# First Simpsons inside joke? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 31, 2003, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-simpsons-inside-joke/151966 "2003-01-31T21:42:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-simpsons-inside-joke/151966/1 "2003-01-31T21:42:43Z")
I am posting this here because I want a factual answer, not a lot of “I jumped the shark. It smells like cat food” responses. So, what was the first example in the Simpsons of an inside joke. Was it “Gee, the Simpsons on a T-shirt! Who woulda thought of that!” I seem to remember this as being fairly poorly drawn and was amazed that they were self-referential even back then. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-simpsons-inside-joke/151966/2 "2003-01-31T22:34:13Z")
The earliest one I can think of right off is Bart’s line from [Kamp Krusty](http://www.snpp.com/episodes/8F24.html): > [@](#): > > I’d never lend my name to an inferior product. Granted, season 4 seems really late for the _first_. ---
**Author:** ![3waygeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/e95f7d/32.png) [@3waygeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3waygeek)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-simpsons-inside-joke/151966/3 "2003-02-01T00:19:18Z")
I seem to remember a Tracey Ullman short (1987-88 time frame) in which Maggie was playing with a one-eared bunny doll who looked a lot like the Bongo character from Groening’s _Life in Hell_ comic strip. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-simpsons-inside-joke/151966/4 "2003-02-01T00:50:12Z")
Well when Marge got Itchy & Scratchy tossed off the air she mades several statements against violence in cartoons and cartoons in general. Many of which I assume are pokes at both their show and critics of it. That’s 2nd season. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-simpsons-inside-joke/151966/5 "2003-02-01T01:53:13Z")
In that same episode, the Itchy and Scratchy writers and animators were caricatures of the Simpsons writers and animators (according to the DVD commentary). ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-simpsons-inside-joke/151966/6 "2003-02-01T01:59:17Z")
One early inside-joke had Lisa laughing in an evil manner over some way she was going to get back at Bart. When Marge asked her what she was laughing about she said "Oh, I just thought of a joke I heard on ‘Herman’s Head’ ". Yeardley Smith, the voice of Lisa, had a short lived role in the equally short lived series “Herman’s Head”. The big joke is of course that it is almost physically impossible for her to have been laughing at a anything heard on Herman’s Head. ---
**Author:** ![raisinbread](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8491ac/32.png) [@raisinbread](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raisinbread)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-simpsons-inside-joke/151966/7 "2003-02-01T02:47:28Z")
The one where Reverend Lovejoy said “Get thee to Cafe Society?” ---
**Author:** ![mazzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@mazzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mazzer)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-simpsons-inside-joke/151966/8 "2003-02-01T05:26:57Z")
If it’s a true inside joke, you’re not likely to get it. I’m sure the writers put them in all the time; in fact, I know of one that would truly qualify as an inside joke. My sociology prof in college had a son who wrote for the Simpsons. The prof was affiliated with a dorm whose unofficial rallying cry was “Death from Above!” (their building was the tallest on campus). As a nod to his dad, in the episode “Bart the General,” he had it mentioned: > [@](#): > > Bart: [salutes] Two hundred rounds, sir. [holds a balloon] Is it okay if they say `Happy Birthday' on the side? Herman: Urgh. I'd rather they say `Death from Above’, but I guess we’re stuck. ---
**Author:** ![Wumpus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8c91f0/32.png) [@Wumpus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wumpus)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-simpsons-inside-joke/151966/9 "2003-02-01T05:41:41Z")
…though of course, Death From Above is good ol’ military slogan that’s been used since at least WWII. So it’s a regular joke as well as an in-joke. I second 3waygeek’s suggestion. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-simpsons-inside-joke/151966/10 "2003-02-01T15:56:18Z")
I read the OP as asking when did the Simpsons first have a joke based on referencing the fact that there’s a TV show called “The Simpsons”? Or when the characters first addressed the “fourth wall”, or otherwise indicated that they were aware that they on a TV show? ---
**Author:** ![jonpluc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/fbc32d/32.png) [@jonpluc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jonpluc)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-simpsons-inside-joke/151966/11 "2003-02-01T16:38:42Z")
No clue what year this is in, but the one i remember best is an episode where Homer was a mascot for a baseball team and due to his new fame got his picture on a Tshirt at the concession stand. Then Marge sees it and exclaims something along the lines of who would have ever thought that a Simpson would ever get on a T shirt. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-simpsons-inside-joke/151966/12 "2003-02-01T17:59:07Z")
“A Simpson on a T-Shirt” was in the second season, so it’s up there in the running for first inside joke. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-simpsons-inside-joke/151966/13 "2003-02-01T21:35:56Z")
What season was it when they were watching the Macy’s thanksgiving parade on TV, and a Bart balloon goes by? ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-simpsons-inside-joke/151966/14 "2003-02-01T22:15:20Z")
Hmm, it looks like the “Herman’s Head” reference is season 3. [All your Simpson needs](http://www.snpp.com/)- check out the search archive bottom right of page. 25 hits on “inside joke” (keep quotes) ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2003, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-simpsons-inside-joke/151966/15 "2003-02-01T23:42:17Z")
[Here’s a whole list.](http://www.snpp.com/guides/meta.html) _Bart Gets an F_, the first episode aired in the second season (third produced) has Dr. J. Loren Pryor comments that Bart appears to be an underachiever, though he seems to be proud of it. This is a play on a Bart Simpson T-Shirt slogan which was popular at the time. ---
**Author:** ![jonpluc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/fbc32d/32.png) [@jonpluc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jonpluc)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-simpsons-inside-joke/151966/16 "2003-02-02T00:16:00Z")
Mobo are you sure that its not the other way around and the shirts reflected his attitude? I could be wrong and usually am… ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-simpsons-inside-joke/151966/17 "2003-02-02T03:32:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jonpluc \* > \*\*Mobo are you sure that its not the other way around and the shirts reflected his attitude? I could be wrong and usually am… \*\* Although Bart can be accurately described as “Underachiever and proud of it,” he never stated he was on the show. ---
**Author:** ![red\_dragon60](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ce73a5/32.png) [@red\_dragon60](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/red_dragon60)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-simpsons-inside-joke/151966/18 "2003-02-02T07:28:23Z")
The one with Bart as the preacher had the Church’s bulletin board saying “Life In Hell”, an obvious reference to Groening’s strip. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-simpsons-inside-joke/151966/19 "2003-02-02T07:40:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mobo85 \* > \*\*Although Bart can be accurately described as “Underachiever and proud of it,” he never stated he was on the show. \*\* Although there was the “snow day” episode where Bart & Co get into the personal records and, while reading his personal record says: “underachiever and proud of it? How old is this thing?” ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-simpsons-inside-joke/151966/20 "2003-02-02T07:47:16Z")
Marge made a reference to allergies. Bart was allergic to imitation butterscotch flavoring. This was when butterfingers was a big sponsor. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-simpsons-inside-joke/151966.md?page=2)