Joel Harley
Published April 19, 2026 5:19pm
Updated April 19, 2026 5:20pm
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The Simpsons fans might have noticed a iconic feature of the show has slowly been phased out (Picture: 20th Century Fox)
It’s earned its place in the television comedy hall of fame – but recent series of The Simpsons have largely done away with the iconic ‘couch gag.’
To the uninitiated, this would occur during the last few seconds of the show’s opening sequence, with the family gathering on their sofa for a quick, often quite absurd, joke.
This included a gory crossover with Rick and Morty, another storyboarded by Banksy himself, and one in which Thanos snapped the family away.
While a unique couch gag was once guaranteed for every episode, they’re now often repeated or skipped entirely.
This has provoked a sense of frustration from long-time fans, who feel that the show has lost much of what made it so special in the first place.
In a new interview, current showrunner Matt Selman has discussed the logic behind excising The Simpsons’ couch gags.
The animated sitcom first hit screens in 1989 (Picture: (Picture: 20th Century Fox/ Everett/ Shutterstock)
Its iconic couch gags have run in the final few seconds of the show’s opening sequence (Picture: 20th Century Fox)
Speaking on The Simpsons podcast Four Finger discount, Matt explained that timing and budget were largely behind the decision.
‘I wish we could have the time for a funny couch gag every episode, but I’m not going to cut the storytelling short to do so,’ he said.
He continued: ‘I want to tell the best story we can, and to do that, we’re going to need twenty minutes and forty seconds.
‘If I had infinite money, I would put a couch gag in every episode that would just pop up on streaming, and you’d be surprised by it, but we have to put our money into what’s in the main product first.’
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Timing and budget have influenced the change (Picture: 20th Century Fox)
This comment has sparked backlash from Simpsons fans online, many of whom remain furious that showrunners have sacrificed one of the animation’s grandest traditions.
‘And here I thought they couldn’t kill the Simpsons further,’ commented rickyberwick, joining many in their opinion of The Simpsons as a show past its prime.
‘Why would you skip THE SIMPSONS intro?’ asked RandomRedEngine, joining MenamesTwitch in their opinion of The Simpsons as ‘one of the shows where you couldn’t skip the intro.’
Describing the decision as ‘slowly killing what makes The Simpsons,’ DankerTVArchive feared that losing the couch gag would make it ‘like any [other] comedy sitcom.’
‘Any fan watches the intro,’ agreed mayepalducktape.
Fans of the series are frustrated by the change (Picture: 20th Century Fox)
The couch gags may be winding down (d’oh!), but the franchise is seemingly going stronger than ever.
Earlier this year, Disney Plus in the UK finished airing the show’s 37th series, continuing its run as the longest-lasting primetime animation ever made.
It has been renewed for three more after that, ensuring that it will run until at least its 40th season, and air until 2028-2029.
Starting life as shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show in 1987, the Matt Groening-created sitcom still retains its original cast: Dan Castellaneta as Homer, Julie Kavner as Marge, Nancy Cartwright as Bart, and Yeardley Smith as Lisa.
Fair do’s (or doh’s), thoiugh – the show’s couch gags didn’t come into play until the second episode of season one.
This little joke saw Bart propelled into the air as the rest of his family leapt onto the sofa next to him.
Altogether quite quant, given how out-there subsequent seasons would get with their own couch gags.
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Last year, 20th Century Studios also announced that The Simpsons would be returning to the big screen for an all-new movie.
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Sharing a poster featuring Homer reaching for a sprinkle-topped donut, the studio revealed that The Simpsons Movie 2 was set for release on July 23, 2027.
Released twenty years earlier than that, the first Simpsons Movie premiered in 2007 and went on to gross over $536million (£440m) worldwide on a $75m (£55.8m) budget.
Talk of a sequel persisted in the months and years following its release, but none materialised – until now.
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The Simpsons is streaming on Disney Plus.
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