History AlternativeJokeInterpretation / TheSimpsons

** At the beginning, when Mr. Burns is coaching his employees, he says that he wants to see more [[UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt Teddy Roosevelts]] and less [[UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt Franklin Roosevelts]]. Was Mr. Burns getting the two mixed up (as Teddy Roosevelt was obese, while Franklin was not), or was he referring to the fact that Franklin Roosevelt was physically disabled?

** Krusty's grave has "See ya real soon, kids!" written on it. Is the joke that Krusty's going to come back as a zombie somehow? That the kids will die soon and see him in Hell? Or that since he's an integral part of an in-universe CashCowFranchise, the people running his show will probably dig up his corpse and keep using it?

** Ralph says that sleep is "where [he's] a Viking." Some assumed that Ralph is very good at sleeping, while others thought he dreamt that he was a Viking. Both interpretations are very amusing considering [[EnsembleDarkHorse who's talking.]] Even [[https://twitter.com/Joshstrangehill/status/1341126337809903616 the show's]] [[https://twitter.com/scullymike/status/1341132696869773312 writers]] interpreted it differently while working on the episode. [[https://youtube.com/watch?v=99qXaVFZkQE Someone made a video discussing the debate over this joke.]]

* The {{running gag}} of Mr. Burns not knowing who Homer is. Is the joke that Burns is going senile due to his age, because Burns is so evil and arrogant that he can't be bothered to remember who Homer is, or [[ButForMeItWasTuesday because he just has that many employees]]?

** While Homer's actions in the episode are typically thought of as his typical brand of stupidity, others argue that he was ObsfuscatingStupidity to protect Bart without Sideshow Bob catching on. MOst of his dumb actions were either harming Sideshow Bob (tossing coffee out of the car, driving through a cactus patch) or had effects that protected the family (screwing up the Mr Thompson routine caused them to stay in federal custody, bursting into Bart's room kept him awake, meaning Bob couldn't get Bart in his sleep)

* In the movie, the Simpsons and Flanderses are at church, and Ned says he has a secret. Homer wishes the secret is that Ned is gay -- is Homer wishing Ned is gay because he finds him attractive (the TropeNamer for StupidSexyFlanders ''did'' involve Homer and Ned, after all), or (seeing as Homer has been homophobic in some episodes), is he hoping Ned is gay so he'll have another excuse to tease him?

* "Bart the Fink":

* In "Special Edna", Skinner and Edna plan to get married, and Agnes mutters under her breath that there'll now be "three in the bed", implying that sometimes the Skinners share a bed. Is this an [[ParentalIncest incest joke]], is it because [[AlwaysAChildToParent Agnes still sees Seymour as her little boy]], is it because Skinner is a MommasBoy, or is it a reference to [[FrightInducedBunkmate Skinner's PTSD nightmares]]?
* "Who Shot Mr. Burns?":
** Groundskeeper Willie says his arthritis came from "space invaders", then acts surprised when Chief Wiggum calls this a [[VideoGame/SpaceInvaders video game]]. Did he get arthritis from an actual AlienInvasion, or an event he mistook for one? Or was he playing the game under the mistaken impression that it was real?
** When Burns acts TotallyRadical to talk to Skinner, he's seen wearing Jimbo's clothes. It's left ambiguous whether he just happened to buy the same pair of clothes, saw Jimbo and decided to impersonate him, or mugged Jimbo for his clothes off-screen.

* In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E7KingSizeHomer King-Size Homer]]", when Homer wants to gain weight so that he'll be obese and therefore get on workers' compensation, Dr. Nick suggests that he gain the weight with a combination of overeating and "[[JokeOfTheButt ass]]al horizontology". Does this mean lying down or reclining, or is he saying that Homer's posterior will spread out when he gets fat?

* At the beginning of "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E7KingSizeHomer King-Size Homer]]", when Mr. Burns is coaching his employees, he says that he wants to see more [[UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt Teddy Roosevelts]] and less [[UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt Franklin Roosevelts]]. Was Mr. Burns getting the two mixed up (as Teddy Roosevelt was obese, while Franklin was not), or was he referring to the fact that Franklin Roosevelt was physically disabled?

* In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS8E8HurricaneNeddy Hurricane Neddy]]", when Ned gets caught on a loose nail in his new house, Homer says "One out of 25 ain't bad." Does he mean that 4% of the nails in the house are loose, or that the house is being held up by a grand total of ''25 nails'' and that only ''one'' of them is bad?

* "Who Shot Mr. Burns?":\