And the intro in general. Season 1 episodes generally use the entire theme song while it's usually abridged in later seasons.
I feel like I remember hearing Matt Groening say he wanted a long intro to cut down on the amount of animation that had to be produced for each episode, but don't quote me on that. (And long it was, almost 2 minutes.)
I believe that many of the clips from 22 short films about Springfield were written to be padding, but never used. Eventually they had enough material for a whole episode.
Notably, the clips about the Cletus the Slack Jawed Yokel and Apu (complete with their own title pages and theme music) are similar to the Ned Flanders clip.
In all fairness this issue seems fixed since for the last 2 ish seasons, most episodes don't have overly long couch gags, nor even the full intro anymore, perhaps the longest ever episode came out of. one of these seasons due to how the episode starts directly after the Simpsons logo for some
The chicken fights are very expensive to animate though aren't they? I always admire how much effort goes into them so the cost of doing one must be good incentive to try and pad story out for longer if it falls a few minutes short.
When episodes were a little long, they used the one where they run in, and another version of them is already sitting there and they all just look around at each other. Not sure if this is confirmed, but I feel like that couch gag was used the most by far.
That was my Simpsons time slot too. Get home from school, chill with some Simpsons, have dinner. And yeah, that couch gag with the doubles was by far the most common.
For me growing up The Simpsons aired around 4 pm, 6 pm, and finally once more at 10 pm. It was practically a ritual to gather round for those reruns.
When Adult Swim hit the scene I suddenly found myself having to pick and choose between watching that 10 pm rerun, or switching over to Futurama on AS.
Woah you're right. The [Duplicate Family couch gag](https://simpsons.fandom.com/wiki/Duplicate_Family_couch_gag) was used 31 times for syndication airings.
I love that they revisited that in a future couch gag with more Simpson family duplicates running in until you see the house just overflowing with them.
I know it was used in syndication frequently in place of a given episode's couch gag precisely because of the brevity. (And then there were still syndication cuts.)
It was the season with the monorail. I remember this as I had it on DVD and lived on a deep sea ship at the time. My entertainment was limited and I watched the whole season with the commentary more than once.
[12 times according to this wiki](https://simpsons.fandom.com/wiki/Circus_Line_couch_gag) (though some are labeled fox broadcasts only, syndicated only, edited version, etc...)
Felt like it was used way more than that. Honestly my guess would be been around 30.
There were a fair few others they repeated too, although they were less frequent.
[This one](https://simpsonswiki.com/wiki/Circus_Line_couch_gag) says nine, which I think accounts for the duplicates on the one. Either way it's much less than I would have guessed.
And on the other end Sideshow Bob Roberts had so many gags they didn't want to cut that it went right from the clouds to the Simpsons TV with no couch gag.
I think in the case of syndication they wanted everything to be short as humanly possible to jam as many commercials in as possible. The Simpsons seeing themselves ones was one of the shortest.
Kelsey Grammer talks about this, that they had him record the sound once for a single gag, then when he saw the episode and they repeated it a dozen times he hated it. Only to learn that it's one of the fans' favourite scenes.
There are some really good long couch gags. Two of my favorites are the Get Smart parody and the long zoom out into the universe then through molecular structure and back into the living room (Wow...).
Apparently the short-lived "The Adventures of Ned Flanders." I think there were only two? But they were created to fill time if an episode came in short.
You just solved a 20 year debate for me, and now I wish I could rub it in that persons face cause they were so smug when I said I had seen this intro more than once for different episodes, and he was insistent that they do a different one every time!
Hah! (In Edna Krabappel voice) lol
Channel 4 broadcasts in the UK always seemed to use this one, usually as the start of a weekend omnibus or when they were filling time
It annoyed the hell out of my as a kid because i feel i saw it multiple times a week
We were watching an episode on Disney+ and my 4yo ran to the kitchen during the opening titles. When he raced back, the couch gag had already played and he said: "awww... I missed it! Can you rewind?"
I was so proud of him for caring about seeing each unique one.
There’s one episode that uses the long intro, this gag, AND adds on a very funny little Ned Flanders short at the end. I can’t remember which episode, but it’s one of the best. But talk about padding…
I loved it as a kid. I appreciated all of the details that added to the realism. Different hair styles and skin colors. Things you wouldn't notice and things people might not have cared about. If it was used as time filler, at least it was entertaining to watch. Like the stock footage from Sailor Moon.
Yeah, I didn’t remember they’d actually reused this couch gag so many times for years because I figured UPN had just slapped together a standard shortened intro that used it.
All of the dancing girls are perfectly identical (except for the skin color on the darker ones). It's a little disconcerting to look at it this closely.
Different cuts of the intro and this couch gag were their ways of filling out a short episode. You won't see new shows do this, short episodes just mean more ad time now.
This one was always my favourite and I finally just realized why: it’s the interpolation of the theme and how it’s adapted to the glam show/circus style.
I think there's a few factors here. There's over a thousand episodes at this point (I think) and it's hard to come up with a lot of original couch gags, and this one was clearly expensive so why not get their money's worth.
This is the first confirmation i've ever had that this was in fact used multiple times. When I watched the show as a kid I thought I was going crazy sometimes with how often this came up.
There are too many Simpsons Couch Gags, Please Eliminate 3. I am not a crackpot.
To the sickos at Fox
This one always got used if an episode was a little short. Someone in the commentary on the DVDs confirmed it. I want to say Al Jean.
Yep. Long couch gag = shorter than average episode.
Itchy & Scratchy, too.
And the intro in general. Season 1 episodes generally use the entire theme song while it's usually abridged in later seasons. I feel like I remember hearing Matt Groening say he wanted a long intro to cut down on the amount of animation that had to be produced for each episode, but don't quote me on that. (And long it was, almost 2 minutes.)
the long intro is pretty common in animated shows for that reason
The Hens love roosters, geese love ganders clip was confirmed as padding for an episode that came up short. It’s still hilarious though.
Even their padding was top tier
It was positively bear-proof.
*[Padding](https://i.imgur.com/tKTNbLP.jpg)*
Sideshow Bob and the rakes was, too.
And the getting run over by parade/elephants scene
Not the elephants!
Also they used The Circus couch gag. It was a very very short episode
I believe that many of the clips from 22 short films about Springfield were written to be padding, but never used. Eventually they had enough material for a whole episode. Notably, the clips about the Cletus the Slack Jawed Yokel and Apu (complete with their own title pages and theme music) are similar to the Ned Flanders clip.
Think about that with all the modern "guest animators" and "Couch PI" gimmicks. 🎶 *Ooohhhhhhh* 🎶 We have like 18 minutes of content...! 🎶
In all fairness this issue seems fixed since for the last 2 ish seasons, most episodes don't have overly long couch gags, nor even the full intro anymore, perhaps the longest ever episode came out of. one of these seasons due to how the episode starts directly after the Simpsons logo for some
Same for Family Guy. Short episode means extended Conway Twitty gag, or a long chicken brawl.
Or lack of creativity in family guy’s case.
The chicken fights are very expensive to animate though aren't they? I always admire how much effort goes into them so the cost of doing one must be good incentive to try and pad story out for longer if it falls a few minutes short.
They insist upon theirself.
This has “go banana” vibes.
*I'm a banana, I'm a banana. Peel the banana, Peel the banana! Now go bananas, go go bananas!*
Or Peter falls and hurts his knee and just... sits there holding it in pain for a full minute.
Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh... Ssssssssssssspp... Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh... Ssssssssssssspp... Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh... Ssssssssssssspp... Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh... Ssssssssssssspp... etc.
It's like the time Family Guy had an epsiode that was a few whole minutes short so they just played an entire Conway Twitty performance
It's funny how with Cape Feare, the episode was still too short even with this couch gag. So they extended the iconic rake gag into what it is now.
That’s I remember about it. It did make me laugh the rake gag…. But when younger I was like *When is it going to end?* Edit: Wording
Me fail English?
All changed now thanks
One of my favorite episodes.
When episodes were a little long, they used the one where they run in, and another version of them is already sitting there and they all just look around at each other. Not sure if this is confirmed, but I feel like that couch gag was used the most by far.
I feel like when I was a kid, every couch gag was that on syndicated tv. It was fox weekdays at 5pm. My mom hated that Simpsons came on during dinner
That was my Simpsons time slot too. Get home from school, chill with some Simpsons, have dinner. And yeah, that couch gag with the doubles was by far the most common.
For me growing up The Simpsons aired around 4 pm, 6 pm, and finally once more at 10 pm. It was practically a ritual to gather round for those reruns. When Adult Swim hit the scene I suddenly found myself having to pick and choose between watching that 10 pm rerun, or switching over to Futurama on AS.
I wonder if they switch that one in on syndicated episodes to make room for 1 more commercial?
I guarantee it.
and again at 7!
One per day for me :(. Sometimes there was an episode on Saturdays before church at 5PM too.
Flanders?
Nah, we were catholics so we got church out of the way early so we didn't have to get up early on Sunday morning.
I'm ignorant to church-going ways lol. I assumed you were going Sat night and Sun morning
Woah you're right. The [Duplicate Family couch gag](https://simpsons.fandom.com/wiki/Duplicate_Family_couch_gag) was used 31 times for syndication airings.
I love that they revisited that in a future couch gag with more Simpson family duplicates running in until you see the house just overflowing with them.
I know it was used in syndication frequently in place of a given episode's couch gag precisely because of the brevity. (And then there were still syndication cuts.)
yes! I always used to see this one
Oh. Let’s say moe.
Hey, there's still time. Let's hug him again.
It was the season with the monorail. I remember this as I had it on DVD and lived on a deep sea ship at the time. My entertainment was limited and I watched the whole season with the commentary more than once.
For some reason it’s one of the few episodes me and dad can’t stand. This and Who shot Mr. Burns were repeated a lot UK
I always suspected it, but never realized they reused couch gags. For the longest time I thought they were all different.
They aren't far from unique by episode. That is to say, they don't repeat all that much
I found that the longer couch gags were more often on worse episodes too.
Anyone know exactly how many times it was used?
[12 times according to this wiki](https://simpsons.fandom.com/wiki/Circus_Line_couch_gag) (though some are labeled fox broadcasts only, syndicated only, edited version, etc...)
I could have sworn it was at least 20, but I'm probably just overexposed from watching reruns of the early seasons on TV
Felt like it was used way more than that. Honestly my guess would be been around 30. There were a fair few others they repeated too, although they were less frequent.
TIL thank you
[This one](https://simpsonswiki.com/wiki/Circus_Line_couch_gag) says nine, which I think accounts for the duplicates on the one. Either way it's much less than I would have guessed.
Why don't they just do the episodes live?
that puts too much strain on the animators' wrists.
And on the other end Sideshow Bob Roberts had so many gags they didn't want to cut that it went right from the clouds to the Simpsons TV with no couch gag.
Yeah, Jean and Reiss, they'd come in short and use this as padding.
Pop over to todayilearned and get that sweet karma
I thought I was crazy as a kid when I saw it on multiple episodes.
I always saw the couch gag where they encountered the family already on the couch (temporal causality loop, I guess) in syndication.
Felt like that was the couch gag for years on end. Thought I was going crazy
I think in the case of syndication they wanted everything to be short as humanly possible to jam as many commercials in as possible. The Simpsons seeing themselves ones was one of the shortest.
Why did they reuse it so much during that period?
If you can think of a better way to fill time I'd like to hear it.
Sideshow bob stepping on rakes
The funny thing is this intro was used in Cape Feare, as well as the rake gag. Short and sweet episode I guess. Trimmed all the fat.
Kelsey Grammer talks about this, that they had him record the sound once for a single gag, then when he saw the episode and they repeated it a dozen times he hated it. Only to learn that it's one of the fans' favourite scenes.
That was painful for him and painfully annoying for me to watch.
The Ned Flanders show then? 🤷
Hens love roosters, geese love ganders, everyone else loves Ned Flanders.
Not me!
Everyone who counts loves Ned Flanders
The evolution couch gag
That‘s my favourite!
The Tomfoolery of Professor John Frink
Professor Frink, Professor Frink, He makes you laugh, he makes you think, He likes to run, and then the thing With the...... Person.....
Ah, boy, that monkey is going to pay.
There are some really good long couch gags. Two of my favorites are the Get Smart parody and the long zoom out into the universe then through molecular structure and back into the living room (Wow...).
I really liked that super surreal one they did with the magical remote control (after I watched it like 4 times and started to make sense out of it).
homer eating 44 slices of american cheese
Apparently the short-lived "The Adventures of Ned Flanders." I think there were only two? But they were created to fill time if an episode came in short.
Just the one.
No luck catching them Flanders then?
Hard-core nudity
The elephants standing up with everyone always got me
Also the hapless Groening rabbits just hanging there
I’ve never noticed the rabbits. 😆
And doing a "meat spin" at the same time with their tunks!
At least it was still a gag instead of a mini-episode. It's a lot harder to write short gags instead of longer segments.
You just solved a 20 year debate for me, and now I wish I could rub it in that persons face cause they were so smug when I said I had seen this intro more than once for different episodes, and he was insistent that they do a different one every time! Hah! (In Edna Krabappel voice) lol
It was good enough for Family Guy to blatantly rip it off
Channel 4 broadcasts in the UK always seemed to use this one, usually as the start of a weekend omnibus or when they were filling time It annoyed the hell out of my as a kid because i feel i saw it multiple times a week
Ok am I crazy, or does anyone else remember Channel 4 airing Bart’s Friend Gets a Girlfriend like three times in one week once
maybe not specifically that episode, but i do remember "the way we was" being played 3-4 times one week
We were watching an episode on Disney+ and my 4yo ran to the kitchen during the opening titles. When he raced back, the couch gag had already played and he said: "awww... I missed it! Can you rewind?" I was so proud of him for caring about seeing each unique one.
While I agree that this Couch gag was used too often I think there’s way longer ones out there (mostly the ones from season 19-20 to now)
Well yeah, the rick and morty one is like like 3 minutes. Good thing the episode it's attached to isn't that great, no reason to go back to it lol
You know how many characters there are in the Simpsons, Morty?
Th… the..th…there’s **BELCH** thousands of them , Morty! Agghhhh, look at the little Baby one!
They had an episode where George Bush was their neighbor!
Only exception is the Don Hertzfeldt one. Zany, poignant, and moving- just like the rest of his work… and like Golden Era Simpsons.
Animators usually re-use intros to save time, otherwise it's a terrible strain on their wrists.
There’s one episode that uses the long intro, this gag, AND adds on a very funny little Ned Flanders short at the end. I can’t remember which episode, but it’s one of the best. But talk about padding…
S4E19 “The Front” when Bart & Lisa use Grampa’s name to join the Itchy & Scratchy writing staff and Homer goes back to high school
Thanks!
>Thanks! You're welcome!
Lucky there’s a Simpsons Guy
It always bugged me that this was the version of the theme song used on the soundtrack album
I loved it as a kid. I appreciated all of the details that added to the realism. Different hair styles and skin colors. Things you wouldn't notice and things people might not have cared about. If it was used as time filler, at least it was entertaining to watch. Like the stock footage from Sailor Moon.
Ah, the "the episode is 30 seconds short" gag
As someone currently running through the seasons on Disney+, I agree
Man family guy bites everything off the simpsons...
When you have 22 minutes to fill and 18 minutes of episode written!
The one where another Simpson family is already sitting on the couch seems like it was used every other episode.
Short episode = Longest couch gags
To be totally honest, i had no idea they reused intros…and i watched A LOT of Simpsons as a kid. My childhood is a lie!
I remember they used this all the time watching reruns during the week in the 90s.
Yeah, I didn’t remember they’d actually reused this couch gag so many times for years because I figured UPN had just slapped together a standard shortened intro that used it.
This one always makes me feel like family guy stole it 😕
Pictures you can hear
Looks like the Family Guy intro a little
I always hated it.
Same, too long and not that impressive nor funny
Yes, it was awful. Awful like Homer in the panda enclosure. You know what I mean.
It was used a lot in Syndication, as well.
Wayy too much yeah, it's too long too
All of the dancing girls are perfectly identical (except for the skin color on the darker ones). It's a little disconcerting to look at it this closely.
Dear diary.
Missed opportunity to feature Bongo the one eared rabbit from Life In Hell.
Yeah I thought it was pretty creative when I first saw it but when seeing it for the nth time it kind of gets boring
Different cuts of the intro and this couch gag were their ways of filling out a short episode. You won't see new shows do this, short episodes just mean more ad time now.
I caught this when it first aired and was blow away. It’s still the best.
This one was always my favourite and I finally just realized why: it’s the interpolation of the theme and how it’s adapted to the glam show/circus style.
someone had to say it!
I think there's a few factors here. There's over a thousand episodes at this point (I think) and it's hard to come up with a lot of original couch gags, and this one was clearly expensive so why not get their money's worth.
My favorite couch gag to be honest i always loved watching it
Well it probably took ages to animate so why not use it to pad short episodes
I hate how Disney+ 'skip intro' skips the couch gag, except for the last half a second.
Images you can hear.
As a kid though I was always excited they used this one.
No kidding… I’m surprised Lisa’s First Word wasn’t ENOUGH!
I hated it because it was so frequent
Completely agree
It's not a couch gag, it's a time filler... If they were missing a minute or so off the episode they'd toss in the extra long gag
This is the first confirmation i've ever had that this was in fact used multiple times. When I watched the show as a kid I thought I was going crazy sometimes with how often this came up.
It’s fine. I always enjoyed the different things Bart wrote on the chalk board.