History Fridge / THESIMPSONS

* In Treehouse of Horror XIII Abe goes on a diatribe about how {{Superman}} challenged FDR to a race around the world. While it's a typical Grandpa story, it does make sense considering the actor who played Superman (Christopher Reeves) was in a wheelchair, as was FDR.

* Also in "Lisa's First Word," we find out that ''Bart's'' first "word" was "[[FlashbackToCatchphrase ¡Ay caramba!]]" and are given [[RuleOfFunny no explanation as to how he knows this phrase]]...''apparently.'' A later scene shows him wearing Marge out until she falls asleep, then turning on the TV and [[BabySeeBabyDo gleefully repeating an equally silly exclamation he hears on a talk show]] ("Hi-yo!"). If we're meant to infer he does this regularly, it also ties right in with the original rationale behind Bart's use of catchphrases such as "Eat my shorts"--the writers were told to use phrases that were not original to Bart, the idea being that he'd picked them up from TV. Just to drive it home, Bart reacts to Lisa saying his name with "[[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Sufferin' succotash!]]"

* In "Catch 'Em If You Can," Bart ''and'' Lisa take BrattyHalfPint behavior up to eleven by [[{{Determinator}} tailing Homer and Marge to three separate vacation destinations]] to punish them for lying about where they were to get some privacy. This seems like a severe case of DisproportionateRetribution, especially coming from ''Lisa,'' until you remember that the two were, for a brief time, fully convinced that their parents were ''dead'' after watching the Dayton hotel they'd originally planned to stay at get destroyed by a tornado live on air. If their parents had let them know that they'd opted out of going to Dayton instead of keeping it a secret, they would have been spared that terror--and who can blame the kids for being a little clingy after the fact to boot?

* Troy [=McLure=] is always shown in his movies as being woefully incompetent and clueless about the topics he covers except for one: ''The Half-Assed Guide to Foundation Repair.'' He knows the material, speaks confidently with deep understanding of the subject and works quickly through the steps with an experienced hand. This suggests that Troy worked as a foundation repairman before he started his acting career.

** In the same episode, Bart ''and'' Lisa take BrattyHalfPint behavior up to eleven by [[{{Determinator}} tailing Homer and Marge to three separate vacation destinations]] to punish them for lying about where they were to get some privacy. This seems like a severe case of DisproportionateRetribution, especially coming from ''Lisa,'' until you remember that the two were, for a brief time, fully convinced that their parents were ''dead'' after watching the Dayton hotel they'd originally planned to stay at get destroyed by the tornado live on air. If their parents had let them know that they'd opted out of going to Dayton instead of keeping it a secret, they would have been spared that terror--and who can blame the kids for being a little clingy after the fact to boot?

* In "Catch 'Em If You Can," a tornado devastates the hotel where Homer and Marge had planned on staying during an elderly relative's birthday party, and they're only spared because of a spur-of-the-moment decision to go to Florida for a second honeymoon. They had planned on taking, at a minimum, Bart and Lisa to the party and only didn't bring them along because they begged not to go, with Bart threatening to give himself diarrhea on the plane ("I know how!"). If they'd had the kids along, they never would have switched flights and the entire family would have been killed.

** In the same episode, Bart ''and'' Lisa take BrattyHalfPint behavior UpToEleven by [[{{Determinator}} tailing Homer and Marge to three separate vacation destinations]] to punish them for lying about where they were to get some privacy. This seems like a severe case of DisproportionateRetribution, especially coming from ''Lisa,'' until you remember that the two were, for a brief time, fully convinced that their parents were ''dead'' after watching the Dayton hotel they'd originally planned to stay at get destroyed by the tornado live on air. If their parents had let them know that they'd opted out of going to Dayton instead of keeping it a secret, they would have been spared that terror--and who can blame the kids for being a little clingy after the fact to boot?

* In "King Size Homer," Mr. Burns is shown being pretty enthusiastic about exercising. He's also wearing what looks like a Yale male cheerleading uniform. Staying active and making a point to take care of his body consistently is probably a big reason why Mr. Burns, despite being SicklyAndFrail, has lived to such a ripe old age and is so spritely and feisty.

* In "Wild Barts Can't Be Broken," the kids collectively strike back at Springfield's adults for instituting a children's curfew by starting a pirate radio station where they air the secrets of every adult in town until the curfew is lifted. Most of these secrets are simply embarrassing (Chief Wiggum likes to wear control-top pantyhose, Edna Krabappel steals supplies from the school cafeteria), but they also reveal that Luann, Milhouse's mom, was cheating on her boyfriend with his best friend. They could have gotten her in ''lethal'' trouble.

* "Bart the General," the first episode to feature Nelson Muntz, also depicts him undergoing a quick shot of VillainDecay from [[BullyBrutality a neighborhood terror who genuinely causes Bart to fear for his life]] to the FriendlyEnemy / BullyTurnedBuddy he'd become later. After Bart and his "army" defeat him, he's forced to sign terms of armistice, which include "Although Nelson shall have no official power, he shall remain a figurehead of menace in the neighborhood." Is this the origin of his role as Springfield's one-man [[TheFreelanceShameSquad Freelance Shame Squad]]?

** Ned's frustration with most of the Simpson family is understandably personal (Bart is a brat, Homer [[{{Jerkass}} is Homer]], and he has to make nice with Marge because of her good intentions despite her ineffectuality when it comes to controlling either of them), but his wrath against Lisa's SoapboxSadie nature seems a little more like an AuthorFilibuster commenting on the character until you remember Ned's carefully-cultivated "turn the other cheek" attitude toward the WorldOfJerkass around him. It must be highly frustrating to him to watch someone constantly and unabashedly indulging in the RightlySelfRighteous attitude he's denied himself.

** Ned's frustration with most of the Simpson family is understandable (Bart is a brat, Homer [[{{Jerkass}} is Homer]], and he's forced to make nice with Marge because of her good intentions despite her ineffectuality when it comes to controlling either of them), but his wrath against Lisa's SoapboxSadie nature seems a little more like an AuthorFilibuster commenting on the character until you remember Ned's carefully-cultivated "turn the other cheek" attitude toward the WorldOfJerkass around him. It must be highly frustrating to him to watch someone constantly and unabashedly indulging in the RightlySelfRighteous attitude he's denied himself.

** Same episode -- Ned berates Marge saying, "My family and I can't live on good intentions, Marge!". Ned is a Christian, and the Bible has a proverb "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions".

* Smithers has been shown repeatedly to react ''very'' badly to extreme amounts of stress, usually choosing to [[DrowningMySorrows get completely plastered]] and stop shaving/taking care of his personal grooming when something in his life goes seriously awry. And he's also been shown to have really bad separation anxiety, claiming that without Burns, he would "wither and die." Mr. Burns has repeatedly been shown to be an extremely old and [[IllGirl ill man]] with a weak constitution, more or less chronically tight-roping the line between life and death. Given how "even a slight breeze" could kill him, as a doctor claimed, and given how fragile Smithers' mental health is, it's only a matter of time before Mr. Burns eventually kicks the bucket... and it's safe to say that Smithers probably wouldn't react well; possibly even being DrivenToSuicide over losing him. This really puts episodes like "Blood Feud" in a depressing light; if Burns' blood transfusion had occurred just a few seconds later, he would have certainly succumbed to hypohemia, and Smithers would '''definitely''' have gone off the deep end.

* The RunningGag of Homer forgetting about Maggie, while it still has the WhatAnIdiot factor, makes a bit more sense when you recall that there's a 7–8-year gap between Lisa and Maggie compared to a 2-year gap between Bart and Lisa. Homer had the better part of the decade to get used to being a father of two, and Maggie is [[ComicBookTime consistently]] one year old or under. While the viewer "meets" her along with the rest of the Simpsons, from Homer's perspective her presence is still something of a novelty.

* In "Grade School Confidential," Edna and Seymour bribe Bart into [[SecretKeeper keeping their affair a secret]] by transferring his permanent record, which they claim will disqualify him from "all but the hottest and noisiest jobs," to Milhouse, with Seymour stating that "some other student can inherit your gloomy, windblown future." Does this explain why, up to this point, the future of the show has had Bart eventually [[RidiculouslySuccessfulFutureSelf making it all the way to the Supreme Court]], while Milhouse is working at the Springfield Power Plant?

** Bart is also, in most fans eyes, one of the more moral characters due to the fact that most of his antics are harmless pranks, while others do malicious things

* Also in "Lisa's First Word," we find out that ''Bart's'' first "word" was "[[FlashbackToCatchphrase ¡Ay caramba!]]" and are given [[RuleOfFunny no explanation as to how he knows this phrase]]...''apparently.'' A later scene shows him wearing Marge out until she falls asleep, then turning on the TV and [[BabySeeBabyDo gleefully repeating an equally silly exclamation he hears on a talk show]] ("Hi-yo!"). If we're meant to infer he does this regularly, it also ties right in with the original rationale behind Bart's use of catchphrases such as "Eat my shorts"--the writers were told to use phrases that were not original to Bart, the idea being that he'd picked them up from TV.

* Why is ''WesternAnimation/TheItchyAndScratchyShow'' [[CrossesTheLineTwice horrifyingly violent to us]] and [[HumorDissonance light, kid-friendly comedy]] offensive only to the [[WetBlanketWife Marges]] of the world InUniverse? Simple: that universe happens to ''be'' a cartoon. Events on a roughly ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' level of violence, such as a grown man throttling his 10-year-old son, happen every day, go largely uncommented-on, and don't cause lasting harm to anybody involved. To truly be the InUniverse equivalent of a show like ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry,'' ''Itchy and Scratchy'' has to be cartoonishly violent relative to ''its'' universe, meaning that by our standards it's UpToEleven.