# 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:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-simpsons-inside-joke/151966/21 "2003-02-02T07:48:16Z")
I’m not sure whether or not we can agree on the definition of an “inside joke” as it pertains to _The Simpsons_, but I’ll move this thread to Cafe Society anyway. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-simpsons-inside-joke/151966/22 "2003-02-02T08:17:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CarnalK \* > 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. Hey, now. Herman’s Head was a great show. ---
**Author:** ![Chocobo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@Chocobo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chocobo)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-simpsons-inside-joke/151966/23 "2003-02-02T08:26:05Z")
I forget in which episode, but at the beginning, Bart is sliding down the banister and walks into the kitchen whistling the theme song, to which Marge says: “Bart, I don’t want you whistling that annoying tune.” To my memory, that was a fairly early episode. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-simpsons-inside-joke/151966/24 "2003-02-02T17:24:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CarnalK \* > \*\*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. \*\* I remember an episode of Herman’s Head where Her character bemoans the fact that she sounds like Lisa Simpson. Two cross-linked inside jokes! ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-simpsons-inside-joke/151966/25 "2003-02-02T18:03:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by China Guy \* > \*\*Marge made a reference to allergies. Bart was allergic to imitation butterscotch flavoring. This was when butterfingers was a big sponsor. \*\* But, um, Butterfingers don’t taste like butterscotch. It’s chocolate and crunchy (crispity, crunchity, actually) peanut butter. But no butterscotch. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-simpsons-inside-joke/151966/26 "2003-02-02T18:23:58Z")
> [@](#): > > …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. In my mind, the phrase is indelibly associated with Ernest P. Worrell and turtles with parachutes.😃 ---
**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:** [February 3, 2003, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-simpsons-inside-joke/151966/27 "2003-02-03T13:57:02Z")
In mine, it’s the Dolph Lundgren character from _Rocky IV_. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-simpsons-inside-joke/151966/28 "2003-02-03T20:09:15Z")
Wow! It’s been moved to CS and still no snide comments yet! But I was really going for an answer, rather than chitchat or speculation. And by “Inside joke” , I really meant self-referential joke, i.e. a semi-inside joke that people would only get if they had seen previous episodes or known about people’s perceptions of the simpsons _per se_. I still havent seen an example of those that predates “Gee, the Simpsons on a T-shirt! Imagine That!” But thanks for the responses. ---
**Author:** ![ResIpsaLoquitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b3f665/32.png) [@ResIpsaLoquitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ResIpsaLoquitor)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-simpsons-inside-joke/151966/29 "2003-02-03T20:39:42Z")
Here’s another early one: in _Treehouse of Horror II_, Homer gets a magical monkey paw that grants cursed wishes. Homer wishes that the Simpsons be rich and famous, and the family starts appearing on merchandise everywhere. Some Springfieldians end up commenting on how awful it is to see the Simpsons endorsing everything, an obvious play on the plethora of Simpsons merchandise in the real world. Not the first, but certainly a funny one. ---
**Author:** ![Petey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f1d935/32.png) [@Petey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Petey)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-simpsons-inside-joke/151966/30 "2003-02-03T20:51:18Z")
In “Dead Putting Society” (2nd season), the chalkboard gag is “I am not a 32 year old woman.” This references that fact that Bart is voiced by Nancy Carthwright (32 at the time). This aired a week after the “Dancin’ Homer” episode referenced earlier. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-simpsons-inside-joke/151966.md?page=1)