the music stops.

 

“Jazzy and the Pussycats” (Episode 2)

Homer is King Kong, carrying Marge atop the Empire State Building as airplanes attack.

 

“Please Homer, Don’t Hammer ’Em” (Episode 3)

Ralph Wiggum stands before a vending machine filled with Simpsons characters, including the family, and selects a Homer figurine. He then bites the head off and exits.

 

“G.I. (Annoyed Grunt)” (Episode 5)

The living room transforms into a carwash, sending the family through a wash and wax cycle while they’re seated on the sofa.

 

“Moe’N’a Lisa” (Episode 6)

A cursor drags and drops each Simpsons family member onto a couch in this gag. The cursor then moves the couch to the trash icon before emptying it.

 

“Ice Cream of Margie (with the Light Blue Hair)” (Episode 7)

The Simpsons are cockroaches. They scatter when the lights turn on in the living room.

 

“The Haw-Hawed Couple” (Episode 8)

Animated hands make a paper doll chain of the family.

 

“Kill Gil, Volumes I & II” (Episode 9)

Dressed in holiday sweaters, the family sits on the couch. It zooms out to show they’re in an ornament on their Christmas tree, set up next to the fireplace while the pets nap nearby.

 

“The Wife Aquatic” (Episode 10)

On a corkboard, animated hands pin each Simpsons family member to a paper couch.

 

“Revenge is a Dish Best Served Three Times” (Episode 11)

Now babies, the Simpsons crawls onto the couch before aging into their current selves.

 

“Little Big Girl” (Episode 12)

Portrayed as paper dolls, the family are dressed in their standard outfits in front of the couch.

 

“Homerazzi” (Episode 16)

This gag follows Homer’s evolution from a cell to a fish, to a caveman, a pilgrim, a Victorian Englishman, and several iterations in between, as he makes his way to the Simpsons’ couch.

After he sits—now in his modern form—Marge asks, “What took you so long?” to which Homer sighs in exhaustion. In syndicated versions and reuses of this gag, she asks him if he got the milk.

This was the longest gag in the series so far, at over a minute in length. Later, that title would go to the Rick and Morty couch gag, when guest animators began doing Simpsons intros.

 

“Stop or My Dog Will Shoot!” (Episode 20)

After the family sits down, another identical family joins them, then another, until hundreds of Simpsons are crowded into the living room.

 

Remaining Episodes

The other episodes in this season reuse couch gags, or have their own unique openings. These include the Treehouse of Horror intro, a 24-themed opener, as well as the “Family Portrait” short from The Tracey Ullman Show.

 

Season 19

 

“He Loves to Fly and He D’ohs” (Episode 1)

Not only is the couch gag unique in this intro, but the entire opening sequence has also been changed.

Since The Simpsons Movie came out the previous summer, Springfield is portrayed in a rebuilding state as the Simpsons run modified versions of their usual routines.

Once seated on their couch amidst the construction, Homer cradles Plopper in his arms and calls him his summer love.

 

“Midnight Towboy” (Episode 3)

In this live-action gag, the living room is constructed out of Lego.

The family members are built by unidentified hands, with Homer celebrating the large black brick used for his hair, then giving an annoyed grunt when it’s replaced with a smaller, more accurate brick.

 

“I Don’t Wanna Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” (Episode 4)

Everyone but Maggie sits on the sofa. The camera then zooms out to reveal the family is part of a dollhouse in Maggie’s bedroom. Maggie uses the Homer doll as a pacifier.

 

“Little Orphan Millie” (Episode 6)

A picture of the Simpsons appears on Modern Couch Gag, along with the article title “10 Couch Gags to Spice Up Your Marriage.”

 

“Husbands and Knives” (Episode 7)

Animated hands open a pop-up book portraying the Simpsons on their couch.

 

“Funeral for a Fiend” (Episode 8)

A magician makes the Simpsons and their sofa vanish with his cape.

 

“E. Pluribus Wiggum” (Episode 10)

The camera pans across a medieval tapestry, depicting the Simpsons retrieving their couch after the Flanders clan steals it, then killing Ned and the rest of his family.

 

“That ’90s Show” (Episode 11)

When the shot zooms out, the Simpsons and their sofa are in a painting, on display in a museum.

The bottom of the canvas reads, “This is not a couch gag” in French, a reference to the famous painting “This Is Not a Pipe” by surrealist René Magritte.

 

“Love, Springfieldian Style” (Episode 12)

After entering the living room, the Simpsons attach themselves to a mobile. Homer weighs it down too heavily on his side.

 

“The Debarted” (Episode 13)

Animated hands construct the Simpsons on a Lite-Brite machine.

 

“Dial ‘N’ for Nerder” (Episode 14)

In this couch gag, the Simpsons are small sponge toys until Professor Frink helps them grow with droppers of water. Homer, however, requires a bucket to reach his full size.

 

“Smoke on the Daughter” (Episode 15)

The Simpsons collide with their living room, painted onto a wall by Wile E. Coyote. Maggie impersonates the Roadrunner and leaves, while the rest of the family sits. Homer crashes through the wall.

 

“Papa Don’t Leech” (Episode 16)

An animated paintbrush paints the family onto their couch.

 

Season 20

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“Sex, Pies and Idiots Scrapes” (Episode 1)

Boba Fett traps the family in carbonite.

 

“Lost Verizon” (Episode 2)

When visiting Mount Rushmore, the Simpsons find themselves carved into the mountain, instead.

 

“Double, Double, Boy in Trouble (Episode 3)

This couch gag parodies The Wizard of Oz, as the Simpsons are swept up in a tornado, then deposited on a farm in black-and-white.

 

“Dangerous Curves” (Episode 5)

Each family member, now a wooden carving, emerges from a German cuckoo clock.

 

“Homer and Lisa Exchange Cross Words” (Episode 6)

After sitting on a stone bench while dressed in togas, the Simpsons are covered in ash from Mt. Vesuvius.

 

“Mypods and Boomsticks” (Episode 7)

The family runs in to find Bart writing “I will not bring the chalkboard home.”

 

“Lisa the Drama Queen” (Episode 9)

After the family is seated, the camera pans out to reveal they’re in a box. Comic Book Guy puts a price sticker on it and announces that this is the worst couch gag ever.

 

“Take My Life, Please” (Episode 10)

The Simpsons chase their couch around the globe, and even into space, before demanding it return home.

 

“How the Test Was Won” (Episode 11)

This couch gag parodies The Honeymooners, Dick Van Dyke, The Brady Bunch, and Cheers, with the Simpsons dressing up as characters from each while they make their way to the sofa.

 

“No Loan Again, Naturally” (Episode 12)

After realizing their couch is too beaten up, the Simpsons give it a funeral in the backyard and get a new spotted one from a ranch, which bucks Homer off and puts him in a full-body cast.

 

“Gone, Maggie Gone” (Episode 13)

Ralph Wiggum hits a suspended Simpsons couch like a pinata, which cracks open and deposits the family on the floor.

 

“In the Name of the Grandfather” (Episode 14)

Each Simpsons family member is on a leash, crawling around the living room before faceless judges like in the Westminster Dog Show. A judge selects Bart as the winner, thus provoking Homer to barking and biting.

 

“Wedding for Disaster” (Episode 15)

An animated person, later revealed to be Comic Book Guy, dines at a fancy restaurant and receives each family member as a different course.

Homer is a salad, Lisa is soup, Marge is pasta, Bart is steak, and Maggie is an after-dinner mint on the bill tray.

After the camera reveals the patron is Comic Book Guy, he wipes his mouth with a napkin and drops it. The grease stains depict the family on their sofa.

 

“Eeny Teeny Maya, Moe” (Episode 16)

The couch and family are put together layer by layer with animation cells, with the penultimate cell clothing everyone but Homer. Marge reaches up and pulls down another cell herself, clothing him.

 

“The Good, the Sad and the Drugly” (Episode 17)

When the Simpsons enter their living room, they find that not only has it been overrun by jungle plants, but also that an ape version of themselves already occupies the couch.

The apes aggressively scare off the family.

 

“Father Knows Worst” (Episode 18)

The family swims to the couch through a pool, but Homer drowns shortly after diving in.

 

“Waverly Hills, 9-0-2-1-D’oh” (Episode 19)

The Simpsons, dressed as ancient Romans, run into a crowded colosseum during a gladiator match. Bart catches a severed head.

 

“Four Great Women and a Manicure” (Episode 20)

A sculptor turns a block of marble into the Simpsons on their couch, but then immediately changes them into a soldier on a horse.

 

Season 21

 

“Homer the Whopper” (Episode 1)

A subway train opens to reveal the Simpsons’ living room. The family rushes in and sits before the doors close.

 

“Bart Gets a ‘Z’” (Episode 2)

In cowboy hats, the family shoot each other from all around the sofa, before Maggie emerges from behind the sailboat painting and shoots a machine gun.

 

“The Devil Wears Nada” (Episode 5)

After a prehistoric Simpsons family runs to sit on a log, they sink into tar. In present day, their skeletons are on display in a museum.

 

“Pranks and Greens” (Episode 6)

The Simpsons sing a parody of “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” while dressed as Dickensian-era carolers. At the end, they sit on their sofa.

 

“Rednecks and Broomsticks” (Episode 7)

Along with Patty and Selma, the Simpsons gather for a delicious Thanksgiving dinner in the dining room, only to take their plates into the living room and watch football while eating.

 

“O Brother, Where Bart Thou?” (Episode 8)

The living room furniture is disco dancing, until the family comes in and Homer yells at it.

 

“Thursdays with Abie” (Episode 9)

The Simpsons take part in a pinball game called “Couch Gag Chaos.”

 

“Once Upon a Time in Springfield” (Episode 10)

Each family member, portrayed as spermatozoa, penetrates a human egg containing the couch. When the fertilized egg multiples, it forms a fetus of Mr. Burns.

 

“Million Dollar Maybe” (Episode 11)

Homer, the first to arrive on the couch, uses his myPhone to download the rest of the Simpsons into an app called Couch Gag.

An incoming call from his boss then makes him scream and swallow his myPhone.

 

“Boy Meets Curl” (Episode 12)

A gypsy deals tarot cards to Grampa, each with a family member on it. After he gets the Death card, a frightened Grampa turns it on the gypsy, giving her a heart attack.

 

“Stealing First Base” (Episode 15)

A garden in the backyard yields an orange squash, which the Simpsons—portrayed as bugs—then sit upon.

 

“American History X-cellent” (Episode 17)

The family sits on their couch outside their home, just before it falls and reveals it’s actually a set piece.

 

“The Squirt and the Whale” (Episode 19)

When the Simpsons’ couch runs away through The Springfield Shopper, the family chases it. The couch sees a personal ad in which the family states how much they miss it, and all is forgiven.

 

“To Surveil with Love” (Episode 20)

This opening is a lengthy one, portraying the entire town singing Ke$ha’s “Tik Tok.” It begins with Lisa at school, and ends with Marge and Homer returning home to find the kids rushing them onto the couch.

After the family sits, secondary characters lift it into the air, while the Simpsons happily wilt and relax.

 

“Moe Letter Blues” (Episode 21)

Nelson quickly constructs a model of the Simpsons on the couch in this gag, then blows them up with a firecracker and laughs.

 

“The Bob Next Door” (Episode 22)

The living room is drawn by Harold from the Harold and the Purple Crayon books. After the Simpsons run in and sit, Homer asks Harold to draw him a beer, which he does.

 

“Judge Me Tender” (Episode 23)

Hand-puppet versions of Homer and Bart attach each other, as real-life Homer strangles Bart.

 

Season 22

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“Elementary School Musical” (Episode 1)

When the family sits, they’re underneath a red and white banner reading, “22 Seasons: Congratulations from Fox.”

Although a Fox executive offers a cake for Maggie to blow out, he eats it himself and leaves, while the disappointed family is covered by the falling banner.

 

“Loan-a Lisa” (Episode 2)

Upon discovering a body in their living room, the Simpsons flee on their couch. They are then caught, taken into custody, jailed, and sentenced to death by electric chair, all while seated on the couch.

 

“MoneyBART” (Episode 3)

The family and the couch are in a portrait, hanging in a sweatshop. Depressing music plays as the camera pans around the factory, showing sad and exhausted workers making animation cells and Simpsons merchandise.

 

“Lisa Simpson, This Isn’t Your Life” (Episode 5)

Lance Murdock jumps over the family and the couch on his motorcycle, but crashes and hurts himself.

 

“The Fool Monty” (Episode 6)

In this couch gag, the Simpsons are creatures from Avatar, bonding with their dragons (couches with tails and wings). Only Bart is successful in taming a couch, and the family joins him as it lands.

 

“How Munched is That Birdie in the Window?” (Episode 7)

Professor Frink shrinks the Simpsons in this gag, and the family runs through the living room to their couch.

However, Snowball II scares them into a mousehole, so they sit on a block of cheese instead. A mousetrap then snaps shut and traps them.

 

“Donnie Fatso” (Episode 9)

An advent calendar opens to reveal Sprinfieldians in various holiday garb and activities, ending with the Simpsons on their sofa, accompanied by Santa Claus.

 

“Mom’s I’d Like to Forget” (Episode 10)

In this gag, audiences get to watch the Simpsons’ couch prepare for its day: rising, commuting to the family’s home, and clocking in just before the Simpsons run in and sit.

 

“Flaming Moe” (Episode 11)

Instead of the sofa, a giant ice cream bowl is in the living room. Yellow ice cream is scooped into it, resembling the family, and topped with whipped cream, chocolate, and a cherry before Santa’s Little Helper licks up the sundae.

 

“The Blue and the Gray” (Episode 13)

After Homer is injured on his way to the couch, Mr. Burns—dressed as a coach—sends Barney in as his replacement while paramedics take Homer away.

 

“Angry Dad: The Movie” (Episode 14)

Dressed in hockey gear, the Simpsons are sent to the penalty box.

 

“The Scorpion’s Tale” (Episode 15)

A video game selects the family, promptly displaying “Game Over” on the screen.

 

“A Midsummer’s Nice Dream” (Episode 16)

The couch is a springboard, which shoots the family at the screen.

 

“Love is a Many Strangled Thing” (Episode 17)

This couch gag depicts the Simpsons in ASCII code.

 

“The Real Housewives of Fat Tony” (Episode 19)

Seated on their couch, the family is on a video cover in the shelf of a rental store just before its demolition.

 

“Homer Scissorhands” (Episode 20)

After their couch is put on display in the Smithsonian, the family must break in and sneak through different exhibits to reunite with it.

 

“500 Keys” (Episode 21)

Animated text portrays where the living room furniture and each family member should be.

 

Season 23

 

“Bart Stops to Smell the Roosevelts” (Episode 2)

Guest animator John Kricfalusi, creator of The Ren & Stimpy Show, drew the entire couch gag, with the Simpsons and their living room portrayed in his distinctive style.

 

“The Ten-Per-Cent Solution” (Episode 8)

A sword is stuck in the Simpsons’ couch. While all the family members try to remove it, only Ned Flanders is able to do so.

 

“Holidays of Future Passed” (Episode 9)

Once again portrayed as gingerbread cookies, the Simpsons on now on a plate beside some milk for Santa. Homer takes a bite of his own arm.

 

“Politically Inept, with Homer Simpson” (Episode 10)

Victorian-era Simpsons sit on their couch. The lights then turn off, and someone shoots Homer. Although police arrest Bart for the murder, Marge hides a smoking gun in her hair.

 

“The D’oh-cial Network” (Episode 11)

In this couch gag, the family rushes through New York to get to the David Letterman set. When they sit, the host rants and raves that they didn’t do much, considering the expense it took to get them there.

 

“The Daughter Also Rises” (Episode 13)

This celebration of the Simpsons’ 500th episode is cut short when Lisa corrects everyone, saying the episode is really number 499. Moe says, “Fox ain’t doing this again,” much to the crowd’s disappointment.

 

“At Long Last Leave” (Episode 14)

In this couch gag, which marks the real 500th episode of The Simpsons, screenshots from every previous gag flash in rapid succession.

The camera pans out to reveal a collage reading “500,” made from the screenshots. It promptly collapses into shards, showing Homer strangling Bart.

 

“Exit Through the Kwik-E-Mart” (Episode 15)

This couch gag parodies the Game of Thrones opening, with various Simpsons characters portraying different families.

 

“How I Wet Your Mother” (Episode 16)

The Simpsons are made into sushi.

 

“Them, Robot” (Episode 17)

During a progressive timelapse, a banner hanging over the couch that reads “America: The Most Powerful Country in the World” eventually changes to “Too Big to Fail, We Hope,” before Maggie holds a Chinese flag.

 

“Beware My Cheating Bart” (Episode 18)

Guest animator Bill Plympton portrays a young Homer falling in love with his couch, only to leave it—pregnant—for Marge.

The couch, devastated, turns to stripping, prostituion, and panhandling. When Homer sees it trying to commit suicide in a garbage truck, he rescues the couch and takes it home.

In the final shot, the family sits happily on the sofa, while Maggie occupies the baby couch.

 

“The Spy Who Learned Me” (Episode 20)

Spectators in an arena form the family with giant cards.

 

“Lisa Goes Gaga” (Episode 22)

The family is in a game for the Nintendo Wii (stylized as Zii in the Simpsons’ world), and Homer is the only character who can’t sit on the couch. After throwing down his controller, the real Homer tries to sit and fails, as well.

 

Season 24

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“Moonshine River” (Episode 1)

Maggie saves butterfly versions of Homer, Marge, Lisa, and Bart from the baby with the one eyebrow. This couch gag references The Simpsons short, The Longest Daycare.

 

“Adventures in Baby-Getting” (Episode 3)

There is no couch gag in this episode during American runs, but international versions of The Simpsons feature a gag similar to the animation cell opening.

 

“Gone Abie Gone” (Episode 4)

This couch gag parodies Wacky Races, with various Simpsons characters portrayed as Hanna-Barbera cartoons.

 

“Penny-Wiseguys” (Episode 5)

The family and sofa are tattooed onto someone, revealed to be Marge. She then covers the lower-back tattoo and giggles coyly.

 

“A Tree Grows in Springfield” (Episode 6)

Homer attacks the family with an axe while they’re sitting on the couch. The camera pans out to reveal they’re part of a horror anthology, Tales from the Couch.

 

“Homer Goes to Prep School” (Episode 10)

A crusher turns the Simpsons—each as a different award statue—into a Best Grampa award.

 

“A Test Before Trying” (Episode 11)

This gag parodies an action movie trailer.

 

“Changing of the Guardian” (Episode 12)

Nelson dunks the family off the couch in to a carnival dunk tank.

 

“Love is a Many-Splintered Thing” (Episode 13)

Similar to a previous couch gag, all the Simpsons family members have Moe heads. This time, however, they are the same height, and sing, “The Szylaks,” in the tune of The Simpsons’ opening line. Moe then says, “Already cancelled.”

 

“Hardly Kirk-ing” (Episode 14)

A knight swings his sword at the family on the couch, decapitating Homer and cutting off a section of Marge’s hair.

 

“Gorgeous Grampa” (Episode 15)

The Simpsons perform “The Homer Shake,” parodying the Harlem Shake trend.

 

“Black-Eyed, Please” (Episode 16)

Bill Plympton returns, this time animating the Simpsons as noir detectives and other archetypes in this couch gag.

While it looks like they’re all facing off with weapons, the lights come on to reveal they’re each holding harmless objects.

When the family is sitting on the sofa contentedly, Maggie shoots a gun, shocking everyone else.

 

“Dark Knight Court” (Episode 17)

Homer sits on some Easter eggs, painted as the rest of the family.

 

“What Animated Women Want” (Episode 18)

This couch gag parodies Breaking Bad, with the Simpsons baking and selling blue cupcakes. At the end, it zooms out to a live-action shot of Jesse and Walter watching The Simpsons.

 

“Pulpit Friction” (Episode 19)

While skydiving into their living room, the Simpsons crush their couch after Homer, whose chute came off during descent, lands on top of them all.

 

“Whiskey Business” (Episode 20)

An ice sculpture of the family melts when Grampa turns up the thermostat.

 

“The Fabulous Faker Boy” (Episode 21)

This Robot Chicken-style couch gag features various Simpsons characters and toys, and ends with the family shackled to the couch and forced to watch television.

 

“The Saga of Carl” (Episode 22)

Portrayed as sea creatures, the Simpsons are devoured by Blinky the three-eyed fish.

 

“Dangers on a Train” (Episode 23)

There are two versions of this couch gag: most show the Simpsons as dandelions, which scatter their seeds—tiny versions of themselves—across the screen when blown.

In Canada, however, a hockey player and beaver join the family on the couch, while “O, Canada” plays.

 

Season 25

 

“Homerland” (Episode 1)

A bouncer lets everyone but Homer into the living room, which is decorated with a banner to celebrate the show’s 25th season.

 

“Treehouse of Horror XXIV” (Episode 2)

This couch gag honors several horror and sci-fi movies, with Simpsons characters portraying characters from Pan’s Labyrinth and the like.

 

“Four Regrettings and a Funeral” (Episode 3)

The Simpsons are drawn as Lord of the Rings characters in this gag, on a journey to find their couch.

 

“Yolo” (Episode 4)

Homer, Bart, Lisa, and Marge reach the couch from different planes, and Homer is pull out into the sky in a parody of the 2013 sci-fi thriller, Gravity.

 

“Labor Pains” (Episode 5)

Dressed as Pilgrims, the Simpsons sail to Plymouth Couch in this gag.

 

“The Kid is All Right” (Episode 6)

This Silly Symphony parody shows the Simpsons and other Sprinfieldians as musical instruments. Lisa wants to play jazz, of course, but Mr. Burns only allows classical music in his town, and imprisons the Simpsons.

Using music, the family breaks free and encourages the town to play whatever they like. Springfield becomes a varied musical scene, with everyone happy and celebrating.

 

“Yellow Subterfuge” (Episode 7)

The Simpsons are flailing inflatable tube men in a used couch lot. Bart cuts Homer loose with scissors, and Homer flies into some power lines and gets shocked.

 

“White Christmas Blues” (Episode 8)

In this couch gag, the Simpsons show their version of “The Night Before Christmas.”

 

“Married to the Blob” (Episode 10)

Bill Plympton returns for a guest animator couch gag yet again, this time animating the Simpsons in different realities as they flip channels.

 

“Specs and the City” (Episode 11)

When Bart throws his six-pack on some power lines, Homer struggles to reach them and accidentally knocks out the entire town’s electricity during the Super Bowl.

 

“Diggs” (Episode 12)

This couch gag animates the Simpsons in the style of The Triplets of Belleville. Homer eats escargot while Bart stuffs a goose for foie gras—horrifying Lisa—and Marge anxiously searches for Maggie in French.

When Homer gets up from the couch, Maggie sticks to his butt.

 

“The Man Who Grew Too Much” (Episode 13)

After Pangea breaks into 5 land masses resembling the Simpsons, a Moe-shaped asteroid wipes them out.

 

“The Winter of His Content” (Episode 14)

Homer has become the board game Operation, with other characters personifying his ailments—most notably, Bart as the “Pain in the Butt.”

 

“You Don’t Have to Live Like a Referee” (Episode 16)

After escaping a running of the bulls, the Simpsons sit on their couch, only for Homer to get thrown off and replaced by a bull.

 

“Luca$” (Episode 17)

This couch gag portrays the Simpsons and Springfield as the game Minecraft.

 

“Days of Future Future” (Episode 18)

Both the living room and couch are covered in bubble wrap. The Simpsons step on it with delight.

 

“What to Expect When Bart’s Expecting” (Episode 19)

This guest-animated couch gag, done by Michal Socha, shows the Simpsons traveling into Homer’s body.

 

“Pay Pal” (Episode 21)

The Simpsons play the Game of Life, making it all the way to the couch at the end, where the Grim Reaper awaits.

 

“The Yellow Badge of Cowardge” (Episode 22)

Matt Groening joins the Simpsons at Comic-Con, with everyone but Maggie fleeing when Comic Book Guy asks if there will ever be another Simpsons movie.

 

Season 26

 

“Clown in the Dumps” (Episode 1)

Guest animator Don Hertzfeldt contributes to this couch gag, in which Homer accidentally time-travels thousands of years in the future, where the Simpsons still have a show—but it’s devolved into abstract nonsense.

 

“The Wreck of the Relationship” (Episode 2)

When the family enters, they find Scratchy on the couch, about to be murdered by Itchy. Homer gets rid of Itchy and lets Scratchy live on their sofa, but his freeloading wears the family down.

Soon, Homer brings Itchy back to let him murder Scratchy, anyway.

 

“Super Franchise Me” (Episode 3)

This couch gag shows the Simpsons in oil painting stills, parodying the Cat Stevens’ album Tea for the Tillerman.

 

“Simpsorama” (Episode 6)

In this crossover episode with Futurama, the Simpsons enter to find their sofa is actually Hedonismbot, who feeds Homer grapes and encourages his decadence.

 

“Blazed and Confused” (Episode 7)

The family sits on the couch in ski gear. It then lifts them like a ski chairlift, and returns with every member injured except for Maggie, who sports a medal.

 

“Covercraft” (Episode 8)

While using their phones, the family enters and bumps into each other, then resumes playing when they fall down.

 

“I Won’t Be Home for Christmas” (Episode 9)

This couch gag parodies Disney’s Frozen, with each Simpsons family member portraying a different character.

 

“The Man Who Came to Be Dinner” (Episode 10)

The Simpsons are observing artwork of themselves in a gallery.

 

“Bart’s New Friend” (Episode 11)

The Simpsons are Goldilocks and the three bears, as told by Homer to Maggie.

 

“Walking Big & Tall” (Episode 13)

The Simpsons are fresh sushi on a boat. Homer is dropped into the water and eaten by fish.

 

“My Fare Lady” (Episode 14)

This couch gag is done in 16-bit pixel art, and mimics the earlier Simpsons intro rather than the post-Simpsons Movie version.

 

“The Princess Guide” (Episode 15)

When a faxed version of the Simpsons gets stuck in the machine, Homer says, “Mm…paper jam.”

 

“Waiting for Duffman” (Episode 17)

Repetitively, the Simpsons are sucked through a portal every time they land on the couch in this gag. Bart eventually shuts off the portal and lands on the couch alone, finding Homer’s decapitated head after he didn’t make it through the portal in time.

 

“Peeping Mom” (Episode 18)

The Simpsons pop like popcorn kernels as the couch heats them up. Homer, however, takes the longest and gets burned.

 

“The Kids Are All Fight” (Episode 19)

This couch gag is the same as the Game of Life one, but instead of the Grim Reaper at the end, it’s Grampa Simpson with a “Don’t Forget Me” sign around his neck. Homer still screams.

 

“Let’s Go Fly a Coot” (Episode 20)

Homer is a walrus that eats the rest of the family—portrayed as penguins—after they sit on a couch-shaped iceberg.

 

“Bull-E” (Episode 21)

Maggie kicks soccer balls at goalie Homer, who can’t keep up and gets buried in them.

 

“Mathlete’s Feat” (Episode 22)

This Rick and Morty crossover couch gag sees the aforementioned pair crush the Simpsons on their sofa. Rick collects DNA from the mess and orders Morty to go retrieve materials that will allow him to clone the Simpsons.

Meanwhile, Rick drinks Homer’s beer, plays Lisa’s sax, and freezes Ned Flanders. He also takes some valuables from the family’s home.

When Morty returns, Rick raises the thermostat and dumps the clone “seeds” on the couch. They turn into grotesque versions of the Simpsons, each fused with Rick clones. Rick, burping, tells Morty to never clean DNA vials with your spit.

As the pair leaves, Bart angrily exclaims, “No more guest animators, man!”

 

Season 27

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“Every Man’s Dream” (Episode 1)

In this couch gag, the Simpsons are portrayed as various covers from the Beatles’ albums.

 

“Puffless” (Episode 3)

The Simpsons are monster trucks, crushed by Monster Truck Maggie on the couch.

 

“Treehouse of Horror XXVI” (Episode 5)

Animated by John Kricfalusi, this couch gag shows the Simpsons kids trick-or-treating before being chased home by spirits.

The angry, demonized spirit of Frank Grimes then steals Homer’s soul when the family is seated on their couch.

 

“Friend With Benefit” (Episode 6)

Santa’s Little Helper is overfed and sent to Doggy Hell in this parody of the Disney animated short, “Feast.”

 

“Lisa with an ‘S’” (Episode 7)

This couch gag parodies Star Trek once more, with the Simpsons commandeering the Donut Enterprise.

 

“’Paths of Glory” (Episode 8)

Homer rolls several dice, which each land on a family member’s face, but his own die flips to Mr. Burns.

 

“Barthood” (Episode 9)

This couch gag is drawn in rotoscope style, with the Simpsons portrayed as more realistic versions of themselves.

Homer dislikes it, however, and returns everything to normal while Lisa declares it “a noble experiment that failed.”

 

“Teenage Mutant Milk-Caused Hurdles” (Episode 11)

This couch gag resembles an 80s action-show sequence, with the Simpsons stylized more like real people.

 

“Love Is in the N2-O2-Ar-CO2-Ne-He-CH4” (Episode 13)

The couch runs away, and the family tracks it down. Afterwards, it’s revealed this is actually a dream Homer is having while napping on the couch. He then finds a note saying Marge has left him.

 

“Gal of Constant Sorrow” (Episode 14)

Dressed as football players, the Simpsons pass Maggie before Homer breaks the wall scoring a touchdown.

 

“Lisa the Veterinarian” (Episode 15)

This is Bill Plympton’s fourth guest animation spot. In this couch gag, the Simpsons’ couch and television fall in love, but it’s a doomed romance.

 

“The Burns Cage” (Episode 17)

Homer texts emojis of the family to a group chat, receiving criticisms from the recipients, as well as plugs from the producers.

 

“How Lisa Got Her Marge Back” (Episode 18)

The Simpsons are in space, asleep in cryo-chambers. Marge opens Homer’s pod to discover he’s decomposed into skeletal remains.

 

“Fland Canyon” (Episode 19)

Each member of the family is a different Disney character, as the set changes to fit their respective references.

Bart, dressed as Mickey from “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” in Fantasia, changes the family back to normal, much to his own delight and everyone else’s disappointment.

 

“To Courier With Love” (Episode 20)

The Simpsons end up in a rugby match, during which Homer is tackled.

 

“Orange is the New Yellow” (Episode 22)

In this Ikea-themed couch gag, the Simpsons become an animated instruction manual while Homer tries to assemble a new sofa.

 

Season 28

 

“Monty Burns’ Fleeing Circus” (Episode 1)

This couch gag mimics the Adventure Time opening, with a new theme by creator Pendleton Ward to match.

 

“Friends and Family” (Episode 2)

The Simpsons are dragged out of reality and onto a myPhone app, but Homer is too fat, so the animated hand switches to a myPad. When Homer still can’t budge, the hand simply knocks him out with a hammer.

 

“Treehouse of Horror XXVII” (Episode 4)

A Planet of the Apes parody gag sees the Simpsons captured by evil sofas, then rescued by their own couch.

After the couch leads them to a half-buried Lard Lad statue, Homer knocks the couch unconscious, and the family sits upon it.

 

“Trust But Clarify” (Episode 5)

After visiting an art museum, Homer sees all of Springfield as stylized paintings.

 

“Havana Wild Weekend” (Episode 7)

Dressed as Roman deities, the Simpsons sit on a cloud couch. Lisa emerges from the hole in Homer’s head, reading The Odyssey.

 

“Dad Behavior” (Episode 8)

After the rest of the family is killed during the opening sequence, Bart sits alone on the couch, then fills it with photos of the other Simpsons.

 

“The Last Traction Hero” (Episode 9)

Russian soldiers hold the family at gunpoint in the living room.

 

“The Nightmare After Krustmas” (Episode 10)

In this holiday couch gag, the Simpsons are dressed as characters from Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

 

“Pork and Burns” (Episode 11)

The Simpsons sit on their couch, and the camera then zooms out to reveal they’re a playset in a toy display. Bart tries unsuccessfully to persuade Marge to purchase it.

 

“Fatzcarraldo” (Episode 14)

Upon sitting, the Simpsons realize Maggie is missing. Marge then opens a safe behind the boat painting, which contains Maggie and some gold.

 

“The Cad and the Hat” (Episode 15)

After noticing the sailboat painting is missing, Homer looks through the sets of other animated shows to find it. These include South Park, the California Raisins, and finally, the Robot Chicken universe.

There, Homer finds his painting has been purchased by the Robot Chicken nerd character. He steals it and returns home.

 

“Kamp Krustier” (Episode 16)

The family are slots in a pachinko machine. Everyone’s slot but Homer’s fills up quickly, and he chokes on the one ball that enters his slot.

 

“22 for 30” (Episode 17)

Bill Plympton returns in this guest-animated couch gag, in which the Simpsons are being drawn by one another in a continuous chain.

At the end is Homer, who isn’t paying attention and stabs himself in the eye with his pencil.

 

“A Father’s Watch” (Episode 18)

Past and present pets of the Simpsons family sit and watch television.

 

“The Caper Chase” (Episode 19)

The Simpsons portray X-Men characters. Shortly after they enter, Stan Lee walks in and says there’s nothing too short in which he can’t cameo.

 

“Looking for Mr. Goodbart” (Episode 20)

This Simpsons couch gag parodies the intro from the Big Bang Theory. Barenaked Ladies, who also sing the original, perform a rewritten theme.

 

“Moho House” (Episode 21)

In this couch gag, the Simpsons are Chia pets, growing their hair as plants.

 

“Dogtown” (Episode 22)

After braving a dangerous, snowy mountain, the family—dressed in expedition gear—has sherpas bring up their couch and television.

Maggie finishes her climb last, digging her ice pick into Homer’s foot. The family freezes and melts away, save for the baby.

 

Season 29

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“Whistler’s Father” (Episode 3)

The family are different pieces of living room furniture. Since Homer is the couch, they all sit on him.

 

“Grampy Can Ya Hear Me” (Episode 5)

The Simpsons immigrate to America in the 1800s, evolving with the times all the way to the future, when they must leave earth and migrate to Rigel 7.

 

“The Old Blue Mayor She Ain’t What She Used To Be” (Episode 6)

In this silent-filmstrip couch gag, the Simpsons’ children work in a coal mine.

 

“Singin’ in the Lane” (Episode 7)

Ned catches a family of Simpsons fish, then places them in a cage full of hungry lobsters.

 

“Mr. Lisa’s Opus” (Episode 8)

In this couch gag, the Simpsons transform into the Lincoln memorial, engraved on the back of a penny.

Homer then receives this penny as a raise from Mr. Burns.

 

“Gone Boy” (Episode 9)

After sitting, the family turns into popcorn. Hands then string them together and wrap them around a Christmas tree.

 

“Frink Gets Testy” (Episode 11)

The family’s couch has a baby couch, which Homer drops. Maggie sits on it happily.

 

“3 Scenes Plus a Tag from a Marriage” (Episode 13)

Bill Plympton returns for another couch gag, animating the Simpsons as extensions and offshoots of Homer’s warping, distorting face while he sings “Your Face.”

 

“Fears of a Clown” (Episode 14)

The Simpsons run through the Museum of Television, passing other notable shows in order to reach their couch in a Simpsons exhibit.

 

“No Good Read Goes Unpunished” (Episode 15)

This couch gag is in black and white, with the Simpsons and their living room then formed via connect-the-dots.

 

“Left Behind” (Episode 19)

The family rides a Ferris wheel, which crashes into their living room where the sofa would normally be.

 

“Throw Grampa from the Dane” (Episode 20)

Each family member is printed from their own printer, but Homer gets stuck and says, “Mm…jam.”

 

“Flanders’ Ladder” (Episode 21)

An Amish or Mennonite man is summoned to build the Simpsons a new couch in this gag, after theirs goes missing. Homer, of course, is disappointed to discover there’s no electricity.

 

Season 30

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“Bart’s Not Dead” (Episode 1)

A Simpsons-esque family of aliens watches clips from previous episodes.

 

“My Way or the Highway to Heaven” (Episode 3)

Homer is trapped in the restaurant from Bob’s Burgers, while their usual intro happens outside. The Belcher family watches him through the window as he panics and struggles, exchanging banter.

 

“Baby You Can’t Drive My Car” (Episode 5)

Riding stationary bikes, everyone in the family but Homer travel around the house from their usual spots in the living room.

 

“From Russia Without Love” (Episode 6)

Bread-shaped slices of the Simpsons are inserted into the couch, now a toaster. Homer then gets stuck and charred.

 

“Daddicus Finch” (Episode 9)

Homer is asleep on the couch when the rest of the Simpsons family runs in for this gag. He’s dreaming of other opening sequences from the show.

 

“’Tis the 30th Season” (Episode 10)

In another Star Wars parody, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie are hanging from the ceiling. Homer, portraying a wampa, enters and tries to attack, but Bart severs his hand with a lightsaber.

Marge then reattaches it and the family reunites to say “Merry Christmas.” Homer’s hand falls off once more.

 

“Mad About the Toy” (Episode 11)

Another football-themed couch gag, the family sit on a bench—the couch—while Homer spins Maggie on his finger. Meanwhile, the crowd behind them, composed of secondary characters, cheers.

 

“The Girl on the Bus” (Episode 12)

Thanos occupies the Simpsons’ couch in this gag, using Maggie’s pacifier to complete his Infinity Gauntlet. When he snaps, he makes everyone but Maggie disintegrate.

 

“I’m Dancing as Fat as I Can” (Episode 13)

The Simpsons fit themselves into a heart-shaped box of chocolates. Mr. Burns comes along and tries Homer, but spits him out.

 

“101 Mitigations” (Episode 15)

In this couch gag, the Simpsons are cups under a soda fountain. Homer overflows and tips, then demands a refill.

 

“I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” (Episode 16)

Homer and Marge are contestants on Pyramid, playing the category “Things a Couch Would Say.”

 

“Girl’s in the Band” (Episode 19)

Homer runs to the couch to join his family, but everything and everyone—except for himself—are in black and white.

 

“I’m Just a Girl Who Can’t Say D’oh” (Episode 20)

This couch gag parodies the opening of My Three Sons, with the Simpsons kids and Groundskeeper Willie portraying the characters.

 

“Crystal Blue-Haired Persuasion” (Episode 23)

The room is made of paper.  Homer doesn’t notice, however, and falls through the wall.

 

Season 31

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“The Winter of Our Monetized Content” (Episode 1)

Homer’s hands try to make an origami swan in this gag, but he instead forms the entire Simpsons family on the couch.

 

“The Fat Blue Line” (Episode 3)

In this gag, the family imitates Queen during the Live Aid concert. While Homer has the audience echo Mercury’s famous “Day-oh” call, he rips his pants and shouts, “D’oh!” instead. The audience then repeats this, as well.

 

“Gorillas on the Mast” (Episode 5)

The Simpsons are thrown at a large dartboard over the couch.

 

“Marge the Lumberjill” (Episode 6)

After sitting, the family’s sofa moves out of the room and embarks on a ride similar to the Pirates of the Caribbean.

 

“Todd, Todd, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?” (Episode 9)

Instead of the Simpsons family in this gag, the Flanders clan runs into their own living room, finding the couch gone. The boys cheer when Ned informs them he donated it to the poor.

 

“Bobby, It’s Cold Outside” (Episode 10)

The couch is a Christmas tree ornament, upon which the Simpsons are placed as figurines. Homer’s figurine tips the entire tree over.

 

“Hail to the Teeth” (Episode 11)

The Simpsons sit, and the camera zooms out to reveal they’re on a penny, which Nelson flattens on the railroad tracks before a train hits him.

 

“Frinkcoin” (Episode 13)

In this couch gag, the Simpsons are characters from the musical Cats. Mr. Burns then sics his hounds on them.

 

“Screenless” (Episode 15)

Due to Daylight Savings Time, only Lisa remembers to arrive at the couch.

 

“Better Off Ned” (Episode 16)

Animated hands hold a cell phone that tracks the family’s arrival via a rideshare app. They give a one-star rating and do not tip.

 

“The Incredible Lightness of Being a Baby” (Episode 18)

In this couch gag, the Simpsons use a virtual reality simulator for different activities, such as skydiving or surfing.

 

“Warrin’ Priests (Part One)” (Episode 19)

While the Simpsons’ clothes sit on the couch in this gag, the family themselves are shivering backstage.

 

“Warrin’ Priests (Part Two)” (Episode 20)

This couch gag parodies Succession, and shows new footage as well as a clip of Maggie shooting Mr. Burns.

 

Season 32

 

“Undercover Burns” (Episode 1)

The Simpsons sit, only for the entire living room to vanish and make them fall. They were really in front of a green screen, and Nelson made them fall down.

 

“Now Museum, Now You Don’t” (Episode 3)

This is similar to the cell animation couch gags of the past, but with more biological detail to the Simpsons such as veins and skeletal systems.

 

“The 7 Beer Itch” (Episode 5)

While the couch hops across the surface of the moon, the Simpsons—clad in astronaut suits—chase it and sit. Homer’s seat, however, ejects him.

 

“Tree Dreams Denied” (Episode 7)

The family’s lateness angers the couch, who has prepared dinner for them. It blows out the candles, then the living room goes dark.

 

“Sorry Not Sorry” (Episode 9)

Homer is Pac Man in this gag, while the rest of the Simpsons family are ghosts.

 

via GIPHY

With over 700 episodes, perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising The Simpsons can think up so many couch gags to accompany their narratives, but the writers continue to surprise audiences nearly every week. It’s likely considered to be among the best TV show intros of all time, as well as one of the best cartoons of the 90s, 2000s, and 2010s.

This piece of the beloved show is as iconic as the intro itself, with particularly clever couch gags even going viral among non-Simpsons viewers.

 

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