{"id":388763,"date":"2026-04-20T13:32:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T13:32:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/388763\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T13:32:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T13:32:08","slug":"heres-why-the-simpsons-has-phased-out-couch-gags","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/388763\/","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s why \u2018The Simpsons\u2019 has phased out couch gags"},"content":{"rendered":"

The showrunner of The Simpsons<\/a> has explained why the series\u2019 long-running couch gags have not been as present in recent seasons.<\/p>\n

One of the trademarks of the beloved cartoon is that the opening sequence ends with the Simpson family arriving at their couch to watch TV, with a different scenario awaiting each time. Famous gags include the family arriving to find the couch missing, the living room set opening up into a grand circus-like performance, and a chilling sequence directed by artist Banksy.<\/a><\/p>\n

Fans have noticed the tradition happening less regularly, and on podcast Four Finger Discount, which covers the cartoon, showrunner Matt Selman explained why. \u201cI wish we could have the time for a funny couch gag every episode, but I\u2019m not going to cut the storytelling short to do so.\u201d he explained. \u201cI want to tell the best story we can, and to do that, we\u2019re going to need twenty minutes and forty seconds.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked if streaming, which allows viewers to skip show intros, has played a part, Selman replied: \u201cIf I had infinite money, I would put a couch gag in every episode that would just pop up on streaming, and you\u2019d be surprised by it, but we have to put our money into what\u2019s in the main product first.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recently, another tradition of The Simpsons\u2019 title sequence, Homer getting hit by Marge\u2019s car, was expanded upon for the 800th episode<\/a>. Elsewhere. Selman hinted that the beloved video game The Simpsons Hit And Run could be making a comeback<\/a>. \u201cWe know people love it,\u201d he said to People\/ \u201cWe know they want it, so that\u2019s good. If we know people want it, never say never.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other news, the director of award-winning drama Pillion, Harry Lighton, recently confessed that the character of Groundskeeper Willie was his gay awakening.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The showrunner of The Simpsons has explained why the series\u2019 long-running couch gags have not been as present…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":388764,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[156,111,139,69,437],"class_list":{"0":"post-388763","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nz","12":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=388763"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388763\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/388764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=388763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=388763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=388763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}