You Tube is a haven for fans of television shows. And since the only show currently on television worth watching is The Simpsons, it should come as no surprise that You Tube is a bone fide heaven for fans of the many residents of Springfield. Each episode of the Simpsons famously opens with what is termed “the couch gag.” Over the years these couch gags have gotten consistently more complex. You Tube features quite a few of the classic Simpsons couch gags and here are ten of the best, in no particular order.
This Simpsons couch gag begins with Our Favorite Family entering into the house as usual, only to have the camera pull back and rise into the sky, showing the roof of the Simpson’s house, then a satellite shot of the town of Springfield before entering into outer space where Kang and Kodos are having some engine trouble with their spaceship. Eventually, we leave the Milky Way galaxy only to end our journey with the revelation that the universe we have just left behind is located entirely within a single strand of hair on an alternative Homer Simpson’s head. This opening is an homage to a far more serious contemplation of the nature of the universe that can also be found on You Tube.
Evolution.
This Simpsons couch gag features the evolution of Homer from an amoeba to a fish and up onto land. From there he grows legs and lives as a lizard among some really familiar looking dinosaurs. After a meteor destroys the dinosaurs, Homer emerges from a hole as a rattish mammal before evolving into a monkey and a caveman. Along the way he meets bar owner Moe who is going in the opposite direction, literally. Moe devolves from a man into a rat. The next stage is a cultural evolution as Homer goes from caveman to conquistador to colonialist to present day Homer walking into the house to occupy his place on the couch next to his family.
Homer as King Kong reaches through the window and grabs Marge. The camera pulls back to follow King Homer up the Empire State Building-in one truly gorgeous bit of animation. Not as long a couch gag as one might like, but still impressive.
Revenge of the Couches
My favorite cough of all time. This forty second masterpiece is a horror movie parody in which couches and furniture all over Springfield come to life and attack the humans. Homer Simpson’s answer to escaping the horror is, naturally, to enter into a store that sells couches. My favorite moment of this couch gag is the bar stools attacking Moe. The animation is perfect.
Ralph Wiggum and the Vending Machine
Everybody’s favorite “special ed” student Ralph Wiggum shows up in the Simpsons living room and presses C-5 on one of those snack vending machine. He is rewarded with a Homer Simpson candy and promptly bites Homer’s head off. What this couch gag lacks in length it makes up for with funny. As any true Simpsons fan can attest, nothing makes a scene funnier than the inclusion of Ralph Wiggum.
Any gag that makes fun of America Online-and by make fun I mean, of course, tell the truth-is a-okay by me. This satirical, or is it realistic, couch gag involves the downloading process at an online site called American Onlink. After taking almost as long as Cox High Speed Internet to load, an unseen user moves the mouse pointer down to cancel, punching it over and over to no avail. It’s funny because it’s true. America Online is so lame. What a bunch of feebs.
Gumby.
The first thing you notice about this couch gag is that it isn’t animated in the usual way. In fact, the Simpsons living room is animated with clay. Several balls made of vibrantly colored clay roll about the floor before transforming into the figures of the Homer, Bart and the rest of the Simpsons family. And then a new figure pops up. Why, it’s none other than Gumby! The family turns to look at this stranger in their midst and Gumby turns to wave at them. I’m still hoping that one day the folks at the Simpsons will do an entire episode in the Gumby style. It looks fantastic.
Rocky and Bullwinkle.
If there is any one single program that can be said to have inspired The Simpsons more than any other, it would have to be Rocky and Bullwinkle. Just like that classic cartoon, the Simpsons tackles satire and parody that can be enjoyed on many levels. This couch gag is an homage to the opening of the Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, complete with the opening theme music. This is one of my favorite Simpsons couch gags.
David Letterman.
The Simpsons’ couch is in a very unfamiliar setting. They turn en masse to the left to find they are on the set of David Letterman’s show and Dave appears ready to interview them. Too bad that’s never happened in real life.
The Collection.
You have to realize that there have been hundreds of couch gags on The Simpsons. And though You Tube features and extensive collection of them, it would be impossible to include all the classics in one top ten list. Several conglomerations of Simpsons couch gags have been uploaded onto You Tube and this is just one of them, featuring everything from the Simpsons as chess figures to the Get Smart parody to the live action opening.
