Summary
Although one joke confoundedThe Simpsonswriters’ room for an age, the show’s creators eventually came up with a perfect, and perfectly dumb, answer to the tricky plot point.The Simpsonshas always maintained a careful balance between smartness and stupidity. Some of the show’s smartest jokes require a lot of obscure insider knowledge to understand them, but some of the best punchlines are ludicrously silly moments of simple slapstick. WhileThe Simpsonsseason 36may change this, part of the show’s appeal has always been its ability to switch between these two modes in the same storyline.
Sincethe Simpsons never age, the show blends these two tones in season 35 as much as it did back in the show’s so-called Golden Age. Running from around season 3 to 11, the Golden Age ofThe Simpsonswas the era when the series was at its critical peak. During this time, the writers’ room was filled with legendary scribes who went on to work on many more classic shows and movies. However, sometimes even the writers ofThe SimpsonsGolden Age episodeswere stumped by a joke they couldn’t work out. Luckily, inspired stupidity saved the day.
The Simpsons Never Explained The Mystery Behind Its Grossest Gag Ever
The Simpsons never explained one of the most infamously disgusting moments in the show’s long history, leaving the meme-inspiring scene a mystery.
Lisa’s Beauty Pageant Loss Stumped Multiple Writers In The Simpsons’ Golden Age
The Classic Episode’s Ending Was Almost Impossible To Solve
InSpringfield Confidential, the book he co-authored with Matthew Klickstein, Reiss admitted that the writers’ room spent what seemed like forever trying to work out this gag.The Simpsonssidelined Bart and Lisa’s storiesin season 35, and it is possible that these plot holes are the reasons that Homer tends to take precedence as the show’s de facto protagonist. After all, it was a typically inspired bit of stupidity from Homer that eventually allowed the writers’ room to solve the mystery. The late comedy writer Frank Mula came up with a gag that answered the troublesome question.
The Simpsons Answered This Plot Hole With A Perfect Gag
The Show Leaned Into Homer’s Dim-Witted Demeanor
Eventually, Mula pitched a perfect solution when he suggested that Homer wrote “Ok” on the entry form in the box that read “Do not write in this box.” This simple, stupid move got Lisa disqualified, thus allowing the writers to wrap up the story with a twist that was fitting for numerous reasons. The silliness of Homer’s error underlined what a lovable buffoon he was, while the harmlessness of the mistake proved what craven cynics the bureaucrats disqualifying Lisa were.The Simpsonsused Homer’s idiocy to great effect when the writers’ room worked on cracking this seemingly impossible gag.
