Alternative Joke Interpretations for The Simpsons.
- "Lisa the Vegetarian":
- 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 who's talking. Even the show's
writers interpreted it differently while working on the episode. Someone made a video discussing the debate over this joke. - The same episode also has Barney telling Lisa "Go back to Russia!" after she announces that she's made gazpacho for everyone at the BBQ; debate has raged over whether Barney thought gazpacho was a Russian foodnote (possibly confusing it with borscht?), or he was saying Lisa is a communist. He might also be saying that Lisa might as well be foreign for being vegetarian, since he feels eating meat is a big part of American culture. Then again, he’s a drunk, so his understanding of anything is questionable.
- 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 who's talking. Even the show's
- "Black Widower": When Bart attempts four separate times to explain to Homer (futilely) that Sideshow Bob is plotting to murder Selma, is Homer genuinely so clueless that he doesn't understand, or is he merely Obfuscating Stupidity in the hopes that he will finally be rid of one-half of his adversarial sister-in-laws without having to lift a finger?
- In "Bart Sells His Soul", the episode right before "Vegetarian," Bart describes Michael Jackson as "something they made up to scare kids." Some see this as a reference to Jackson's alleged pedophilia, while others see it as a Call-Back to the episode "Stark Raving Dad," where a fat mental patient who thought he was Michael Jackson phoned Bart and referred to himself as "Michael Jackson." After The Reveal that "Michael Jackson" was really named Leon Kompowsky, Bart could have thought that Jackson was made up.
- In the denoument of Cape Feare, Sideshow Bob is finally caught by the police. He exclaims, "By Lucifer's beard!", and Chief Wiggum responds, "Yeah, it's a good thing you drifted by this brothel." The joke may solely be in the second line, but it takes on a new meaning if you think of it as a response to Bob's statement: "Yes, we caught you by 'Lucifer's Beard', good thing you drifted by it."
- While Homer's actions in the episode are typically thought of as his typical brand of stupidity, others argue that he was Obfuscating Stupidity 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)
- The famous episode "You Only Move Twice" has perhaps the most divisive Simpsons jokes in history, only rivalled by the Ralph Viking joke: When Hank Scorpio throws a moccasin, he asks Homer if he's ever seen someone say goodbye to a shoe, and Homer responds, "Yes, once." To this day, there's debate over whether Homer was talking about another time he saw someone say goodbye to a shoe or what he just saw Scorpio do.
- In the "Treehouse of Horror IV" segment "The Devil and Homer Simpson", Richard Nixon is brought in to serve as a juror at Homer's trial. Nixon protests that he's still alive, to which the Devil responds by saying Nixon owes him a favor. Was this "favor" to make him President, or was it to help him avoid legal consequences for Watergate?
- In the "Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace" skit of "Treehouse of Horror VI", Homer reads a note "Do not touch", signed "Willie". He reads it as "Do not touch Willie," then says, "Good advice!". Is he taking the note to mean "Don't touch Groundskeeper Willie" because he's gross or is he taking it to mean "Don't touch your willie?". And if it's the latter, is it because it's cold (it was snowing in the episode) or is it because he dislikes masturbation? According to the writer, he never considered the other meaning, and was referring specifically to Groundskeeper Willie.
- In "Kill the Alligator and Run":
- Homer is reluctant to visit Florida because it's "America's wang". Is it a reference to the state's shape, or to its culture?
- He later says that he saw "fifteen boobs". Does he mean fifteen pairs of boobs? Did eight women flash him but the eighth one only showed one boob? Or was Homer too drunk to know how many boobs he saw?
- In "Homer's Barbershop Quartet", we learn that Homer used to be part of a band called the "B Sharps", which was a parody of The Beatles. Is the name "B Sharps" a reference to the fact that B sharp is just C natural on the piano, that "Beatles" sounds like "B Dulls", or that a barber's razor is supposed to be sharp?
- The chalkboard gag to "Grampa vs. Sexual Inadequacy" where Bart writes "My homework was not stolen by a one-armed man" might be a reference to The Fugitive, but could also be interpreted as Bart claiming that minor character Herman (who does have only one arm) took his homework.
- In "Milhouse of Sand and Fog", Maggie gets chicken pox, so they throw a party so that the kids will catch it and get it over with (since you can only catch chicken pox once). Ralph Wiggum says, "I feel like a chicken already- I just laid an egg in my pants!". Most people interpret that as meaning he soiled himself, but a few think it means he ejaculated (which wouldn't actually be neurologically possible for someone his age, by the way), and some think nothing happened, he's just being random.
- In "I Love Lisa", a flashback shows Chief Wiggum entering a pornographic theater, Krusty the Clown noticing him and asking if this is a bust, and Chief Wiggum replying "Yes, that's exactly what it is, a bust." Most people interpret the scene as Chief Wiggum insincerely confirming Krusty's concerns that he's in legal trouble, but another interpretation, given a certain definition of "bust" and that the characters were watching a porno flick, is that Chief Wiggum thought Krusty was inquiring about a scene featuring an exposed breast. It could also be interpreted as pertaining to the phrase "bust a nut."
- In "Marge on the Lam" Homer seems to think a ballet is a bear driving a little car in a circus. It was probably a Non Sequitur, but some have interpreted it as Homer thinking it's supposed to be a portmanteau of "bear" and "valet".
- "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?
- During Ned's "The Reason You Suck" Speech to the people of Springfield, he says to Lenny "I don't know you, but I'm sure you're a jerk!", which understandably upsets him. It's presented as a Guilt by Association Gag, but given that Lenny's reaction implies he didn't help with the rebuilding at all, it may actually have been more deserved than his other insults.
- "Deep Space Homer": Homer is passed up for a Worker of the Week Award that he is contractually required to win at least once in favor of an inanimate carbon rod. Is it because Burns still can't remember that Homer even exists as usual, or because Homer is such an incompetent employee that an object is considered a better worker than he'll ever be?
- In "The Monkey Suit", Flanders is horrified by the evolution display at the museum, the most surprising "exhibit" being a unisex bathroom. Why would this scare him? Is the joke that Flanders believes men and women have different roots and should not be grouped together in this way? Or is it a joke about being transgender? Or because unisex bathrooms are a good hookup spot?
- In "Treehouse of Horror III", Flanders is turned into a zombie, and Homer promptly shoots him. Bart exclaims, "Dad, you killed the zombie Flanders!", to which Homer replies, "He was a zombie?" There are three possibilities for this joke: 1, Homer would've shot Flanders anyways, even if he was not a zombie. 2, Homer is unobservant and stupid. 3, Homer considers Flanders' normal activities so strange and zombie-like he genuinely doesn't notice.
- In "Brother from the Same Planet", Krusty does a "Big Ear Family" comedy skit and says "I got wax in my ears! Better clean them!... this goes on for four more minutes." Does this mean the rest of the sketch is similarly obvious jokes, or that the next four minutes are just Krusty cleaning his ears?
- In "The Canine Mutiny", Groundskeeper Willie talks about how he hates Santa's Little Helper, but due to his accent, drops the "H" sound. He ends with "And I 'ATE the mess he left on me rug!" Bart looks surprised, and Willie asserts, "Ya heard me!" Did Willie actually eat dog poop? Or is Bart shocked that his dog, who's rather civilized, would poop on the floor?
- In "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadassss Song", Ralph tells Ms. Hoover about a dog in the vents, which she does not believe because he once claimed he saw Snagglepuss outside. Ralph recalls, "He was going to the bathroom." It's likely that Ralph just imagined he saw a wild dog or cat going to the bathroom outside, and confused it for Snagglepuss. Alternately, it could be that he said he saw Snagglepuss, and when the class went to check, couldn't find him; Ralph meant that he wasn't there because he had gone to use the bathroom.
- 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 because he just has that many employees?
- "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 "assal 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, when Mr. Burns is coaching his employees, he says that he wants to see more Teddy Roosevelts and less 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 "Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder", after Homer successfully bowls a perfect 300 game, the bowling attendants use a Two-Keyed Lock... which drops a measly "300" balloon. Were they totally unprepared for a 300 game, or does it happen so often that they don't bother preparing for it, anymore?
- In "Homer and Ned's Hail Mary Pass", Ned Flanders plays Adam in a Bible film, and wears a ridiculously huge fig leaf. Is the joke that he's well endowed, or is it because he's such a prude that he's simply too shy to wear a smaller one?
- "Treehouse Of Horror X":
- In the segment" "Desperately Seeking Xena", Lucy Lawless can fly. Is this a joke about the absurdity of an actress who can fly playing a character who can't, is it a reference to her telling her fans to blame any continuity errors on a wizard, is it a Stealth Pun because her last name is "Lawless" and she's breaking the laws of physics, or is it simply part of the Running Gag of celebrities having superpowers?
- The same segment has the Collector reveal that he possesses the only working phaser ever built and mention that it was only fired once to keep William Shatner from making another album. Did the Collector use the phaser to kill Shatner, or did he merely intimidate him from making more albums with a warning shot?
- The famous Homer line 'You'll have to speak up, I'm wearing a towel" when answering the phone has been taken two ways, even by writers of the show. Either the joke is that people say that when they have a towel on their head and their hearing is impaired by it and Homer has missed the point or it's a Non Sequitur.
- In general, a lot of the jokes surrounding Smithers' sexuality can be read as being because Queer People Are Funny, but a lot of viewers (especially those who are gay) view it more as about how Smithers has such terrible taste in men that he's legitimately attracted to someone like Mr. Burns.
- The "Non-Giving-Up School Guy" Trope Namer line in "The Boy Who Knew Too Much" has caused some debate over what One-Liner Bart may have actually been looking for ("invincible principal" has been proposed), while others argue that he just wanted to say something sharp at that point but couldn't come up with anything. It's actually an Orphaned Reference, since the original script has a gag about Bart wanting to be a TV writer earlier on; after he's unable to come up with a one-liner here, he admits he can't be one.
- In The Simpsons 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 Trope Namer for Stupid Sexy Flanders 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?
- Or could it be because it would prove Ned's a Hypocrite after his years of pushing religious dogma on people and possibly hurt his standing within the church.
- The bit in "There's No Disgrace Like Home" where Mr. Burns misnames Bart as "Brat", Bart corrects him and Homer tells Bart not to correct Mr. Burns while addressing his son as "Brat" as well. Does Homer know that correcting his boss could get him in trouble, or does he go along with it because his son is such a mischievous troublemaker that it isn't exactly wrong to call him "Brat"?
- "Bart the Fink":
- When Bart is sad over Krusty's supposed death, he's seen repeatedly pulling the string on a Krusty doll. All the doll does is groan tiredly in Krusty's voice. One interpretation of this is that the doll's only possible sound is just Krusty groaning, and another is that there are multiple phrases, but Bart was just getting the one that definitely wouldn't make him feel better.
- 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 Cash-Cow Franchise, the people running his show will probably dig up his corpse and keep using it?
- 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 incest joke, is it because Agnes still sees Seymour as her little boy, is it because Skinner is a Momma's Boy, or is it a reference to Skinner's PTSD nightmares?
- "Who Shot Mr. Burns?":
- In Part 2, Groundskeeper Willie says his arthritis came from "space invaders", then acts surprised when Chief Wiggum says "That was an addictive video game". Did he get arthritis from an actual Alien Invasion, or an event he mistook for one? Or was he playing the game under the mistaken impression that it was real?
- In Part 1, when Mr. Burns acts Totally Radical 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 the "Treehouse Of Horror VIII" segment "The Homega Man", while Homer is checking out a bomb shelter, he looks at a The Far Side calendar, flipping through the pages and saying "I don't get it" each time. Were the writers saying that they don't think The Far Side is funny, or are they saying that Homer's too stupid to get it?
- In "Lemon of Troy", when Homer and Bart tell Shelbyville to eat their shorts, Ned follows it up with, "Yes, eat all of our shirts!" One interpretation of this is a Mondegreen Gag, where Ned misheard what they were saying because he's driving an RV at high speeds with his head out the window. Alternatively, he could have been toning it down on purpose, since he wouldn't insult people the same way Homer and Bart do.
