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Seasons: 1-56-10
11-1516-2021-2526-30
Simpsons Couch

The Simpsons sit on the couch

The following is a list of couch gags seen in the opening sequence of The Simpsons for Seasons 11 through 15.

Season 11[]

# Airdate Screenshot Gag Name Episode Code
227 September 26, 1999 CouchGagS11E01 The Simpson family (as they are currently drawn) run in and find their crudely drawn counterparts from The Tracey Ullman Show. Both families look at each other and run screaming out the room. "Beyond Blunderdome" AABF23
228 October 3, 1999 CouchGagS11E02 The family comes in, colorless and marked with numbers. A group of Korean painters come in to color the family, but forget to outline the eyes on Homer and Marge. "Brother's Little Helper" AABF22
229 October 24, 1999 CouchGagS11E03 The family comes in. Marge notices Matt Groening's signature at the bottom of the screen and wipes it off. A caricature of Matt Groening (complete with graying beard, glasses, and a tacky orange and yellow Hawaiian shirt) comes in and resigns the scene. "Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner?" AABF21
230 October 31, 1999 CouchGagS11E04 The family members (mostly) appear as they have in previous Halloween episodes: Homer is a jack-in-the-box (from II), Bart is a mutant fly (from VIII), Marge is a witch (also from VIII), and Maggie is an alien (from IX); Lisa, an ax murder victim (the only one not based on a previous episode), comments on the lackluster Halloween special hosted by Kang and Kodos ("What do aliens have to do with Halloween?"). Maggie yells, "Silence!" and blasts Lisa with her ray-gun.. "Treehouse of Horror X" BABF01
231 November 7, 1999 CouchGagS11E05 The living room is set up like a trendy nightclub (complete with a disco ball, a velvet rope, three 20-something club hoppers, and a bouncer). The bouncer lets Marge, Lisa, Bart, and Maggie in, but sends Homer away. "E-I-E-I-D'oh" AABF19
232 November 14, 1999 CouchGagS11E06 A cement truck pours out concrete statues of the Simpson family. The top half of Homer’s statue quickly breaks off and falls to the floor. "Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder" BABF02
233 November 21, 1999 CouchGagS11E07 The Simpsons sit on the couch and the wall spins around as seen in "Homer the Heretic." Instead of an empty couch, however, a Vincent Price-esque mad scientist and a shackled and scared Ned Flanders are on the other side of the wall. "Eight Misbehavin'" BABF03
234 November 28, 1999 repeat of AABF20's gag "Take My Wife, Sleaze" BABF05
235 December 19, 1999 CouchGagS11E09 Marge, Lisa, Bart, and Maggie slide down a fire pole that's next to the couch. Homer, however, gets stuck in the hole and flails about helplessly. He says "Get me down!" "Grift of the Magi" BABF07
236 January 9, 2000 CouchGagS11E10 A crash test dummy version of the family sits. The couch slides forward and slams into the TV (simluating a car crash test), then pulls back into place. Crash test dummy Homer's head falls off from the trauma. "Little Big Mom" BABF04
237 January 16, 2000 CouchGagS11E11 A Sigmund Freud caricature is sitting in a chair next to the couch. Homer hops on the couch and yells, "Oh, doctor, I'm crazy!", then sobs everyone else stares sadly at each other. "Faith Off" BABF06
238 January 23, 2000 repeat of AABF13's gag "The Mansion Family" BABF08
239 February 6, 2000 CouchGagS11E13 The family leaps into the room, all dressed in white karate uniforms and black belts. They chop the couch to pieces while Homer does a spinning kick and clicks on the TV with the remote. "Saddlesore Galactica" BABF09
240 February 13, 2000 CouchGagS11E14 Everyone (save Maggie, who's with Marge) comes in on bumper cars and slams Homer into the wall repeatedly. "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily" BABF10
241 February 20, 2000 BABF11simpsonstrain The couch is sitting in the Evergreen Terrace Subway Station. The family (seated on a bench) get on the next train that arrives on the track and leave. "Missionary: Impossible" BABF11
242 February 27, 2000 repeat of AABF21's gag "Pygmoelian" BABF12
243 March 19, 2000 repeat of AABF19's gag "Bart to the Future" BABF13
244 April 9, 2000 repeat of AABF23's gag "Days of Wine and D'oh'ses" BABF14
245 April 30, 2000 BABF16 The Simpsons (save Maggie, who is in Marge's arms) are barefoot and briskly walking across a bed of hot coals. When the family sits on the couch, they prop their feet up, revealing their black and smoldering soles. "Kill the Alligator and Run" BABF16
246 May 7, 2000 CouchGagS11E20 Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie (dressed in jungle loincloths) swing into the room on a vine gracefully like Tarzan. Homer, however, swings by, fails to release the vine in time, and crashes offscreen like George of the Jungle. "Last Tap Dance in Springfield" BABF15
247 May 14, 2000 repeat of AABF22's gag "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge" BABF18
248 May 21, 2000 CouchGagS11E22 The family sits down. Bart puts a coin in the "Magic Fingers" slot on his side of the couch. The couch vibrates away, taking the family with it. "Behind the Laughter" BABF19

Season 12[]

# Airdate Screenshot Gag Name Episode Code
249 November 1, 2000 no gag (Halloween episode) "Treehouse of Horror XI" BABF21
250 November 5, 2000 BABF20 Bart puts a whoopee cushion under Homer's spot. When the family sits down, Homer sits on it and triggers its farting sound. Homer grins sheepishly at Marge, Lisa, and Maggie (who are frowning) while Bart laughs. "A Tale of Two Springfields" BABF20
251 November 12, 2000 BABF17 The shot opens on the TV rather than the couch. The family runs in and freezes in mid-air. The camera pans around them in Matrix-style bullet-time. When the camera is angled on the couch, time resumes normally and they sit down without further incident. "Insane Clown Poppy" BABF17
252 November 19, 2000 CouchGagS12E04 Maggie is on the couch. The rest of the Simpsons waddle in dressed as The Teletubbies and Maggie applauds with delight. "Lisa the Tree Hugger" CABF01
253 November 26, 2000 CouchGagS12E05 A skating ramp is set up next to the couch. Marge (with Maggie in hand), Bart, and Lisa successfully do skateboard tricks off the ramp and onto the couch. Homer, however, falls off the ramp and, adding injury to insult, gets hit on the head with his own skateboard. "Homer vs. Dignity" CABF04
254 December 3, 2000 CouchGagS12E06 Santa’s Little Helper dances on his hind legs like Snoopy on The Charlie Brown Christmas Special while the popular "Peanuts" theme plays. When the family comes in, Santa’s Little Helper slowly stops dancing, sits on his hind legs, and barks. "The Computer Wore Menace Shoes" CABF02
255 December 10, 2000 CouchGagS12E07 The Simpsons swim to the couch in deep-sea diving gear. The camera zooms out to reveal that the living room is in a fish bowl. "The Great Money Caper" CABF03
256 December 17, 2000 CouchGagS12E08 A football is thrown in the center of the living room. The Simpsons, dressed as football players, tackle each other for the ball. Maggie squirms out with ball in hand, spikes it, and does a victory dance. "Skinner's Sense of Snow" CABF06
257 January 7, 2001 CouchGagS12E09 The Simpsons are placed on the couch by the transport tubes used on Futurama. A yellow-skinned Philip J. Fry is in on the couch for a split second before he’s sucked up and replaced by Bart. "HOMЯ" BABF22
258 January 14, 2001 repeat of BABF03's gag "Pokey Mom" CABF05
259 February 4, 2001 CouchGagS12E11 The couch is replaced by a valet parking spot. The Squeaky-Voiced Teen pushes a couch in place for the Simpsons to sit down. He then holds his hand out for a tip and leaves angrily when he doesn’t get it. "Worst Episode Ever" CABF08
260 February 11, 2001 CouchGagS12E12 The living room floor is frozen over. The Simpsons ice skate to the couch. When Homer sits down, his side of the couch falls through. "Tennis the Menace" CABF07
261 February 18, 2001 repeat of BABF06's gag "Day of the Jackanapes" CABF10
262 February 25, 2001 CouchGagS12E14 The couch is outside a prison wall. A siren wails and a searchlight moves as The Simpsons (dressed in striped prison jumpsuits) tunnel their way to the couch. "New Kids on the Blecch" CABF12
263 March 4, 2001 repeat of BABF09's gag "Hungry, Hungry Homer" CABF09
264 March 11, 2001 repeat of BABF10's gag "Bye Bye Nerdie" CABF11
265 April 1, 2001 repeat of 9F08's gag "Simpson Safari" CABF13
266 April 29, 2001 repeat of CABF04's gag "Trilogy of Error" CABF14
267 May 6, 2001 repeat of BABF02's gag "I'm Goin' to Praiseland" CABF15
268 May 13, 2001 repeat of BABF04's gag "Children of a Lesser Clod" CABF16
269 May 20, 2001 repeat of BABF11's gag "Simpsons Tall Tales" CABF17

Season 13[]

# Airdate Screenshot Gag Name Episode Code
270 November 6, 2001 no gag (Halloween special) "Treehouse of Horror XII" CABF19
271 November 11, 2001 CABF22 The Simpsons are in the simplistically drawn sailboat painting located behind the couch. They jump out of the painting by going in the "water". The living room is wet from the splash and Homer uses his finger to clean his ear out while clicking on the TV with the remote. "The Parent Rap" CABF22
272 November 18, 2001 repeat of CABF06's gag "Homer the Moe" CABF20
273 December 2, 2001 repeat of CABF12's gag "A Hunka Hunka Burns in Love" CABF18
274 December 9, 2001 repeat of BABF17's gag "The Blunder Years" CABF21
275 December 16, 2001 CouchGagS13E06 The couch is a slot machine that shows Homer, Marge, Bart, and Lisa in the tumbler windows. Maggie, however, is replaced by lucky number "7" as a pile of gold coins spill out. "She of Little Faith" DABF02
276 January 6, 2002 Simpsons Opening Couch Gag Season 13 (With Gardener Trimming Hedge Into Shape of Family) The couch is replaced by a hedge. A gardener comes in and creates a topiary of The Simpsons. "Brawl in the Family" DABF01
277 January 20, 2002 CouchGagS13E08 The Simpsons sit on the couch as normal. A crane game clamp comes down and picks up Homer. Homer screams, “Ow! My brain!” as he's being pulled out of frame. (Some later airings have Homer screaming in pain) "Sweets and Sour Marge" DABF03
278 January 27, 2002 DABF09 Homer, dressed as Charlie Chaplin's "The Tramp" character, waddles in, twitches his nose, and sits down. The other family members, dressed as archetypical silent film characters, join Homer. "Jaws Wired Shut" DABF05
279 February 10, 2002 CouchGagS13E10 The family arrives to find two repo men carrying the couch away. As Homer cries over this, a confused Marge sits on the floor with the kids to watch TV. "Half-Decent Proposal" DABF04
280 February 17, 2002 repeat of 9F08's gag "The Bart Wants What It Wants" DABF06
281 February 24, 2002 CouchGagS13E12 The family catch The Squeaky Voice Teen making out with a teenage girl on the couch. "The Lastest Gun in the West" DABF07
282 March 10, 2002 CouchGagS13E13 The family runs in to find the Blue Man Group performing on drums in front of the couch. Homer murmurs "What the-?!" (in reruns and repeats of this couch gag in other episodes, The Blue Man Group plays more aggressively and Homer's "What the--?!" is muted out) "The Old Man and the Key" DABF09
283 March 17, 2002 CouchGagSeason13E14 Drawn in pencil, the family sits in a flipbook flipped by live-action hands. "Tales from the Public Domain" DABF08
284 March 31, 2002 CouchGagS13E15 The family are marionettes who get caught in each other's strings. The camera pans up to reveal Matt Groening as the puppet master, who throws the puppets down and sighs in frustration. "Blame It on Lisa" DABF10
285 April 7, 2002 repeat of DABF01's gag "Weekend at Burnsie's" DABF11
286 April 21, 2002 repeat of DABF02's gag "Gump Roast" DABF12
287 April 28, 2002 repeat of DABF03's gag "I Am Furious (Yellow)" DABF13
288 May 5, 2002 repeat of DABF04's gag "The Sweetest Apu" DABF14
289 May 12, 2002 repeat of DABF07's gag "Little Girl in the Big Ten" DABF15
290 May 19, 2002 repeat of DABF05's gag "The Frying Game" DABF16
291 May 22, 2002 repeat of DABF09's gag (but with different audio: the group plays more loudly/aggressively and Homer stays silent.) "Poppa's Got a Brand New Badge" DABF17

Season 14[]

# Airdate Screenshot Gag Name Episode Code
292 November 3, 2002 no gag (Halloween episode) "Treehouse of Horror XIII" DABF19
293 November 10, 2002 DABF22 Homer is on water skis, with the others on him, as he ski-jumps over sharks; everybody lands on the couch, but Homer is without his legs, which are in the sharks' mouths Homer doesn't notice (a reference to the term "jumped the shark", describing a TV show that has reached its peak and is now declining in quality or has done something to cause it to decline prematurely). "How I Spent My Strummer Vacation" DABF22
294 November 17, 2002 DABF20 Spoofing the Get Smart opening, Homer walks through a series of futuristic doors, falls through the bottom of a phone booth, and lands on the couch (where the others are already sitting). "Bart vs. Lisa vs. the Third Grade" DABF20
295 November 24, 2002 DABF18 The couch is drawn on a "Etch A Sketch" (called a "Sketch-A-Etch" in the couch gag) and Homer yells, "Whoo-hoo!" when the Screenshot is completed. "Large Marge" DABF18
296 December 1, 2002 DABF21 In a parody of the Macintosh paint program, Kid Pix, a mouse cursor drags Homer from the left side of the couch to the right, changes the wall color to green, and replaces the boat painting with the Mona Lisa. (Final couch gag to be traditionally animated) "Helter Shelter" DABF21
297 December 15, 2002 EABF01

The family sits on the couch. Homer clicks on the remote control and sends the family to the Stone Age, clicks it again to send them to the Roman Empire where they watch a gladiator match, and clicks it a final time to return them to the present.

"The Great Louse Detective" EABF01
298 January 5, 2003 EABF02 Everybody is deep-fried in a fast-food fryer, then emptied onto the couch and salted. "Special Edna" EABF02
299 January 12, 2003 EABF03 In black and white, everyone is wearing early-20th-century clothing and is watching the TV from a girder at a construction site. (Done in the style of Charles C. Ebbets' photograph "Lunch Atop a Skyscraper.") "The Dad Who Knew Too Little" EABF03
300 February 2, 2003 EABF04 Everybody sticks their head through a cutout of the couch and have their Screenshots taken. "The Strong Arms of the Ma" EABF04
301 February 9, 2003 EABF06 A giant baby picks up doll versions of the Simpson family and plays with them. "Pray Anything" EABF06
302 February 16, 2003 EABF05 Everybody and everything is made of gingerbread; Homer takes a bite out of Bart's head. "Barting Over" EABF05
303 February 16, 2003 repeat of DABF18's gag "I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can" EABF07
304 March 2, 2003 repeat of DABF10's gag "A Star Is Born-Again" EABF08
305 March 9, 2003 repeat of EABF01's gag "Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington" EABF09
306 March 16, 2003 repeat of DABF08's gag "C.E. D'oh" EABF10
307 March 30, 2003 repeat of DABF22's gag "'Scuse Me While I Miss the Sky" EABF11
308 April 13, 2003 repeat of EABF02's gag "Three Gays of the Condo" EABF12
309 April 27, 2003 EABF13 Everybody is a mime, walking against the wind and then sitting on a non-existent couch. "Dude, Where's My Ranch?" EABF13
310 May 4, 2003 repeat of EABF03's gag "Old Yeller-Belly" EABF14
311 May 11, 2003 repeat of EABF04's gag "Brake My Wife, Please" EABF15
312 May 18, 2003 repeat of EABF06's gag "The Bart of War" EABF16
313 May 18, 2003 repeat of EABF05's gag "Moe Baby Blues" EABF17

Season 15[]

# Airdate Screenshot Gag Name Episode Code
314 November 2, 2003 no gag (Halloween episode) "Treehouse of Horror XIV" EABF21
315 November 9, 2003 EABF18 The family runs to the couch as normal, only to decay and turn to piles of dust. "My Mother the Carjacker" EABF18
316 November 16, 2003 EABF20 A Polaroid photo ejects onto the couch; it develops into a photo of the family. "The President Wore Pearls" EABF20
317 November 23, 2003 EABF22 There is a Play-Doh press on the back wall; it presses Play-Doh versions of everybody out onto the couch. "The Regina Monologues" EABF22
318 November 30, 2003 repeat of DABF20's gag "The Fat and the Furriest" EABF19
319 December 7, 2003 FABF01 Everybody slides down separate poles and end up on the couch, in Batman-style costumes, in the Batcave. "Today, I Am a Clown" FABF01
320 December 14, 2003 FABF02 The couch is a street bench in Japan, and everyone is a famous anime character: Homer is Ultraman, Marge is Jun from Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, Lisa is Usagi Tsukino, the protagonist from Sailor Moon, Bart is Astro Boy and Maggie is Pikachu from Pokémon. "'Tis the Fifteenth Season" FABF02
321 January 4, 2004 FABF03 Somebody offscreen throws knives at the wall while everyone is seated on the couch, but when Homer reaches for a bowl of chips, a knife nearly hits him. "Marge vs. Singles, Seniors, Childless Couples and Teens and Gays" FABF03
322 January 11, 2004 FABF04 Everybody is squeezed like frosting out of a pastry bag onto the top of a cake. "I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot" FABF04
323 January 25, 2004 FABF05 Everybody's head pops out of a giant piece of apple pie. Homer takes a bite from the pie. "Diatribe of a Mad Housewife" FABF05
324 February 8, 2004 FABF06 A tray is placed into a microwave, and the family rises as the tray is cooked. (The is the third food-based couch gag in a row) "Margical History Tour" FABF06
325 February 15, 2004 FABF07 A woman throws some seeds into a plot of dirt where the couch usually is, and waters them; everybody sprouts up like plants. "Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore" FABF07
326 February 22, 2004 FABF09 Everybody is a bag on a moving dry-cleaning rack, which stops over the couch. "Smart and Smarter" FABF09
327 March 14, 2004 FABF08couchgag In a parody of Powers of Ten, the couch scene pans out until it reaches outer space, where the galaxies are replaced with atoms, which pan out until they reach Homer's head and then the couch scene again. Homer: Wooowwww. (reairings and repeats of the couch gag in other episodes redub "Wooowww" with "Cool!" or "Weird" and have Kang and Kodos laughing instead of staying silent) "The Ziff Who Came to Dinner" FABF08
328 March 21, 2004 repeat of EABF18's gag "Co-Dependent's Day" FABF10
329 March 28, 2004 repeat of EABF20's gag "The Wandering Juvie" FABF11
330 April 18, 2004 repeat of EABF22's gag "My Big Fat Geek Wedding" FABF12
331 April 25, 2004 repeat of FABF04's gag "Catch 'Em if You Can" FABF14
332 May 2, 2004 repeat of FABF08's gag "Simple Simpson" FABF15
333 May 9, 2004 repeat of FABF03's gag "The Way We Weren't" FABF13
334 May 16, 2004 repeat of FABF08's gag "Bart-Mangled Banner" FABF17
335 May 23, 2004 repeat of FABF02's gag "Fraudcast News" FABF18

Citations[]

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