From The Simpsons to a Surprising Twist: The Resurgence of a 29-Year-Old Joke

Summary

Former showrunner of The Simpsons, Josh Weinstein, confirmed a callback to the series in Disenchantment season 5, episode 3.

The callback refers to a scene from a 1994 episode of The Simpsons called "Lady Bouvier's Lover," which was co-written by Weinstein and Bill Oakley. In this callback, Comic Book Guy mentions Hig Heisler to Bart Simpson.

The Simpsons recently had a joke from nearly thirty years ago referenced in another show. Being one of the most influential shows ever, The Simpsons has clearly had an impact on other sitcoms and family comedies, such as Malcolm in the Middle. Additionally, the animated series has created a loosely connected universe through crossovers and clever references that may go unnoticed. Josh Weinstein, a former showrunner of The Simpsons, has confirmed a callback to the series in Disenchantment. Confirming the callback, he shared tweets.

Weinstein was responding to a Twitter user who noticed the callback in Disenchantment season 5, episode 3. In this episode, the credits sequence acknowledges Hig Heisler for his contribution in drawing the arms. It is worth noting that this reference to Hig Heisler is reminiscent of the 1994 Simpsons episode "Lady Bouvier's Lover" where Weinstein and Bill Oakley co-wrote the penultimate episode of season 5. In that particular Simpsons episode, Bart attempts to sell a single arm Itchy & Scratchy animation cell but is rejected by Comic Book Guy. Comic Book Guy then presents Bart with another cell and points out that it is drawn by Hig Heisler, making it valuable, while stating that an arm drawn by nobody holds no value.

The Simpsons Has A History Of Crossovers

The first instance of The Simpsons crossing over with another show, "A Star Is Burns," in season 6, sparked controversy. This episode introduced characters from The Critic, a show produced by former Simpsons writers Al Jean and Mike Reiss, as well as producer James L. Brooks. Matt Groening, the creator of The Simpsons, publicly criticized the episode, viewing it as a mere promotion for another show, and even threatened to remove his name from the opening credits.

Since then, The Simpsons has crossed over with both shows created by Groening, such as Futurama, and those he did not. For instance, The Simpsons had a complete crossover episode with Family Guy (as part of Family Guy season 13) and has also influenced the inclusion of Bob's Burgers characters in the show. Additionally, there was a Rick and Morty couch gag and Maggie even showcased Rick & Morty's Szechuan Sauce in one opening sequence.

This was cleverly explained through a visual joke in The Simpsons' "Treehouse of Horror XXXIII" episode, which depicted various animated shows like South Park, Spongebob, and Netflix's Big Mouth as being in close proximity to one another. It's an interesting way for different animated comedies to acknowledge each other, similar to how Disenchantment does with its callback.

Source: Josh Weinstein/Twitter