The couch gag in The Simpsons is a "twist of events that befalls the Simpson family at the end of every credit sequence as they converge on their living-room couch to watch TV."[1][2][3][4] The following is a list of couch gags seen in each episode of the TV series.
Season 1[]
| # | Airdate | Gag | Episode | Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | December 17, 1989 | none | "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" | 7G08 |
| 2 | January 14, 1990 | The family sits; Bart gets shot up in the air, then falls when the scene cuts to the TV credits. (This is the only time the couch gag visually continues into the closing shot of the TV.) | "Bart the Genius" | 7G02 |
| 3 | January 21, 1990 | The family sits; the couch falls apart under their weight, leaving them sitting on cushions on the floor. | "Homer's Odyssey" | 7G03 |
| 4 | January 28, 1990 | The family sits; Homer is squeezed off and lands on the floor with a thud. | "There's No Disgrace Like Home" | 7G04 |
| 5 | February 4, 1990 | none | "Bart the General" | 7G05 |
| 6 | February 11, 1990 | The family sits; Maggie is squeezed off, up into the air and out of frame, but Marge catches her as she falls back down. (This couch gag also appears in the arcade game.) | "Moaning Lisa" | 7G06 |
| 7 | February 18, 1990 | Everyone sits on the couch; nothing happens. (Meant to be first couch gag in production order) | "The Call of the Simpsons" | 7G09 |
| 8 | February 25, 1990 | repeat of 7G02's gag | "The Telltale Head" | 7G07 |
| 9 | March 18, 1990 | none | "Life on the Fast Lane" | 7G11 |
| 10 | March 25, 1990 | repeat of 7G03's gag | "Homer's Night Out" | 7G10 |
| 11 | April 15, 1990 | repeat of 7G04's gag | "The Crepes of Wrath" | 7G13 |
| 12 | April 29, 1990 | repeat of 7G06's gag | "Krusty Gets Busted" | 7G12 |
| 13 | May 13, 1990 | repeat of 7G09's gag | "Some Enchanted Evening" | 7G01 |
Season 2[]
| # | Airdate | Gag | Episode | Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | October 11, 1990 | The family sits on the couch and the couch falls through the floor. Homer yells, “D’oh!” | "Bart Gets an F" | 7F03 |
| 15 | October 18, 1990 | Everyone is in a line in front of the couch and does a “Walk Like An Egyptian” style shuffle, then jumps on the couch with their arms in a “ta-da” pose. | "Simpson and Delilah" | 7F02 |
| 16 | October 25, 1990 | none | "Treehouse of Horror" | 7F04 |
| 17 | November 1, 1990 | The family sits down and the couch folds into a bed. | "Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish" | 7F01 |
| 18 | November 8, 1990 | The family (except for Maggie) sits on the couch; Maggie then peeks her head out of Marge’s tall hair. | "Dancin' Homer" | 7F05 |
| 19 | November 15, 1990 | The pets (Santa’s Little Helper and Snowball II) join the family on the couch. | "Dead Putting Society" | 7F08 |
| 20 | November 22, 1990 | Grampa is asleep on the couch and gets startled awake when the family comes in. | "Bart vs. Thanksgiving" | 7F07 |
| 21 | December 6, 1990 | Homer tips the couch over on its side and Maggie sits on a fallen couch cushion. | "Bart the Daredevil" | 7F06 |
| 22 | December 20, 1990 | The family comes in and finds the couch missing. | "Itchy & Scratchy & Marge" | 7F09 |
| 23 | January 10, 1991 | Homer squeezes everyone off the couch one by one until he has the couch all to himself. | "Bart Gets Hit by a Car" | 7F10 |
| 24 | January 24, 1991 | The couch falls over backwards; Maggie peeks from behind. | "One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish" | 7F11 |
| 25 | January 31, 1991 | repeat of 7F03's gag (only Homer doesn't yell, "D'oh!" when the couch falls through the floor) | "The Way We Was" | 7F12 |
| 26 | February 7, 1991 | repeat of 7F02's gag | "Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment" | 7F13 |
| 27 | February 14, 1991 | repeat of 7F01's gag | "Principal Charming" | 7F15 |
| 28 | February 21, 1991 | repeat of 7F05's gag | "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" | 7F16 |
| 29 | March 7, 1991 | repeat of 7F08's gag | "Bart's Dog Gets an F" | 7F14 |
| 30 | March 28, 1991 | repeat of 7F07's gag | "Old Money" | 7F17 |
| 31 | April 11, 1991 | repeat of 7F06's gag | "Brush with Greatness" | 7F18 |
| 32 | April 25, 1991 | repeat of 7F09's gag | "Lisa's Substitute" | 7F19 |
| 33 | May 2, 1991 | repeat of 7F10's gag | "The War of the Simpsons" | 7F20 |
| 34 | May 9, 1991 | repeat of 7F11's gag | "Three Men and a Comic Book" | 7F21 |
| 35 | July 11, 1991 | repeat of 7F03's gag | "Blood Feud" | 7F22 |
Season 3[]
| # | Airdate | Gag | Episode | Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 36 | September 19, 1991 | The family sits; the couch tips over backwards and crashes into the back wall. | "Stark Raving Dad" | 7F24 |
| 37 | September 26, 1991 | The family sits on the couch; Homer pulls a distressed Santa’s Little Helper out from under him. | "Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington" | 8F01 |
| 38 | October 3, 1991 | repeat of 7F02's gag | "When Flanders Failed" | 7F23 |
| 39 | October 10, 1991 | The family forms a human pyramid on the couch with Maggie on top. | "Bart the Murderer" | 8F03 |
| 40 | October 17, 1991 | A space alien is on the couch with a drink in hand. Before the family can come in, it escapes through a trap door in the floor. The family comes in and sits as normal. | "Homer Defined" | 8F04 |
| 41 | October 24, 1991 | Everyone (except for Bart) sits on the couch. Bart comes in moments later and lies stretched out on everyone’s laps. | "Like Father, Like Clown" | 8F05 |
| 42 | October 31, 1991 | none | "Treehouse of Horror II" | 8F02 |
| 43 | November 7, 1991 | Homer lies stretched out on the couch and everyone else comes in and sits on him. | "Lisa's Pony" | 8F06 |
| 44 | November 14, 1991 | Everyone sits on the couch, and falls in with their legs behind their heads. | "Saturdays of Thunder" | 8F07 |
| 45 | November 21, 1991 | Two burglars are in the process of carrying off the couch; The Simpsons come in and sit, but the burglars throw them off and leave with the couch. | "Flaming Moe's" | 8F08 |
| 46 | December 5, 1991 | Santa’s Little Helper is asleep on the couch. When the family comes in, he growls ferociously, causing them to back away slowly.[5] | "Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk" | 8F09 |
| 47 | December 26, 1991 | The family (except Maggie, who hops after failing to do a proper cartwheel) cartwheels to the couch and lands with a “ta-da” pose. | "I Married Marge" | 8F10 |
| 48 | January 9, 1992 | The family sits on the couch and end up bouncing over and under each other until they're in completely different places on the couch. | "Radio Bart" | 8F11 |
| 49 | January 23, 1992 | repeat of 8F01's gag | "Lisa the Greek" | 8F12 |
| 50 | February 6, 1992 | repeat of 8F03's gag | "Homer Alone" | 8F14 |
| 51 | February 13, 1992 | repeat of 8F04's gag | "Bart the Lover" | 8F16 |
| 52 | February 20, 1992 | The family runs to the couch, but knocks themselves unconscious in the process. Maggie (the only one who isn’t knocked out) ends up on the couch. | "Homer at the Bat" | 8F13 |
| 53 | February 27, 1992 | repeat of 8F05's gag | "Separate Vocations" | 8F15 |
| 54 | March 12, 1992 | repeat of 8F06's gag | "Dog of Death" | 8F17 |
| 55 | March 26, 1992 | repeat of 8F07's gag | "Colonel Homer" | 8F19 |
| 56 | April 9, 1992 | repeat of 8F08's gag | "Black Widower" | 8F20 |
| 57 | April 23, 1992 | repeat of 8F09's gag | "The Otto Show" | 8F21 |
| 58 | May 7, 1992 | repeat of 7F24's gag | "Bart's Friend Falls in Love" | 8F22 |
| 59 | August 27, 1992 | repeat of 8F10's gag | "Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?" | 8F23 |
Season 4[]
| # | Airdate | Gag | Episode | Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 60 | September 24, 1992 | The Flintstones (Fred, Wilma, and Pebbles) are on the couch. When the Simpsons come in, Fred smiles at Homer and invites him to sit. | "Kamp Krusty" | 8F24 |
| 61 | October 1, 1992 | The family sits on the couch; the couch then swallows them up as it transforms into a monster.[1][6][5] | "A Streetcar Named Marge" | 8F18 |
| 62 | October 8, 1992 | The Simpsons sit on the couch; the wall spins around, leaving behind an empty couch. | "Homer the Heretic" | 9F01 |
| 63 | October 15, 1992 | Maggie is already on the couch; Homer, Marge, and Bart run off the edge of the film onto an empty white space and quickly run back. Lisa jumps in at the last minute.[5] | "Lisa the Beauty Queen" | 9F02 |
| 64 | October 29, 1992 | The Simpsons are now skeletons who rush to the couch and sit as normal. (the First Couch Gag in Treehouse of Horror) | "Treehouse of Horror III" | 9F04 |
| 65 | November 3, 1992 | The Simpsons sit on the couch; the couch deflates like a balloon. | "Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie" | 9F03 |
| 66 | November 5, 1992 | The family’s heads are mismatched; Everyone undoes the mistake by taking back their proper heads and Maggie takes her pacifier out of Homer’s mouth. | "Marge Gets a Job" | 9F05 |
| 67 | November 12, 1992 | repeat of 7F03's gag | "New Kid on the Block" | 9F06 |
| 68 | November 19, 1992 | The couch is replaced by a small wooden chair; the family sits on it. | "Mr. Plow" | 9F07 |
| 69 | December 3, 1992 | As the standard theme music stops, the family forms a chorus line, joined by a line of Rockettes-like women, all high-kicking to a Vegas-like rendition of the main theme melody. The living room walls are lifted to make way for a large production number, featuring hand-standing elephants, magicians, Santa's Little Helper leaping through a ring of fire, and more all set to circus style music. The standard theme music then returns, concluding normally. (This is the first extra-long couch gag, as well as the first to cut into the standard theme with alternate music.)[5] | "Lisa's First Word" | 9F08 |
| 70 | December 17, 1992 | The family is shrunk and climbs the “giant” couch.[5] | "Homer's Triple Bypass" | 9F09 |
| 71 | January 14, 1993 | The Simpsons sit down, followed by three rows of secondary characters (such as Kent Brockman, Apu, Krusty, Principal Skinner, Marge's mother Jackie, Mr. Burns, Smithers, a black-haired Princess Kashmir, and Mrs. Krabappel) from the show who obstruct the family's view.[5] | "Marge vs. the Monorail" | 9F10 |
| 72 | January 21, 1993 | The family is caught in a rope trap set up on the floor. | "Selma's Choice" | 9F11 |
| 73 | February 4, 1993 | repeat of 9F01's gag | "Brother From the Same Planet" | 9F12 |
| 74 | February 11, 1993 | repeat of 9F08's gag | "I Love Lisa" | 9F13 |
| 75 | February 18, 1993 | repeat of 9F02's gag | "Duffless" | 9F14 |
| 76 | March 11, 1993 | repeat of 8F18's gag | "Last Exit to Springfield" | 9F15 |
| 77 | April 1, 1993 | repeat of 9F05's gag | "So It's Come to This: A Simpsons Clip Show" | 9F17 |
| 78 | April 15, 1993 | repeat of 9F08's gag | "The Front" | 9F16 |
| 79 | April 29, 1993 | repeat of 9F07's gag | "Whacking Day" | 9F18 |
| 80 | May 6, 1993 | repeat of 9F09's gag | "Marge in Chains" | 9F20 |
| 81 | May 13, 1993 | repeat of 9F11's gag | "Krusty Gets Kancelled" | 9F19 |
Season 5[]
| # | Airdate | Gag | Episode | Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 82 | September 30, 1993 | A director does three couch gag takes. Take one: The Simpsons first run into the living room and shatter like glass, with Santa's Little Helper walking in to look at the mess on the floor. Take two: The Simpsons run in and coalesce into a multicolored, five-headed blob. Take three: The Simpsons run in and explode on contact, with Maggie's pacifier falling onto the blackened crater. (syndicated reruns use the “take one” couch gag and takes two and three are used as individual couch gags in different episodes) | "Homer's Barbershop Quartet" | 9F21 |
| 83 | October 7, 1993 | repeat of 9F08's gag | "Cape Feare" | 9F22 |
| 84 | October 14, 1993 | The family sits; the couch and family are crushed by the cutout foot from the opening of Monty Python's Flying Circus.[5] | "Homer Goes to College" | 1F02 |
| 85 | October 21, 1993 | The Simpsons run in and find an identical Simpsons family on the couch. (This scene is frequently used as the opening couch gag on syndicated versions of Simpsons episodes from seasons one to five.) | "Rosebud" | 1F01 |
| 86 | October 28, 1993 | The Simpsons are zombies who break through the floor and groan as they sit on the couch. | "Treehouse of Horror IV" | 1F04 |
| 87 | November 4, 1993 | The family runs in and crashes through the wall, as it turns out the couch and other living room furniture is just a flat backdrop. | "Marge on the Lam" | 1F03 |
| 88 | November 11, 1993 | The family runs in and finds an obese man taking up the entire couch; the man tries to give the Simpsons room to sit, but it's a tight fit. | "Bart's Inner Child" | 1F05 |
| 89 | November 18, 1993 | The lights are out as five pairs of eyes enter; the lights turn on revealing only eyes, as the eyeless family rushes in and sits down, reconnecting with their eyes. | "Boy-Scoutz N the Hood" | 1F06 |
| 90 | December 9, 1993 | The family sits, then realizes the couch is on the set of the Late Show with David Letterman; next to the couch, Dave spins in his chair to face forward at his desk. | "The Last Temptation of Homer" | 1F07 |
| 91 | December 16, 1993 | repeat of the first of 9F21's three gags | "$pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)" | 1F08 |
| 92 | January 6, 1994 | repeat of the third of 9F21's three gags | "Homer the Vigilante" | 1F09 |
| 93 | February 3, 1994 | repeat of the second of 9F21's three gags | "Bart Gets Famous" | 1F11 |
| 94 | February 10, 1994 | Homer, Marge, Bart, and Lisa poke their heads out from behind the couch; Maggie pokes out from behind the center cushion | "Homer and Apu" | 1F10 |
| 95 | February 17, 1994 | repeat of 1F02's gag | "Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy" | 1F12 |
| 96 | February 24, 1994 | repeat of 1F05's gag | "Deep Space Homer" | 1F13 |
| 97 | March 17, 1994 | There are two identical couches in the living room. The Simpsons split themselves down the middle and each half sits on the couches. | "Homer Loves Flanders" | 1F14 |
| 98 | March 31, 1994 | repeat of 1F06's gag | "Bart Gets an Elephant" | 1F15 |
| 99 | April 14, 1994 | The Simpsons are balls that bounce onto the couch. Bart almost bounces away, but Homer reigns him in and hurls him onto the couch. | "Burns' Heir" | 1F16 |
| 100 | April 28, 1994 | The Simpsons sit on the couch just as a translucent FOX station identification logo appears in the lower right hand corner of the screen. Homer sees it, gets up from the couch, peels it off, and stomps on it (with the family joining him in stomping it) before returning to the couch. | "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song" | 1F18 |
| 101 | May 5, 1994 | repeat of 1F07's gag | "The Boy Who Knew Too Much" | 1F19 |
| 102 | May 12, 1994 | repeat of the first of 9F21's three gags | "Lady Bouvier's Lover" | 1F21 |
| 103 | May 19, 1994 | repeat of the third of 9F21's three gags | "Secrets of a Successful Marriage" | 1F20 |
Season 6[]
| # | Airdate | Gag | Episode | Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 104 | September 4, 1994 | The Simpsons sit down in midair; the couch builds itself on top of the family and makes them fall. | "Bart of Darkness" | 1F22 |
| 105 | September 11, 1994 | The living room floor is a shallow body of water. The Simpsons swim their way to the couch. Once on the couch, Bart removes his scuba mask and Homer dries out his ear by sticking his finger in it.[5] | "Lisa's Rival" | 1F17 |
| 106 | September 25, 1994 | repeat of 1F02's gag | "Another Simpsons Clip Show" | 2F33 |
| 107 | October 2, 1994 | The family is beamed onto the couch the same way the characters are in the original Star Trek series.[4] | "Itchy & Scratchy Land" | 2F01 |
| 108 | October 9, 1994 | repeat of 1F06's gag (original airing)/repeat of 1F01's gag (subsequent airings)/none on the Simpsons season six DVD set | "Sideshow Bob Roberts" | 2F02 |
| 109 | October 30, 1994 | The Simpson family members are built à la Frankenstein’s monster with each other’s body parts. They try to retrieve their own parts, but it’s not an improvement. | "Treehouse of Horror V" | 2F03 |
| 110 | November 6, 1994 | repeat of 1F06's gag | "Bart's Girlfriend" | 2F04 |
| 111 | November 13, 1994 | The Simpsons sit on the couch and get sprung into the ceiling, with only their legs and feet showing. | "Lisa on Ice" | 2F05 |
| 112 | November 27, 1994 | In a loose parody of the film, Time Bandits, the family chases after the couch and the back wall as it slides down an endless hallway.[5] | "Homer Badman" | 2F06 |
| 113 | December 4, 1994 | The family run in from the side past a repeating background shot of the couch and TV (in a parody of how 1950s and 1960s cartoons utilized repeating backgrounds in order to save money, a technique The Simpsons often employs.) | "Grampa vs. Sexual Inadequacy" | 2F07 |
| 114 | December 18, 1994 | repeat of 9F08's gag | "Fear of Flying" | 2F08 |
| 115 | January 8, 1995 | The living room is at the center of an M.C. Escher's Relativity style environment with multiple staircases and conflicting perspectives; the family enters from various directions (and dimensions) and sits.[1] | "Homer the Great" | 2F09 |
| 116 | January 22, 1995 | The living room is seen through the barrel of a gun with music typically heard in a James Bond film playing. Homer walks in and fires at the unseen gunman. The screen “bleeds” red and falls. | "And Maggie Makes Three" | 2F10 |
| 117 | February 5, 1995 | The living room is shown in black and white; the Simpsons come in, parodies of early Mickey Mouse cartoons, and do a stiff dance.[5] | "Bart's Comet" | 2F11 |
| 118 | February 12, 1995 | repeat of 1F22's gag | "Homie the Clown" | 2F12 |
| 119 | February 19, 1995 | repeat of 1F17's gag | "Bart vs. Australia" | 2F13 |
| 120 | February 26, 1995 | repeat of 2F01's gag (except the sound and visual effects of the family appearing on the couch resemble the ones seen on Quantam Leap) | "Homer vs. Patty & Selma" | 2F14 |
| 121 | March 5, 1995 | The family’s heights are reversed; Maggie is now the largest while Homer is the smallest.[5] | "A Star Is Burns" | 2F31 |
| 122 | March 19, 1995 | repeat of 2F05's gag | "Lisa's Wedding" | 2F15 |
| 123 | April 9, 1995 | repeat of 2F06's gag | "Two Dozen and One Greyhounds" | 2F18 |
| 124 | April 16, 1995 | repeat of 2F09's gag | "The PTA Disbands" | 2F19 |
| 125 | April 30, 1995 | repeat of 2F31's gag | "'Round Springfield" | 2F32 |
| 126 | May 7, 1995 | repeat of 2F10's gag (only the James Bond music playing sounds different than the one heard in 2F10) | "The Springfield Connection" | 2F21 |
| 127 | May 14, 1995 | repeat of 2F11's gag | "Lemon of Troy" | 2F22 |
| 128 | May 21, 1995 | repeat of 2F07's gag | "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One)" | 2F16 |
Season 7[]
| # | Airdate | Gag | Episode | Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 129 | September 17, 1995 | The theme from "Dragnet" plays as the couch slides away and a police lineup height chart unfurls from above; the family lines up in front of it. (This episode reveals the answer to the mystery of who shot Mr. Burns). | "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part Two)" | 2F20 |
| 130 | September 24, 1995 | Like a fax machine, the couch ejects a sheet of paper with a picture of the family, which then floats up into the air, before sliding beneath the couch. | "Radioactive Man" | 2F17 |
| 131 | October 1, 1995 | Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie, Grampa (who’s sleeping), Santa’s Little Helper, and Snowball II are in a nine-square grid as seen in the opening credits of The Brady Bunch. Everyone (except for Grampa, who is still sleeping) runs to the couch, which is located in the center square. | "Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily" | 3F01 |
| 132 | October 8, 1995 | The family drive around the room in go-karts, wearing fezzes; they line up in front of the couch and honk their horns simultaneously. | "Bart Sells His Soul" | 3F02 |
| 133 | October 15, 1995 | The Simpsons are colorless blobs; mechanical arms color and detail the family. | "Lisa the Vegetarian" | 3F03 |
| 134 | October 29, 1995 | The family are hanged on nooses, staring blankly. Despite being dead from asphyxiation, Maggie manages to suck on her pacificer. | "Treehouse of Horror VI" | 3F04 |
| 135 | November 5, 1995 | The Simpsons are five malfunctioning wind-up dolls who buzz and waddle their way to the couch (or at least near it). | "King-Size Homer" | 3F05 |
| 136 | November 19, 1995 | A bowling pin clearing bar scares Snowball II off the couch, then a pinsetter places the family on the couch like bowling pins. | "Mother Simpson" | 3F06 |
| 137 | November 26, 1995 | The whole room is filled with water, the couch is made of clam shells, and a treasure chest is in place of the TV; sea monkey versions of the family members swim in and sit on the clam couch. | "Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming" | 3F08 |
| 138 | December 3, 1995 | A montage of couch gags from 8F18, 9F02, 9F10, 9F09, 8F09, 1F02, 2F31, 2F09, 2F06, 1F17, 2F11, and 9F08. | "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular" | 3F31 |
| 139 | December 17, 1995 | The family sits on the couch. Homer notices a plug in the middle of the floor and pulls it. Everyone and everything gets sucked down the drain. | "Marge Be Not Proud" | 3F07 |
| 140 | January 7, 1996 | The family sits; the camera then zooms in through a mouse hole, where a small mouse version of the family sits on a couch as well. | "Team Homer" | 3F10 |
| 141 | January 14, 1996 | Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie are moose heads on the wall and Homer is a bearskin rug on the floor. A game hunter comes in, sits on the couch, and smokes a pipe. | "Two Bad Neighbors" | 3F09 |
| 142 | February 4, 1996 | The living room is bathed in black light, with the Simpsons in fluorescent colors while a hard rock guitar riff plays. Homer turns the light on and the normal music plays. | "Scenes from the Class Struggle in Springfield" | 3F11 |
| 143 | February 11, 1996 | repeat of 2F17's gag (but this time, the paper doesn't slide back under the couch) | "Bart the Fink" | 3F12 |
| 144 | February 18, 1996 | repeat of 3F01's gag | "Lisa the Iconoclast" | 3F13 |
| 145 | February 25, 1996 | repeat of 3F02's gag | "Homer the Smithers" | 3F14 |
| 146 | March 17, 1996 | repeat of 3F03's gag | "The Day the Violence Died" | 3F16 |
| 147 | March 24, 1996 | repeat of 3F05's gag | "A Fish Called Selma" | 3F15 |
| 148 | March 31, 1996 | repeat of 3F06's gag | "Bart on the Road" | 3F17 |
| 149 | April 14, 1996 | repeat of 3F08's gag | "22 Short Films About Springfield" | 3F18 |
| 150 | April 28, 1996 | repeat of 3F07's gag | "Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in "The Curse of the Flying Hellfish"" | 3F19 |
| 151 | May 5, 1996 | repeat of 3F09's gag | "Much Apu About Nothing" | 3F20 |
| 152 | May 19, 1996 | repeat of 3F11's gag | "Homerpalooza" | 3F21 |
| 153 | May 19, 1996 | repeat of 2F17's gag | "Summer of 4 Ft. 2" | 3F22 |
Season 8[]
| # | Airdate | Gag | Episode | Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 154 | October 27, 1996 | The Grim Reaper is on the couch. The family runs in, but keel over and die one by one. The Reaper then puts his feet up on the corpses of the Simpson family. | "Treehouse of Horror VII" | 4F02 |
| 155 | November 3, 1996 | Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie fall from the sky onto the couch via parachute; Homer, on the other hand, comes down screaming and lands on his face from an unopened parachute pack. | "You Only Move Twice" | 3F23 |
| 156 | November 10, 1996 | The couch sits in the middle of a desert; the family, in western cowboy garb, sits on the couch, which gallops off into the sunset. | "The Homer They Fall" | 4F03 |
| 157 | November 17, 1996 | Clear blue bubble versions of the family members float into the room, land on the couch, and pop. | "Burns, Baby Burns" | 4F05 |
| 158 | November 24, 1996 | The whole scene is a parody of the cover of The Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, featuring a large crowd of regulars, several objects associated with the show, wax statues of the Simpsons as they were on The Tracy Ullman Show, and the family standing in front of the couch, front and center, dressed in Sgt Pepper regalia. Homer, spoofing the back cover of the album, turns to look at the crowded scene behind him. The last chord to the Beatles song, "A Day in the Life" plays instead of the traditional Simpsons music. | "Bart After Dark" | 4F06 |
| 159 | December 1, 1996 | The family sits down, but now Bart is green. Homer fiddles with the TV antenna and Bart changes to red. Homer then returns to the couch, and smacks Bart upside the head in order to return him to his normal color (yellow). | "A Milhouse Divided" | 4F04 |
| 160 | December 15, 1996 | The whole room is upside-down, with the couch and everything else on what appears to be the ceiling. The family, also upside-down, runs in on the ceiling and sits, before falling down onto the floor "above" them. | "Lisa's Date with Density" | 4F01 |
| 161 | December 29, 1996 | The couch is replaced with a coin slot and the words “Vend-A-Couch” written on the wall. Homer puts a coin in; nothing happens. Homer pounds on the wall four times before the couch falls on him. | "Hurricane Neddy" | 4F07 |
| 162 | January 5, 1997 | repeat of 3F23's gag | "El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer (The Mysterious Voyage of Homer)" | 3F24 |
| 163 | January 12, 1997 | The family flies into the room via jet packs; Maggie spirals in last, landing in Marge's lap. | "The Springfield Files" | 3G01 |
| 164 | January 19, 1997 | The couch is now a giant Whack-A-Mole game, with The Simpson family as the moles. The clown hallucination music from the season six episode “Homer the Clown” plays as an unseen player tries to hit one of the Simpson moles—and successfully gets Homer. | "The Twisted World of Marge Simpson" | 4F08 |
| 165 | February 2, 1997 | The couch is folded out into a bed with Grampa asleep on it. Grampa can only utter a cry of “Huh?” before The Simpsons fold him into the couch as sit down as normal. | "Mountain of Madness" | 4F10 |
| 166 | February 7, 1997 | The living room is empty. Cut to outside where Homer is struggling with a locked front door while the other members of the family wait impatiently. | "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious" | 3G03 |
| 167 | February 9, 1997 | repeat of 4F06's gag (in syndication, this is replaced with the "Simpsons Meet The Flintstones" couch gag from 8F24, but the audio from 4F06's gag can still be heard) | "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show" | 4F12 |
| 168 | February 16, 1997 | The living room is in an “America Onlink” window on a computer screen. An unseen computer user tries to download the family, but the download shows no signs of progress after a few seconds and the user tries to exit the window (which also doesn’t work). | "Homer's Phobia" | 4F11 |
| 169 | February 23, 1997 | repeat of 4F01's gag | "Brother from Another Series" | 4F14 |
| 170 | March 2, 1997 | The couch is on the deck of a ship at sea in rough waters, sliding back and forth with the tilt of the ship. The family, dressed in raingear, sits on the couch, before an enormous wave washes them away. The TV surfaces moments later. | "My Sister, My Sitter" | 4F13 |
| 171 | March 16, 1997 | repeat of 4F03's gag | "Homer vs. The Eighteenth Amendment" | 4F15 |
| 172 | April 6, 1997 | repeat of 4F05's gag | "Grade School Confidential" | 4F09 |
| 173 | April 13, 1997 | repeat of 4F10's gag | "The Canine Mutiny" | 4F16 |
| 174 | April 20, 1997 | repeat of 4F08's gag (only now, the sounds of the mallet hitting the family members is more aggressive) | "The Old Man and the Lisa" | 4F17 |
| 175 | April 27, 1997 | repeat of 4F07's gag | "In Marge We Trust" | 4F18 |
| 176 | May 4, 1997 | repeat of 4F04's gag (in some syndicated versions, the couch gag from 3F23 and 3F24 where The Simpsons parachute down to the couch [except for Homer, whose parachute doesn't open at all] is used) | "Homer's Enemy" | 4F19 |
| 177 | May 11, 1997 | none | "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase" | 4F20 |
| 178 | May 18, 1997 | repeat of 4F01's gag | "The Secret War of Lisa Simpson" | 4F21 |
Season 9[]
| # | Airdate | Gag | Episode | Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 179 | September 21, 1997 | The family comes in, dressed as the Harlem Globetrotters, passing a basketball to each other while Sweet Georgia Brown plays. Maggie dunks the ball into the basket above the couch, hitting Homer on the head. | "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson" | 4F22 |
| 180 | September 28, 1997 | The Simpsons are dressed as astronauts and sit on the couch just as it blasts off into space. | "The Principal and the Pauper" | 4F23 |
| 181 | October 19, 1997 | Homer is standing in front of the couch. The top half of him pops off and on to the couch revealing a smaller Marge standing inside the lower half of Homer, like a Russian nesting doll. The top half of Marge pops off revealing Bart, whose top half pops off revealing Lisa, whose top half finally pops off to reveal Maggie, who stays in the middle of Homer’s body and sucks on her pacifier. | "Lisa's Sax" | 3G02 |
| 182 | October 26, 1997 | The Simpsons sit on the couch. Metal shackles restrain their wrists and ankles and a metal cap comes down on all of their heads. The family writhes in pain as they get electrocuted. | "Treehouse of Horror VIII" | 5F02 |
| 183 | November 2, 1997 | The couch is a trough filled with water. The Simpsons, with their butts on fire, rush to the trough and sit to extinguish the fire. They all sigh in relief as steam billows out. | "The Cartridge Family" | 5F01 |
| 184 | November 9, 1997 | The family sits; an auto-crusher compresses them all into a rectangular block. | "Bart Star" | 5F03 |
| 185 | November 16, 1997 | Bart runs in and spray-paints the family onto the couch, tagging it with an "El Barto" signature, then runs off. | "The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons" | 5F04 |
| 186 | November 23, 1997 | The living room is a sauna, with three guys in towels relaxing. The Simpsons (also in towels) arrive, but leave sheepishly as the three men glare at them. | "Lisa the Skeptic" | 5F05 |
| 187 | December 7, 1997 | The family sits; Matt Groening's[7] live action hand spins the picture around, smearing the family like spin art. | "Realty Bites" | 5F06 |
| 188 | December 21, 1997 | The Simpsons sit on the couch as normal. The camera zooms out and reveals that the living room is part of a snow globe that two hands shake to make the snow fall. Homer marvels at it with an, “Oooh!” (Christmas episode for this first usage) | "Miracle on Evergreen Terrace" | 5F07 |
| 189 | January 4, 1998 | The floor is a treadmill. Marge, Lisa, Bart, and Maggie successfully dismount after running in place, while Homer gets stuck on it, yelling, “Marge, stop this crazy thing!” à la George Jetson on the original credits for The Jetsons. | "All Singing, All Dancing" | 5F24 |
| 190 | January 11, 1998 | The Simpsons go to sit on the couch, but fall on their butts when the couch gets pulled back. Nelson Muntz then pops out from behind the couch and gives his trademark laugh (“Ha-ha!”). | "Bart Carny" | 5F08 |
| 191 | February 8, 1998 | The family is microsized, like in the couch gag seen in "Homer's Triple Bypass", but now The Simpsons take a little longer to climb up on the couch and Santa’s Little Helper takes Homer away in his mouth. | "The Joy of Sect" | 5F23 |
| 192 | February 15, 1998 | The floor is water and the couch is a lilypad; a frog version of The Simpson family (with Maggie as a tadpole) hops onto the lilypad. Frog-Homer turns on the TV with his long tongue. (according to the season 9 DVD commentary, Dan Castellaneta's daughter came up with the idea for this couch gag) | "Das Bus" | 5F11 |
| 193 | February 22, 1998 | repeat of 5F01's gag | "The Last Temptation of Krust" | 5F10 |
| 194 | March 1, 1998 | repeat of 5F03's gag | "Dumbbell Indemnity" | 5F12 |
| 195 | March 8, 1998 | A vine growns in the middle of the living room. The Simpsons appear as fruits and vegetables; Bart is a strawberry, Homer is a squash, Marge is an asparagus, Maggie is broccoli, and Lisa is a pineapple. | "Lisa the Simpson" | 4F24 |
| 196 | March 22, 1998 | repeat of 5F04's gag (but this time, Bart peeks from around the TV first to make sure the coast is clear) | "This Little Wiggy" | 5F13 |
| 197 | March 29, 1998 | A parody of the opening from Rocky & Bullwinkle, where the family falls off a cliff during a storm, their eyes float to the heavens, and they come back as flowers growing in the ground. Bart spits out a clod of dirt. The Rocky & Bullwinkle theme plays throughout. | "Simpson Tide" | 3G04 |
| 198 | April 5, 1998 | repeat of 5F05's gag | "The Trouble with Trillions" | 5F14 |
| 199 | April 19, 1998 | repeat of 5F06's gag | "Girly Edition" | 5F15 |
| 200 | April 26, 1998 | The Simpson family find themselves in Mrs. Krabappel’s classroom where Bart is writing the blackboard punishment phrase, “I Will Not Mess With The Opening Credits”. | "Trash of the Titans" | 5F09 |
| 201 | May 3, 1998 | repeat of 5F07's gag | "King of the Hill" | 5F16 |
| 202 | May 10, 1998 | repeat of 5F08's gag | "Lost Our Lisa" | 5F17 |
| 203 | May 17, 1998 | repeat of 5F11's gag | "Natural Born Kissers" | 5F18 |
Season 10[]
| # | Airdate | Gag | Episode | Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 204 | August 23, 1998 | repeat of 5F08's gag | "Lard of the Dance" | 5F20 |
| 205 | September 20, 1998 | Similar to the couch gag in "Marge vs. the Monorail" (9F10), the living room is filled with secondary and tertiary characters from the show. Unlike 9F10, the living room is now a movie theater and the Simpsons are shuffling their way through to find a seat. After they sit down, Homer has some of the Comic Book Guy's popcorn. | "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace" | 5F21 |
| 206 | September 27, 1998 | Two firemen hold the couch as if it were a safety net. Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie land safely on the couch. Homer, however, isn’t so lucky — he falls through the floor. | "Bart the Mother" | 5F22 |
| 207 | October 25, 1998 | The family never makes it to the couch; Bart gets run over by Homer. Lisa gets catapulted into the garage roof, and Homer gets run down by Marge as she drives into the garage. Meanwhile, in the living room Freddy Krueger (of the A Nightmare on Elm Street movies) and Jason Voorhees (of the Friday the 13th movies) sit on the couch, wondering where the family is. | "Treehouse of Horror IX" | AABF01 |
| 208 | November 8, 1998 | Marge enters with a laundry basket and hangs the other family members (who are wet sheets) on a clothesline above the couch. | "When You Dish Upon a Star" | 5F19 |
| 209 | November 15, 1998 | The family sits; a safety bar lowers over their laps and the couch zooms around the room like a roller coaster car. | "D'oh-in in the Wind" | AABF02 |
| 210 | November 22, 1998 | The family sits; hair dryers descend onto their heads, then lift up, revealing the family members all have swapped hairdos. Homer has Maggie's, Marge has Bart's, Bart has Lisa's, Lisa has Homer's, and Maggie has Marge's (the weight of it causing her to fall off the couch). | "Lisa Gets an "A"" | AABF03 |
| 211 | December 6, 1998 | repeat of 5F11's gag | "Homer Simpson in: "Kidney Trouble"" | AABF04 |
| 212 | December 20, 1998 | repeat of 5F03's gag | "Mayored to the Mob" | AABF05 |
| 213 | January 10, 1999 | repeat of 5F06's gag | "Viva Ned Flanders" | AABF06 |
| 214 | January 17, 1999 | In a parody of the famous scene in Dr. Strangelove where Slim Pickens’ character rides the bomb, the Simpsons (wearing white cowboy hats) straddle the couch as it drops from a bomb bay door. The Simpsons scream, “Yahoo!” as they plummet into oblivion. | "Wild Barts Can't Be Broken" | AABF07 |
| 215 | January 31, 1999 | The living room is in shallow water (like it was in Lisa's Rival) and the Simpsons sit on the couch. An iceberg passes by the couch and causes it to sink (à la The Titantic) with the family clinging to the couch as it goes under. Maggie resurfaces on a couch cushion moments later with the remote control in hand. | "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday" | AABF08 |
| 216 | February 7, 1999 | repeat of 5F19's gag | "Homer to the Max" | AABF09 |
| 217 | February 14, 1999 | repeat of AABF03's gag | "I'm With Cupid" | AABF11 |
| 218 | February 21, 1999 | repeat of AABF02's gag | "Marge Simpson in: "Screaming Yellow Honkers"" | AABF10 |
| 219 | February 28, 1999 | repeat of 5F22's gag | "Make Room for Lisa" | AABF12 |
| 220 | March 28, 1999 | Marge and Homer are depicted as children while Bart and Lisa are depicted as adults (and Maggie is a baby doll in Homer’s arms). Homer reaches for the remote control, but Lisa slaps it away from him. | "Maximum Homerdrive" | AABF13 |
| 221 | April 4, 1999 | The family slips on banana peels on the floor, flipping upside-down in the air, but all land safely on the couch. | "Simpsons Bible Stories" | AABF14 |
| 222 | April 11, 1999 | repeat of AABF07's gag | "Mom and Pop Art" | AABF15 |
| 223 | April 25, 1999 | repeat of 5F21's gag | "The Old Man and The "C" Student" | AABF16 |
| 224 | May 2, 1999 | repeat of 9F08's gag | "Monty Can't Buy Me Love" | AABF17 |
| 225 | May 9, 1999 | repeat of AABF08's gag | "They Saved Lisa's Brain" | AABF18 |
| 226 | May 16, 1999 | The Simpsons sit on the couch, but get sucked inside and come out looking like a shredded piece of paper. | "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo" | AABF20 |
Season 11[]
| Episode # | Airdate | Gag | Episode | Production Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 227 | September 26, 1999 | The Simpson family (as they are currently drawn) run in and find their crudely drawn counterparts from The Tracy Ullman Show. Both families look at each other and run screaming out the room. | "Beyond Blunderdome" | AABF23 |
| 228 | October 3, 1999 | 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 | 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 (i.e. the floor) to Marge's horror. | "Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner?" | AABF21 |
| 230 | October 31, 1999 | The family members (mostly) appear as they have in previous Halloween episodes: Homer is a jack-in-the-box (from 8F02), Bart is a mutant fly (from 5F02), Marge is a witch (also from 5F02), and Maggie is an alien (from AABF01); Lisa, an ax murder victim (the only one not based on a previous episode), asks what aliens have to do with Halloween, and Maggie demands "Silence!" in a deep voice before disintegrating Lisa with a ray gun. | "Treehouse of Horror X" | BABF01 |
| 231 | November 7, 1999 | The living room is set up like a trendy night club (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-(Annoyed Grunt)" | AABF19 |
| 232 | November 14, 1999 | 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 | The Simpsons sit on the couch and the wall spins around as seen in “Homer the Heretic”, but this time, a mad scientist who looks like Vincent Price and a scared Ned Flanders who is shackled upside down are on the other side of the wall instead of an empty couch. | "Eight Misbehavin'" | BABF03 |
| 234 | November 28, 1999 | repeat of AABF20's gag | "Take My Wife, Sleaze" | BABF05 |
| 235 | December 19, 1999 | 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. | "Grift of the Magi" | BABF07 |
| 236 | January 9, 2000 | 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 | A psychiatrist (who looks like a caricature of Sigmund Freud) is sitting in a chair next to the couch. Homer hops on the couch and yells, "Oh, doctor, I'm crazy!", then sobs as the other family members stare sadly at each other. | "Faith Off" | BABF06 |
| 238 | January 23, 2000 | repeat of AABF13's gag | "The Mansion Family" | BABF08 |
| 239 | February 6, 2000 | The family leaps into the room, all dressed in white karate uniforms and black belts, and chops the couch up with karate moves; Homer, remote in hand, does a karate flip and switches on the TV. | "Saddlesore Galactica" | BABF09 |
| 240 | February 13, 2000 | Homer drives a bumper car into the room, but a bumper car containing Marge and Maggie drives in and bumps into him. Soon, Bart and Lisa appear in their own cars, and they all pin Homer's car against the back wall and slam him repeatedly. | "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily" | BABF10 |
| 241 | February 20, 2000 | 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 | The Simpsons (save Maggie, who is in Marge's arms) are barefoot and briskly walking across a bed of hot coals in order to reach the couch. When the family sits down, they prop their feet up, revealing their black and smoldering soles. | "Kill the Alligator and Run" | BABF16 |
| 246 | May 7, 2000 | Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie (dressed in tattered jungle clothes) swing into the room on a vine gracefully like Tarzan; Homer swings by and fails to release the vine in time, crashing 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 | The couch has a coin slot on the side. The family sits, and Bart puts a coin in it. The couch then vibrates away, taking the family with them. | "Behind the Laughter" | BABF19 |
Season 12[]
| # | Airdate | Gag | Episode | Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 249 | November 1, 2000 | none | "Treehouse of Horror XI" | BABF21 |
| 250 | November 5, 2000 | Bart arrives at the couch first and places a whoopee cushion under Homer's spot. When the family sits down, Homer sits on the part of the couch with the whoopee cushion underneath 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 | The shot opens on the TV rather than the couch, and the family runs in and freezes in mid-air; the camera pans around them in bullet-time (à la The Matrix and the Gap Khaki commercials at the time that featured swing dancing), then when the camera is angled on the couch, time resumes normally as they sit. | "Insane Clown Poppy" | BABF17 |
| 252 | November 19, 2000 | Maggie is on the couch. The rest of the Simpsons waddle in dressed as The Teletubbies (Homer is Twinky Winky, Marge is Dipsy, Lisa is Po, and Bart as Laa-Laa) and Maggie applauds with delight. | "Lisa the Tree Hugger" | CABF01 |
| 253 | November 26, 2000 | 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 | Santa’s Little Helper dances on his hind legs like Snoopy in the Charlie Brown Christmas Special while the popular Charlie Brown 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 | 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 | 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 | The Simpsons are placed on the couch by the transport tubes used on Futurama. A yellow-skinned Philip J. Fry (the protagonist from Futurama) is in on the couch for a split second before he’s sucked up and replaced by Bart. | "HOMR" | BABF22 |
| 258 | January 14, 2001 | repeat of BABF03's gag | "Pokey Mom" | CABF05 |
| 259 | February 4, 2001 | 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 | 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 | 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 | Gag | Episode | Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 270 | November 6, 2001 | none | "Treehouse of Horror XII" | CABF19 |
| 271 | November 11, 2001 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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. | "Sweets and Sour Marge" | DABF03 |
| 278 | January 27, 2002 | The living room is black and while (like in the couch gag for "Bart's Comet"). Homer, dressed as Charlie Chaplin’s The Tramp character, waddles to the couch and twitches his nose. When Tramp Homer sits down, the rest of the family, dressed as silent movie characters, join him. | "Jaws Wired Shut" | DABF05 |
| 279 | February 10, 2002 | The Simpsons come in just as two repo men take the couch away. Homer sobs loudly, Marge looks confused, and the kids sit on the floor to watch TV. | "Half-Decent Proposal" | DABF04 |
| 280 | February 17, 2002 | repeat of [[#9F08|9F08]]'s gag | "The Bart Wants What It Wants" | DABF06 |
| 281 | February 24, 2002 | The Squeaky-Voiced Teen and an unknown adolescent girl are making out on the couch. The Simpsons come in. The Squeaky-Voiced Teen yelps and the unknown girl smiles uneasily. | "The Lastest Gun in the West" | DABF07 |
| 282 | March 10, 2002 | The family runs in to find the Blue Man Group performing on drums in front of the couch. Homer murmurs "What the-?!" | "The Old Man and the Key" | DABF09 |
| 283 | March 17, 2002 | The Simpsons rushing to and sitting on the couch is animated in pencil-drawn flipbook style, with the pages flipped by a pair of live-action hands. | "Tales from the Public Domain" | DABF08 |
| 284 | March 31, 2002 | 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 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 doesn't say, "What the...") | "Papa's Got a Brand New Badge" | DABF17 |
Season 14[]
| # | Airdate | Gag | Episode | Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 292 | November 3, 2002 | none | "Treehouse of Horror XIII" | DABF19 |
| 293 | November 10, 2002 | The living room is in an ocean. Homer is on water skis, with the others on him, as he ski-jumps over sharks; everybody lands on the couch, but Homer’s legs are in the mouths of sharks.[8] | "How I Spent My Strummer Vacation" | DABF22 |
| 294 | November 17, 2002 | In a parody of the opening of the 1960s sitcom, Get Smart, Homer goes through many futuristic doors and passageways until he reaches the phone booth, dials a number, falls through the floor, and lands on the couch (with the rest of the family already seated). | "Bart vs. Lisa vs. The Third Grade" | DABF20 |
| 295 | November 24, 2002 | Homer (unseen, but implied to be him) draws the family on the couch with an Etch-a-Sketch (called a “Sketch-A-Etch” in the couch gag) and yells, “Whoo-hoo!” when he’s done. | "Large Marge" | DABF18 |
| 296 | December 1, 2002 | 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. | "Helter Shelter" | DABF21 |
| 297 | December 15, 2002 | The family sits on the couch. Homer clicks on the remote control and sends the family to the Stone Age where they sit in front of a fire, 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 | Everybody is deep-fried in a fast-food fryer, then emptied onto the couch and salted. | "Special Edna" | EABF02 |
| 299 | January 12, 2003 | In a parody of the black and white photograph, Lunchtime Atop A Skyscraper, the family is dressed as construction workers of the early 20th century and are sitting on a girder watching TV. | "The Dad Who Knew Too Little" | EABF03 |
| 300 | February 2, 2003 | The couch is a novelty cardboard cut-out with holes where the family's heads would be. The family puts their heads through the holes and a photographer takes their picture. | "Strong Arms of The Ma" | EABF04 |
| 301 | February 9, 2003 | The Simpsons sit down as normal. A giant baby picks them up and plays with them. | "Pray Anything" | EABF06 |
| 302 | February 16, 2003 | The living room is made of assorted candies and gingerbread. The Simpsons are gingerbread characters who rush to the couch. Homer leans over and bites the top 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 | The Simpsons are mimes walking against the wind and sitting on an imaginary 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 | "Bart of War" | EABF16 |
| 313 | May 18, 2003 | repeat of EABF05's gag | "Moe Baby Blues" | EABF17 |
Season 15[]
| # | Airdate | Gag | Episode | Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 314 | November 2, 2003 | none | "Treehouse of Horror XIV" | EABF21 |
| 315 | November 9, 2003 | The family runs to the couch as normal, only to rapidly decay and turn to piles of dust. | "My Mother the Carjacker" | EABF18 |
| 316 | November 16, 2003 | A camera shutter flash is heard as a blank Polaroid photo floats to the couch and develops into a picture of The Simpsons. | "The President Wore Pearls" | EABF20 |
| 317 | November 23, 2003 | There is a Play-Doh Fun Factory 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 | The Simpsons slides down a pole into the Batcave, where everyone is dressed like someone from the 1960s Batman TV show (Homer is Batman, Marge is Catwoman, Lisa and Maggie are Batgirl, and Bart is Robin, the Boy Wonder) | "Today I Am a Clown" | FABF01 |
| 320 | December 14, 2003 | The couch is a street bench in Japan, and everyone is a famous Japanese TV show character: Homer is Ultraman, Marge is Jun from Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, Lisa is Sailor Moon, Bart is Astro Boy and Maggie is Pikachu from the Pokémon series. | "'Tis the Fifteenth Season" | FABF02 |
| 321 | January 4, 2004 | The Simpsons sit on the couch as normal. Knives are hurled at the Simpsons' heads, but hit the wall. Homer tries to get a bowl of chips, but a knife aimed for the side of his head stops him. | "Marge vs. Singles, Seniors, Childless Couples and Teens, and Gays" | FABF03 |
| 322 | January 11, 2004 | The couch is a white cake. The Simpsons are squeezed out of a pastry bag like frosting. | "I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot" | FABF04 |
| 323 | January 25, 2004 | The Simpsons’ heads pop out of a slice of apple pie. Homer takes a bite out of the pie. | "Diatribe of a Mad Housewife" | FABF05 |
| 324 | February 8, 2004 | The couch is replaced by a giant microwave. Someone puts a tray inside and presses a button. The Simpsons rise from the tray as it cooks. (The is the third food-based couch gag in a row) | "Margical History Tour" | FABF06 |
| 325 | February 15, 2004 | 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 | Everybody is a bag on a moving dry-cleaning rack, which stops over the couch. | "Smart and Smarter" | FABF09 |
| 327 | March 14, 2004 | In a parody of the science short film, Powers of Ten, the Simpsons sit down on the couch as normal when suddenly, the camera pans out, revealing an overhead shot of the house, an overhead shot of the neighborhood, an overhead shot of the United States, an overhead shot of the North American continent and the Western Hemisphere, an overhead shot of the Earth, the solar system, and Kang and Kodos standing next to their broken spaceship. Soon, many stars fill the screen as they form into the Milky Way. Other galaxies form and turn into atoms, which turn into simple molecular structures, which turn into more complex molecular structures, which turn into DNA helices, which pan out into a blank yellow expanse, which reveals to be Homer’s head and returns to the couch scene. Homer stares blankly for a few seconds, then utters, “Wow!” | "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 FABF01'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 FABF06's gag | "Bart-Mangled Banner" | FABF17 |
| 335 | May 23, 2004 | repeat of FABF02's gag | "Fraudcast News" | FABF18 |
Season 16[]
| # | Airdate | Gag | Episode | Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 336 | November 7, 2004 | none | "Treehouse of Horror XV" | FABF23 |
| 337 | November 14, 2004 | The couch is outside in a clearing and mounted on a catapult. The Simpsons sit down and get launched over a mountain range. | "All's Fair in Oven War" | FABF20 |
| 338 | November 21, 2004 | The Simpsons run in and find that the couch is missing (like in the couch gag for season two's Itchy & Scratchy & Marge), but this time, the couch falls from the sky and crushes the family. | "Sleeping with the Enemy" | FABF19 |
| 339 | December 5, 2004 | All of the family members sit down as normal. The twist: The Simpsons now look like Moe Szyslak. | "She Used to Be My Girl" | FABF22 |
| 340 | December 12, 2004 | After the family takes their usual places on the couch, the couch rises into the air and is actually part of an anglerfish (which bears a striking resemblance to the one from Finding Nemo), which swallows the family and swims away. | "Fat Man and Little Boy" | FABF21 |
| 341 | January 16, 2005 | The Simpsons sit on the couch as normal. Nothing happens. Lisa stares at the camera and says, “What? Can’t we sit on the couch without something happening?” Homer is then impaled by a spear and yells, “D’oh!” with everyone staring in shock. | "Midnight Rx" | FABF16 |
| 342 | January 30, 2005 | The living room is made of sand (including the furnitures and fixtures). The family, looking haggard and dehydrated, crawls in, but ends up lying on their backs in a desert when the sand house collapses. | "Mommie Beerest" | GABF01 |
| 343 | February 6, 2005 | The family enters the living room and in front of the couch they climb on top of the other like a totem pole, with Homer at the bottom and Maggie on top. | "Homer and Ned's Hail Mary Pass" | GABF02 |
| 344 | February 13, 2005 | The family hops to the living room (with the floor as a chessboard) dressed as chess pieces: Homer is the king, Marge is the queen, Bart is a rook, Lisa is a knight and Maggie is a pawn. | "Pranksta Rap" | GABF03 |
| 345 | February 20, 2005 | The family, dressed as hockey players (Marge, Bart, and Lisa each have a missing tooth while Homer has a missing tooth and a black eye), skate around the couch as "Charge!" plays on an organ. Homer is carrying the Stanley Cup with Maggie (the only one who isn't hurt) sitting in the bowl. | "There's Something About Marrying" | GABF04 |
| 346 | March 6, 2005 | repeat of FABF08's gag (but this time, Kang and Kodos are heard laughing and Homer says "Cool!" at the end) | "On a Clear Day I Can't See My Sister" | GABF05 |
| 347 | March 13, 2005 | The living room is dark, with many eyes present. The lights go up, and many secondary characters appear behind a banner that reads, “Surprise!” The Simpsons come in and the characters yell, ”SURPRISE!” Homer is so overwhelmed with shock, he has a heart attack and collapses. | "Goo Goo Gai Pan" | GABF06 |
| 348 | March 20, 2005 | The Simpsons sit down as normal. Homer rips the skin from his head and reveals himself to be Sideshow Bob. Bob then brandishes a knife and chases after Bart, with the rest of the family cowering in fear. | "Mobile Homer" | GABF07 |
| 349 | April 3, 2005 | The Simpsons sit down on the couch. A roasting spit pierces through the couch and the floor below pulls back to reveal a fiery pit. The Simpsons are then spun around over the heat. Marge’s hair is soon on fire. | "The Seven-Beer Snitch" | GABF08 |
| 350 | April 17, 2005 | Several toy forms of transportation come into the living room, only to change Transformers-style into the family. Homer is Optimus Prime, Marge is Skyfire, Lisa is Hound, Maggie is Bumblebee, and Bart appears to be Jazz. | "Future-Drama" | GABF12 |
| 351 | May 1, 2005 | The couch scene is a near-complete jigsaw puzzle, with Homer’s and Maggie’s heads missing. Two hands (with five fingers on each hand instead of four and colored in a realistic peach skin tone instead of the Simpsons cartoonishly bright yellow) put the heads in place, then, noticing Homer and Maggie are switched, fixes them and says, "Woo-hoo!" | "Don't Fear the Roofer" | GABF10 |
| 352 | May 1, 2005 | repeat of FABF20's gag | "The Heartbroke Kid" | GABF11 |
| 353 | May 8, 2005 | repeat of DABF20's gag | "A Star Is Torn" | GABF13 |
| 354 | May 8, 2005 | repeat of FABF22's gag | "Thank God It's Doomsday" | GABF14 |
| 355 | May 15, 2005 | repeat of FABF21's gag | "Home Away from Homer" | GABF15 |
| 356 | May 15, 2005 | The Simpsons float in as parade balloons. Snowball II pops the one that looks like Homer. | "The Father, the Son, and the Holy Guest Star" | GABF09 |
Season 17[]
| # | Airdate | Gag | Episode | Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 357 | September 11, 2005 | A metal detector and a security guard are on the side of the couch. Marge, Lisa, Bart, and Maggie make it past the detector, but Homer sets it off. After three failed attempts, Homer is stripped down to his underwear and inspected by the guard with a handheld scanning wand. | "Bonfire of the Manatees" | GABF18 |
| 358 | September 18, 2005 | The living room is made of clay. Six balls roll to the couch and form into Homer, Marge, Lisa, Maggie, Bart—and Gumby. (filmed in claymation) | "The Girl Who Slept Too Little" | GABF16 |
| 359 | September 25, 2005 | The Simpsons sit down on the couch as normal. A TiVo menu pops up, asking the viewer if they’d like to save the recording or delete it. “Delete This Recording” is chosen and the screen goes black. | "Milhouse of Sand and Fog" | GABF19 |
| 360 | November 6, 2005 | none | "Treehouse of Horror XVI" | GABF17 |
| 361 | November 13, 2005 | The family runs in to sit on the couch, but it turns into a monster and chases them out of the house. Everyone's couches come to life and start attacking and swallowing the people sitting on them; Professor Frink is attacked by a futuristic flying couch with laser weaponry; Moe is attacked by the booths and bar stools in his bar, but fights quite well with his shotgun; Homer takes refuge in a store called "Couch World", where he is piled upon by dozens of couches. (An unusually long couch gag, it runs for exactly 40 seconds.) | "Marge's Son Poisoning" | GABF20 |
| 362 | November 20, 2005 | The Simpsons sit on the couch as normal. The camera zooms out to reveal that the family and the living room are a part of a zoo exhibit on Kang and Kodos’s home planet, Rigel IV. | "See Homer Run" | GABF21 |
| 363 | November 27, 2005 | The couch is replaced with a bird's nest and the family members take their usual places; then a large bird flies in and feeds Homer a worm. | "The Last of the Red Hat Mamas" | GABF22 |
| 364 | December 11, 2005 | A pair of animated hands deals five cards on the couch: the jack of diamonds (Bart), the queen of diamonds (Marge), the king of diamonds (Homer), the ace of diamonds (Lisa), and a joker (Maggie). | "The Italian Bob" | HABF02 |
| 365 | December 18, 2005 | A copy of "The Springfield Shopper" spins into frame, with the headline, "COUCH GAG THRILLS NATION" and a black and white photo of The Simpsons already seated. | "Simpsons Christmas Stories" | HABF01 |
| 366 | January 8, 2006 | The Simpsons sit on the couch as normal. A photographer comes in and snaps their family portrait, which sets off a chain of future photos. In the 2006 and 2007 photos, the family is the same; in 2008, Homer is missing, Marge is dressed in black, and the kids are in their Sunday clothes; in 2009, Marge is married to Lenny and the kids begin puberty; in 2010, Lenny and Carl are taking care of the kids (who are still growing up) and Marge is gone; in 2011, Marge is back in the family and married to Jimbo Jones; in 2012, Homer is recreated as a robot and joins the family after being absent since 2008; and in 2013, everyone in the Simpson family is a robot. | "Homer's Paternity Coot" | HABF03 |
| 367 | January 29, 2006 | In a parody of the Bonanza opening, a map of frontier-era United States is burned out in the center, revealing The Simpsons on horseback. The Bonanza theme plays throughout. | "We're on the Road to D'ohwhere" | HABF04 |
| 368 | February 26, 2006 | repeat of GABF16's gag | "My Fair Laddy" | HABF05 |
| 369 | March 12, 2006 | The couch (with Bart, Marge, Lisa, and Maggie already on it) moves down a conveyor belt and stops in front of the TV. Homer is added by a robotic arm and the conveyor belt continues moving. | "The Seemingly Never-Ending Story" | HABF06 |
| 370 | March 19, 2006 | The living room is blocked by a laser security system. The family works their way through the system and successfully make it to the couch. However, Homer’s head falls off after the lasers vanish. | "Bart Has Two Mommies" | HABF07 |
| 371 | March 26, 2006 | The family (played by live action actors and actresses) sit on the couch just as the animated Simpsons opening comes on. (repeat airings and syndicated reruns use the "Simpsons Roasted Over A Barbecue" couch gag from GABF08). | "Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife" | HABF08 |
| 372 | April 2, 2006 | repeat of GABF19's gag | "Million Dollar Abie" | HABF09 |
| 373 | April 9, 2006 | repeat of HABF02's gag (but this time Homer shouts "Whoo-hoo!" after the cards are dealt) | "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore" | HABF10 |
| 374 | April 23, 2006 | repeat of GABF10's gag (but this time, Homer yells "D'oh!" when Maggie's and Homer's heads are switched and giggles when the mistake is fixed) | "The Wettest Stories Ever Told" | HABF11 |
| 375 | April 30, 2006 | repeat of GABF06's gag | "Girls Just Want To Have Sums" | HABF12 |
| 376 | May 7, 2006 | repeat of GABF12's gag | "Regarding Margie" | HABF13 |
| 377 | May 14, 2006 | repeat of HABF03's gag | "The Monkey Suit" | HABF14 |
| 378 | May 21, 2006 | repeat of GABF20's gag | "Marge and Homer Turn a Couple Play" | HABF16 |
Season 18[]
| # | Airdate | Gag | Episode | Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 379 | September 10, 2006 | The couch is replaced by four wooden chairs. An instrumental version of “Pop Goes the Weasel” plays as the family plays musical chairs. When the music stops, everyone except for Homer grabs a seat. Homer groans in disappointment. | "The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer" | HABF15 |
| 380 | September 17, 2006 | Everyone but Homer sits on the couch. King Homer, from Treehouse of Horror III, grabs Marge through a window and drags her to the top of the Empire State Building, where he is attacked by biplanes. | "Jazzy and the Pussycats" | HABF18 |
| 381 | September 24, 2006 | A vending machine filled with every castmember (including The Simpson family) from the show appears instead of the couch. Ralph Wiggum comes in, selects a Homer figurine, and bites the head off before leaving. | "Please Homer, Don't Hammer 'Em..." | HABF20 |
| 382 | November 5, 2006 | none | "Treehouse of Horror XVII" | HABF17 |
| 383 | November 12, 2006 | The family sits down and gets moved across the floor in a car wash, where they get sprayed with water, squirted with hot wax, and scrubbed with brushes. Marge's hair turns puffy, Maggie's pacifier turns up missing, and everyone looks sad as three men wipe them dry and one of them puts a new pacifier in Maggie's mouth. | "G.I. (Annoyed Grunt)" | HABF21 |
| 384 | November 19, 2006 | The Simpsons get dragged and dropped onto a desktop picture of the couch before getting dragged and dropped again in the recycle bin. | "Moe'N'a Lisa" | HABF19 |
| 385 | November 26, 2006 | The Simpsons’s eyes are visible in the dark. When the lights come up, the Simpsons are revealed to have the bodies of cockroaches. The Simpson roaches scatter (with Maggie hiding behind the couch). | "Ice Cream of Margie (With the Light Blue Hair)" | HABF22 |
| 386 | December 10, 2006 | A pair of cartoon hands cuts a piece of paper into the shape of Homer. The hands then pull out the paper to reveal a chain shaped like the rest of the Simpsons family members. Homer can be heard yelling, "Whoo-hoo!" | "The Haw-Hawed Couple" | JABF02 |
| 387 | December 17, 2006 | The family (in Christmas attire) sits on the couch, and the camera pulls out to reveal they are in a Christmas decoration which is on a Christmas tree, and Santa's Little Helper and Snowball II rest nearby. | "Kill Gil: Vols. 1 & 2" | JABF01 |
| 388 | January 7, 2007 | The family on the couch is pinned up, one by one, onto a bulletin board. | "The Wife Aquatic" | JABF03 |
| 389 | January 28, 2007 | All of the Simpsons are infants who crawl to the couch while "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" plays in the background. When they reach the couch, everyone reverts to their normal ages (save Maggie, who is already a baby). | "Revenge is a Dish Best Served Three Times" | JABF05 |
| 390 | February 11, 2007 | The Simpsons are stand-up paper dolls in their underwear; a pair of hands puts clothes on them, after which they smile and sit on the couch. | "Little Big Girl" | JABF04 |
| 391 | February 18, 2007 | none/repeat of HABF22's gag (subsequent airings) | "Springfield Up" | JABF07 |
| 392 | March 4, 2007 | repeat of HABF20's gag | "Yokel Chords" | JABF09 |
| 393 | March 11, 2007 | repeat of HABF04's gag | "Rome-old and Juli-eh" | JABF08 |
| 394 | March 25, 2007 | Homer evolves from a single-celled organism which continuously divides to a more complex organism—first as a jellyfish, then a common fish that nearly escapes the clutches of an octopus that looks like Mr. Burns. Getting out of the ocean, Homer evolves into a prehistoric lizard that extends his tongue to snack on an insect that resembles his power plant coworker, Lenny. Homer then evolves into a slightly larger lizard with a scale on his back that sees a pterodactyl resembling Principal Skinner's mother, Agnes, flying overhead. Homer then evolves into a rat that gets chased by a tyrannosaurus rex resembling Bart, who then gets into a battle with a stegosaurus resembling Lisa. Homer hides in a hole just before a large asteroid crashes on Earth, wiping out all dinosaur life. Homer comes out of the hole, passing the skeletal remains of T-Rex Bart, before changing into a sloth, then a monkey as he approaches a jungle, becoming more apelike upon swinging through the trees. Leaving the jungle, a brief Ice Age occurs as he evolves from a Neanderthal, to a Cro-Magnon, to an upright walking caveman. Caveman Homer passes by Moe (who is also a caveman), who then devolves into a rat creature. As Homer continues walking, he evolves into men from different historical eras (a nomad from the Middle Ages, a Spanish explorer, a Pilgrim, and a 19th century intellectual) until he finally evolves into his modern self and enters the house, stepping over Santa's Little Helper. With the rest of the family sitting on the sofa, Marge asks him "What took you so long?" Homer can only give an exhausted sigh of relief. (This is the longest couch gag to date.) | "Homerazzi" | JABF06 |
| 395 | April 22, 2007 | repeat of HABF01's gag | "Marge Gamer" | JABF10 |
| 396 | April 29, 2007 | repeat of HABF15's gag | "The Boys of Bummer" | JABF11 |
| 397 | May 6, 2007 | repeat of HABF21's gag | "Crook and Ladder" | JABF13 |
| 398 | May 13, 2007 | The Simpsons sit on the couch as normal. Then a second Simpson family crams themselves on the couch. Soon more and more Simpson clones overrun the house, spilling out of the chimney and upstairs windows. Homer can be heard yelling, “Hey, don’t shove!” | "Stop or My Dog Will Shoot" | JABF12 |
| 399 | May 20, 2007 | none | "24 Minutes" | JABF14 |
| 400 | May 20, 2007 | none | "You Kent Always Say What You Want" | JABF15 |
Season 19[]
| # | Airdate | Gag | Episode | Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 401 | September 23, 2007 | To coincide with the opening sequence (depicting a destroyed Springfield from The Simpsons Movie being rebuilt), the Simpsons run to their near-dilapidated house and find Plopper the pig on the couch. Homer cuddles it and says, "My summer love!" | "He Loves to Fly and He D'oh's" | JABF20 |
| 402 | September 30, 2007 | repeat of JABF06's gag (but this time, Marge's line after Homer enters the living room is "Did you bring the milk?") | "The Homer of Seville" | JABF18 |
| 403 | October 7, 2007 | The living room is made of Lego bricks and the family members are built one by one out of Legos. Homer can be heard shouting, "Woo-hoo!" when a long black Lego brick (representing a full head of hair) is put on his head, and "D'oh!" when a small black Lego brick (representing his two strands) is placed on his head instead. | "Midnight Towboy" | JABF21 |
| 404 | October 14, 2007 | The family sits down as normal, except Maggie is missing. Homer looks to the empty space where Maggie is, then gets lifted by a giant Maggie as the camera pulls out to reveal the living room being part of a dollhouse and the family as the dolls that live within. Maggie puts the miniature Homer in her mouth and sucks it like a pacifier. | "I Don't Wanna Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" | JABF19 |
| 405 | November 4, 2007 | none | "Treehouse of Horror XVIII" | JABF16 |
| 406 | November 11, 2007 | The family (already seated on the couch) appears on the cover of Modern Couch Gag magazine. | "Little Orphan Millie" | JABF22 |
| 407 | November 18, 2007 | A pair of cartoon hands opens up a book called "The Simpsons" and reveals a pop-up centerfold of the family sitting on the couch. | "Husbands and Knives" | JABF17 |
| 408 | November 25, 2007 | A magician walks into the living room and uses his cape to make the couch and family members appear. | "Funeral for a Fiend" | KABF01 |
| 409 | December 16, 2007 | repeat of FABF08's and GABF05's couch gag (but this time Homer says "Weird" instead of "Wow!" or "Cool!") | "Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind" | KABF02 |
| 410 | January 6, 2008 | A medieval tapestry (based on the famous Bayeux Tapestry) shows the Flanders family stealing the Simpsons's couch. The Simpsons then sail over to the Flanders' castle, fight them for the couch, and return with the couch and Ned Flanders' chopped corpse. | "E Pluribus Wiggum" | KABF03 |
| 411 | January 27, 2008 | The Simpsons are sitting perfectly still on the couch. The camera pans out to reveal the words, “Ceci n’est pas une couch gag” (French for "This is not a couch gag") written on the carpet. The camera pans out again to reveal that the couch scene is a painting at a museum. The debutante's mother from “Burns Baby Burns” and a man in a gray suit are staring at the picture. | "That 90's Show" | KABF04 |
| 412 | February 17, 2008 | A mobile is above the couch. The Simpsons run in and hook themselves onto it. Homer's weight tips the mobile. | "Love, Springfieldian Style" | KABF05 |
| 413 | March 2, 2008 | Two hands add pegs to a Lite-Brite picture of the family on the couch. The picture lights up and Maggie sucks on her pacifier. | "The Debarted" | KABF06 |
| 414 | March 9, 2008 | There are five dots on the couch. Professor Frink comes in with an eye dropper and squeezes water on all of the dots, which sprout into sponge doll versions of The Simpsons, except Homer isn't full grown. Professor Frink walks off and comes back with a bucket of water. He splashes it on Homer and Homer sprouts to his normal height. | "Dial 'N' for Nerder" | KABF07 |
| 415 | March 30, 2008 | In a parody of Chuck Jones's Roadrunner cartoons, Wile E. Coyote (drawn Simpsons-style) paints the couch on the wall of the living room and sneaks off. The Simpsons run in and smack face-first into the wall. Maggie runs in and does the Roadrunner's trademark "Meep, meep!" before speeding off. The rest of the Simpsons peel themselves off the wall and sit on the painted couch, but Homer falls through, leaving a hole in the wall. | "Smoke on the Daughter" | KABF08 |
| 416 | April 13, 2008 | Light flute music plays as a paintbrush dabs at the empty couch, making Homer, Bart, Lisa, Marge, and Maggie appear one by one. | "Papa Don't Leech" | KABF09 |
| 417 | April 27, 2008 | repeat of KABF03's gag | "Apocalypse Cow" | KABF10 |
| 418 | May 4, 2008 | repeat of JABF17's gag | "Any Given Sundance" | KABF11 |
| 419 | May 11, 2008 | repeat of JABF06's gag (with Marge asking Homer "What took you so long?" instead of "Did you bring the milk?" like she did in JABF18's version) | "Mona Leaves-a" | KABF12 |
| 420 | May 18, 2008 | repeat of HABF19's gag | "All About Lisa" | KABF13 |
Season 20[]
| # | Airdate | Gag | Episode | Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 421 | September 28, 2008 | The Simpsons sit on the couch and are suddenly encased in a block of carbonite. Boba Fett (of Star Wars fame) appears and carries off the family.[9] | "Sex, Pies and Idiot Scrapes" | KABF17 |
| 422 | October 5, 2008 | The Simpsons rush in and find themselves in a national park viewing area overlooking a Mount Rushmore-esque mountain carving of the family sitting on the couch. Bart can be heard yelling, "Ay, caramba!" | "Lost Verizon" | KABF15 |
| 423 | October 19, 2008 | In a reverse parody of The Wizard of Oz, The Simpsons (in their colorful world) are sucked up by a tornado and put on a farmland shown in black and white. | "Double, Double, Boy in Trouble" | KABF14 |
| 424 | November 2, 2008 | none | "Treehouse of Horror XIX" | KABF16 |
| 425 | November 9, 2008 | Instead of a couch, there are five cuckoo clocks on the wall. Wooden cuckoo clock statues of The Simpsons pop out one by one. | "Dangerous Curves" | KABF18 |
| 426 | November 16, 2008 | Instead of the living room, the Simpsons (dressed in togas) are in the ancient city of Pompeii and race to sit on a bench. Suddenly, Mount Vesuvius in the distance erupts and covers the family in ash. | "Homer and Lisa Exchange Cross Words" | KABF19 |
| 427 | November 30, 2008 | Similar to the couch gag in the season 9 episode, "Trash of the Titans," The Simpsons run in and find Bart writing on the blackboard as punishment. Unlike the couch gag on "Trash of the Titans," the Simpsons are in their own living room, the blackboard is on wheels instead of on the wall, and Bart is writing "I will not bring the chalkboard home" instead of "I will not mess with the opening credits". | "Mypods and Broomsticks" | KABF20 |
| 428 | December 7, 2008 | repeat of JABF01's couch gag (only the music playing when the scene pans out to the Christmas tree is "O, Christmas Tree", not "Deck the Halls") | "The Burns and the Bees" | KABF21 |
| 429 | January 25, 2009 | The living room is encased inside of a plastic toy box labeled "The Simpsons Couch Gag #429". The Simpsons rush to the couch and sit down. A hand puts a price sticker on it that reads, "$19.99". The camera pans out to reveal The Comic Book Guy behind the counter of the Android Dungeon with his arms crossed. He looks at the audience and comments, "Worst...couch gag...ever!" | "Lisa the Drama Queen" | KABF22 |
| 430 | February 15, 2009 | The family rush into the living room to discover that the couch is missing. Through the window, Homer spots the couch escaping down the road, and the family gives chase. The Simpsons follow the couch to various destinations throughout the world, such as the streets of San Francisco, the water canals of Venice and inside a palace room in India before finally catching up with it in outer space. Homer directs the couch towards Earth, and the family (dressed as astronauts like in the couch gag to "The Principal and the Pauper") crashes through the ceiling into the living room. Homer pulls out a remote from underneath him and turns on the TV...which is now a wall-mounted flatscreen TV that ends up falling to the floor. | "Take My Life, Please" | LABF01 |
| 431 | March 1, 2009 | The Simpsons travel through a chain of past sitcoms: "The Honeymooners", "The Dick Van Dyke Show" (where Homer trips over the ottoman), "The Brady Bunch" (where Lisa gets hit on the nose with a football), and "Cheers" (where Sideshow Bob comes in dressed as Dr. Fraiser Crane) until they finally reach their own sitcom and sit on the couch, sighing in relief. | "How the Test Was Won" | LABF02 |
| 432 | March 8, 2009 | The Simpsons come in and find their couch beaten and torn. Funeral music plays as they bury the couch in the backyard. The Simpsons then visit a ranch to pick out a new couch. The Simpsons sit on a black and white spotted couch, which throws Homer off it. The scene then cuts to The Simpsons in their living room, sitting on their new couch. Homer is in a body cast and turns on the wall-mounted flatscreen TV. | "No Loan Again, Naturally" | LABF03 |
| 433 | March 15, 2009 | The couch is strung up like a pinata. A blindfolded Ralph Wiggum comes in, swinging a stick and hits the couch, making the Simpsons spill out on the floor. | "Gone Maggie Gone" | LABF04 |
| 434 | March 22, 2009 | The Simpsons are dog show participants being lead on leashes by men in fancy suits. A judge awards Bart the blue ribbon, and Homer attacks Bart. | "In the Name of the Grandfather" | LABF11 |
| 435 | March 29, 2009 | The Simpsons are a meal at a fancy restaurant (Homer is a garden salad, Lisa's face appears in a bowl of soup, Marge is a plate of spaghetti and meatballs, Bart is a T-Bone steak, and Maggie is the mint that comes with the restaurant bill), which The Comic Book Guy eats. After he wipes his mouth with a napkin, a stain appears that resembles The Simpsons sitting on the couch. | "Wedding for Disaster" | LABF05 |
| 436 | April 5, 2009 | The screen is white. A cartoon left hand flips an animation cel that has eyes on it, flips another that has Homer's skeleton sitting cross-legged, flips another that has Homer's stomach and a can of Duff beer on the lap, flips another that has Homer naked, another where the rest of the family are fully clothed and sitting in mid-air, and another where The Simpsons are in their living room and sitting on the couch. Marge notices Homer is still naked and pulls down an animation cel that has Homer's clothes. | "Eeny Teeny Maya Moe" | LABF06 |
| 437 | April 19, 2009 | The living room is covered in thick, jungle plants. The Simpsons slash their way through in order to reach the couch, and find an ape version of the Simpson family already seated. The ape-Simpsons hoot and screech, scaring off the human Simpsons. | "The Good, the Sad and the Drugly" | LABF07 |
| 438 | April 26, 2009 | There's an Olympic-sized pool leading to the couch. The Simpsons take their places on the marks and swim to the couch once a starter pistol goes off. Marge is first, Lisa's second, Bart is third, and Maggie is last. The family looks around, wondering where Homer is. Cut to a shot of an unconscious Homer floating facedown in the pool. | "Father Knows Worst" | LABF08 |
| 439 | May 3, 2009 | The living room is the seating area in the Colosseum during the era of the Roman Empire. The Simpsons (dressed in togas) rush to an empty space to sit down. The sounds of a gladiator match can be heard offscreen. The audience cheers as the head of a gladiator flies into the audience. Bart catches it. | "Waverly Hills 9-0-2-1-D'oh" | LABF10 |
| 440 | May 10, 2009 | A large marble rock is in the living room where the couch should be. A stereotypical French sculptor quickly chisels out a statue of The Simpsons sitting on the couch. The sculptor then turns the statue of the Simpsons into a statue of a Civil War soldier on a horse. | "Four Great Women and a Manicure" | LABF09 |
| 441 | May 17, 2009 | repeat of LABF02's couch gag | "Coming to Homerica" | LABF12 |
Season 21[]
| # | Airdate | Gag | Episode | Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 442 | September 27, 2009 | The Simpsons are at an underground train station where a train pulls in and opens its doors, revealing the living room, complete with couch. The Simpsons get in and sigh as the door closes and the train pulls off. | "Homer the Whopper" | LABF13 |
| 443 | October 4, 2009 | The Simpsons, wearing white cowboy hats, exchange gunfire around the couch. Maggie comes out from behind the sailboat picture on the wall and blasts the room with a machine gun. | "Bart Gets a 'Z'" | LABF15 |
| 444 | October 11, 2009 | repeat of LABF01's couch gag | "The Great Wife Hope" | LABF16 |
| 445 | October 18, 2009 | none | "Treehouse of Horror XX" | LABF14 |
| 446 | November 15, 2009 | The living room is a clearing during the Stone Age and the couch is a log floating on a tarpit. The Simpsons (dressed as cavemen and cavewomen) rush to the log and sit down, only to sink into the tar. Cut to the modern day where The Simpsons are well-preserved skeletons on display at a museum. | "The Devil Wears Nada" | LABF17 |
| 447 | November 22, 2009 | Instead of the couch, The Simpsons (dressed as Victorian-era Christmas carolers) appear next to a Christmas tree and sing a parody of "The 12 Days of Christmas," featuring twelve Grampas grumbling (as they stand in a customer return line), eleven Barneys belching (as they lie drunk in the snow), ten Lennys leaping (over a fence), nine Carls dancing (in a ballroom), eight Moes a-milking, seven Selmas smoking, six Flanders praying, five golden Frinks (Professor Frink's heads are on five gold coins), four crawling nerds (Database, Wendell, Martin, and Milhouse crawling from Nelson Muntz), three-eyed fish (Blinky from "Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish"), two special Ralphs, and (as the Simpsons walk to the couch), a Maggie in a Snuggly. | "Pranks and Greens" | LABF18 |
| 448 | November 29, 2009 | The Simpsons and Marge's sisters (Patty and Selma) gather around the dinner table for a Thanksgiving meal, but soon gather their plates and head for the couch where they watch a football game on TV. | "Rednecks and Broomsticks" | LABF19 |
| 449 | December 13, 2009 | The living room furniture (the couch cushions, the rug, the flat-screen TV, and the lamps) are all dancing to disco music just as The Simpsons come in. Once Homer yells, "Hey!", the furniture returns to normal and the Simpsons sit on the couch. | "O Brother, Where Bart Thou?" | MABF01 |
| 450 | January 3, 2010 | Homer is standing on a coiled platform, which launches him (and the rest of the Simpson family) through a pinball game called "Couch Gag Chaos." | "Thursdays with Abie" | MABF02 |
| 451 | January 10, 2010 | The Simpsons are a group of sperm swimming their way to an egg. Once they fertilize it, the egg divides and multiplies until it turns into a Mr. Burns fetus. | "Once Upon a Time in Springfield" | LABF20 |
| 452 | January 31, 2010 | Homer runs to the couch first. He pulls out a myPhone, presses the "Couch Gag" app and downloads Bart, Lisa, Marge, and Maggie. When Homer gets an incoming call from Mr. Burns, he screams and swallows the phone.[10] | "Million Dollar Maybe" | MABF03 |
Couch gags within episodes[]
Sometimes there is a couch gag during the episode itself, usually during a spoof of the opening sequence.
| Airdate | Gag | Episode | Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 7, 1993 | During the "Thompsons" introduction, the family sits on the couch in their houseboat and a pile of fish falls on them. | "Cape Feare" | 9F22 |
| December 21, 1997 | After everybody of Springfield has taken all the stuff from them, The Simpsons walk to the place where their couch used to be (similar to the couch gag on Itchy & Scratchy & Marge where the family runs in and finds the couch missing) | "Miracle on Evergreen Terrace" | 5F07 |
| May 21, 2000 | In an "aborted" couch gag, the family sits wearing Western outfits; the director cuts the scene as Bart is busy on the phone agreeing to do Teen Wolf 3. Lisa complains that she wants to go to bed, asking if there are child labor laws. Homer asks if Marge told her about the laws, and Marge tells him to poop in his hat. Kang and Kodos then show up with useless ballet tickets, asking if they needed them that night. | "Behind the Laughter" | BABF19 |
| May 1, 2005 | Instead of saying "The Simpsons", the announcer says "Three weeks later". Everyone except Bart sits; the overweight Bart arrives late and suffers a heart attack. | "The Heartbroke Kid" | GABF11 |
| February 11, 2007 | The opening sequence starts out normal, but with different music. Bart drives Homer's car out the school doors after writing 'So long, suckers!' on the blackboard. He then runs over (or at least comes close) all the people he passes that he usually passes on his skateboard in a normal sequence. He crashes on top of Homer on the driveway. | "Little Big Girl" | JABF04 |
Notes[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Turner, Chris (2005). Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Defined a Generation. New York: Da Capo Press. p. 71. ISBN 0-306-81448-X.
- ↑ Animating: Webster's Quotations, Facts and Phrases. Icon Group International, Inc.. pp. 389. http://books.google.com/books?id=7KGI_0I1ITsC&pg=PT397&dq=couch-gag+%22the+simpsons%22&lr=&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=&num=100&as_brr=0&ei=aAlwS6DxO5WQMsXW-I8P&cd=4#v=onepage&q=couch-gag%20%22the%20simpsons%22&f=false.
- ↑ Irwin, William; Mark T. Conard. The Simpsons and philosophy: the d'oh! of Homer. Aeon J. Skoble. pp. 265. http://books.google.com/books?id=vfl_Nqy83uQC&q=couch-gag+%22the+simpsons%22&dq=couch-gag+%22the+simpsons%22&lr=&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=&num=100&as_brr=0&ei=aAlwS6DxO5WQMsXW-I8P&cd=6.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Gray, Jonathan. Show Sold Separately: Promos, Spoilers, and Other Media Paratexts. pp. 73. http://books.google.com/books?id=HSWez23WtdoC&pg=PA73&dq=couch-gag+%22the+simpsons%22&lr=&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=&num=100&as_brr=0&ei=aAlwS6DxO5WQMsXW-I8P&cd=11#v=onepage&q=couch-gag%20%22the%20simpsons%22&f=false.
- ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 Turner, Chris (2005). Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Defined a Generation. New York: Da Capo Press. p. 103. ISBN 0-306-81448-X.
- ↑ Ott, Brian L.. The small screen: how television equips us to live in the information age. pp. 81. http://books.google.com/books?id=3yH4rl6a60EC&pg=PA81&dq=couch-gag+%22the+simpsons%22&lr=&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=&num=100&as_brr=0&ei=NJ9vS-mJJJiUywS1i718&cd=3#v=onepage&q=couch-gag%20%22the%20simpsons%22&f=false.
- ↑ Season 10 DVD audio commentary "Viva Ned Flanders"
- ↑ Turner, Chris. Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Defined a Generation. pp. 41. http://books.google.com/books?id=cNLcbwmfFI4C&pg=PT53&dq=couch-gag+%22the+simpsons%22&lr=&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=&num=100&as_brr=0&ei=NJ9vS-mJJJiUywS1i718&cd=1#v=onepage&q=couch-gag%20%22the%20simpsons%22&f=false.
- ↑ Aughey, Dan (September 29, 2008). "The Simpsons Episode Recap: "Sex, Pies and Idiot Scrapes"". TV Guide. http://www.tvguide.com/episode-recaps/simpsons/simpsons-episode-recap-19154.aspx.
- ↑ Axon, Samuel. "The Simpsons Couch Gag: There’s an App for That". Mashable. http://mashable.com/2010/02/04/the-simpsons-iphone/. Retrieved 8 February 2010.
See also[]
- The Simpsons opening sequence
External links[]
- "Couch Openings". The Simpson Archive. http://www.snpp.com/guides/couch.openings.html. Retrieved 8 February 2010.
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