There was a joke in The Simpsons’ 187th episode where Troy McClure joked that they were going to keep making episodes until the show became unprofitable. The thing that gets lost in translation is how much has changed since then. Back then, there was a chance that everything would wrap up in 10 seasons, becoming a cherished highlight of 90s entertainment that revolutionized comedy. The idea of the show losing profitability may have not been a terrible concern then, but it still felt like things could change at any moment. After all, this was before shows like Bob’s Burgers and Family Guy would break boundaries with their own double-digit seasons.
It’s something more amusing because it feels like the past five years of The Simpsons have been nothing but commenting on how the show will just not go away. It was evident when the series spent 2014 doing home run after home run with Every Simpsons Ever setting records for the longest marathon, and The Simpsons Take the Bowl reminding audiences about what was so great about the series. In later years, it began to center around the episode count, and with the shift into their sixth centennial, they were gunning for the big boys. While everything they had done before was unprecedented, their next step was one that could only be achieved by sticking around for a long, long time.
Episode 600 was set to be a big milestone for a series. It would be the only primetime series in history to cross 600 episodes since Gunsmoke over 40 years prior. Of course, it was firmly in second place for longest-running since episode 592 when it outranked Lassie, but there was the sense that by 2018, there would be a new champion. For now, their latest “Treehouse of Horror” episode would be billed as a major event for the Fox series. No animated show had gotten that far, let alone with 28 seasons (outpacing Gunsmoke by eight seasons).
What do you do to celebrate this occasion? In the past, the series had found novelty ways to commemorate the occasion. The 100th focused around Bart’s most unforgivable prank (“Seymour Skinner’s Baaaaadaasssss Song”), the 200th a memorable cameo from Steven Martin (“Trash of the Titans”), and the 300th featured Bart moving out on his own ("Barting Over“). These were moments to have fun, and it felt like perfect serendipity to make this occasion, for the first time ever, fall on a “Treehouse of Terror” episode. There was limitless potential, and that was when things began to click: they were going to do something with virtual reality.
Mind you, this was the golden age of The Simpsons doing gimmick episodes. In a time where they did crossovers with Futurama, collaborated with LEGO, and went live to add new dimensions for their episodes, it made sense that they would do something new. This may have not been the first time that they referenced virtual reality within the show (“Specs and the City” parodied Google Glasses years prior), but it was a point where they were going to try and give the audience a new perspective, and they needed Google’s help to achieve this.
According to showrunner Al Jean:
“One of the cool things about being on this long is you get to do stuff that you never dreamed was possible when we first started. It’s a fantastic effect and I can’t wait for people to see it.”
“Homer Simpson” would also provide his own commentary later on, suggesting:
“At first we had concerns about working with Google because we didn’t know who they were but then we googled the company and were very impressed.”
Companies like Oculus were trying to make virtual reality (or V.R.) into a popular trend. However, the success has yet to fully catch on and makes the endeavor a bit awkward in some respects. How could general audiences use a product that they didn’t personally own? The answer, as of 2020, is to travel back in time and pray that you’re able to win their contest that gave you the chance to win a “Free Extremely Limited Edition SIMPSONS Google Cardboard.” If not, you could use iOS or Android Google Spotlight Stories to access it. Though for those who won the Cardboard from simpsonscardboard.com, they were part of 25,000 fans to receive the limited edition V.R. device.
To be frank, there’s very little available evidence to suggest how successful or satisfying this occasion was. Everything that follows is a more direct commentary on what the staff and creators claim was available for those who would pursue the V.R. experience, which technically was in addition to the episode and not present in it. While it was referenced in the episode, there wasn’t much time in the three-minute segment to actually achieve this.
When asked what made V.R. so exceptional and needed to be experienced by fans, Jean would claim that using Cardboard would allow users to find small details. They could go further in-depth of the opening segment, titled “Planet of the Couches,” and discover funny little ideas buried inside. In theory, it was the perfect way to expand the series and make audiences curious to tune in, even if they were designed to mostly tune out after discovering that they needed to visit a website to enjoy the further experience.
When the segment aired, it had the slogan “If you don’t have V.R. glasses, you are missing everything.” It was a bit obnoxious but would go away in time. Still, there were a series of gags that enhanced the experience, making one curious to see more. Based on a parody of Planet of the Apes (1968), it was another enjoyable piece of the puzzle. It was also a sequel to the couch gag from “Marge’s Son Poisoning” and “Home and Marge Turn a Couple Play.”
Then again, this is a detail that’s largely overlooked in recaps because, as mentioned, it wasn’t considered a highlight of the episode. Whether or not it was successful, it didn’t receive the press that was needed to encourage future productions like this. It’s a nice piece of obscurity that now lives on through The Simpsons’ website.
So, how else did The Simpsons celebrate the 600th episode? In the opening segment, they paid tribute to every episode that aired before celebrating the idea that it had been 600 episodes. There was also the reappearance of fan-favorite Frank Grimes, who was clearly annoyed that the series was still going strong. This wouldn’t be the last time that they recognized this fact, though it was one that would become more prevalent as seasons went on. When The Simpsons finally got to the Gunsmoke honor, they would reference the honor for two consecutive episodes, including a parody of them reenacting their opening credits shoot-out.
The best that can be said about this episode is that it was one of the darker “Treehouse of Horror” episodes, being one of the darkest since season six. The segments included “Dry Hard,” which parodied The Hunger Games (2012). Next was “BFF R.I.P.,” which was about Lisa’s imaginary friend Rachel. Finally, “Moefinger” was a parody of The Kingsman (2014) series and their overreliance on posh Britishness to make spy games look cool. Again, they were more comedic, but there was enough of an emphasis on darker subjects that made many see it as one of the better “Treehouse of Horror” episodes in recent times.
With all of that said, none of it compared to the finale which, once again, paid homage to the series’ 600th episode anniversary. To be frank, it was probably the only reason that they did a parody of The Kingsman to begin with. It wasn’t exactly a horror topic or anywhere near skewering in a “Treehouse of Horror” fashion. The finale recalled James Bond, specifically Goldfinger (1964) by having an overproduced ballad about how they had lasted for so many seasons. In the background, the typically seductive and cool Bond imagery was replaced with a variety of The Simpsons characters swimming around in varying sight gags.
Among the more noteworthy was one in which they named every animated show on Fox that they had lasted longer than, including Drexell’s Class, Babes, Herman’s Head, Woops!, Too Something, House of Buggin’, Sit Down Shut Up, Celebrity Boxing, The Littlest Groom, Man vs. Beast, Allen Gregory, The Critic, Futurama, and (in a tongue-in-cheek manner) Untitled Seth MacFarlane Show 2017. Yep, there was honestly no way to stop The Simpsons then. Some can argue that there isn’t any way now, though we’re getting closer to the inevitable.
On the one hand, it was business as usual for The Simpsons. In the grand scheme of things, there was nothing that they could do to make this any more momentous. Having used up their rare Halloween-inspired gimmick that was actually brilliant the season before (“Halloween of Terror”), there was little to suggest that this was going to restore their fan base. Even the V.R. gimmick felt confusing and desperate as a way to draw in audiences. Still, it was fine overall. It wasn’t anywhere as interesting as when their 2018 “Treehouse of Horror” episode was 666, but that’s what the show was now.
Even its bigger accomplishments of 2016 weren’t exactly electrifying. They would revive the success of Every Simpsons Ever marathon during Thanksgiving week, but it wouldn’t be nearly as discussed as it was the first time around. It broke another record and gave fans something to watch, but it also just allowed them to complain that newer episodes weren’t as great as the old ones.
That’s the point of The Simpsons nowadays. They have nothing to prove and once they beat Gunsmoke, they had even fewer titles to run. Sure, maybe one day in the next decade they could break the quadruple-digit episode running record, but even that will only suggest how long in the tooth they are. It’s just celebrating arbitrary anniversaries now, and while I continue to enjoy it, it’s getting harder to find something that feels organic, worth tuning in for because it feels like a revolutionary piece of TV.
I don’t have Cardboard. I may try to jerryrig my phone to watch the video for posterity, but nobody’s talking about it. Even in the grand scheme of The Simpsons gimmicks, it feels nearly forgotten… and “Treehouse of Horror” episodes are supposed to be more recognized. It’s a bit disconcerting, but it’s also just the way it is. This is a good episode, but even as they revive a decades-old character to just complain about them being on too long, it stops becoming a joke and a reflection of their sad reality. Their only major development from here involves a problematic voice acting performance for the character Apu. Otherwise… what is there in any reality for the show?
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