12 More Fan Theories About Comedy Movies And Shows

Toby tried to warn them about the radon poisoning...
12 More Fan Theories About Comedy Movies And Shows

More fan theories to feed our feeble minds and make us ask, “what if the writers have a series of intricate riddles strewn throughout the show that we are supposed to decode as an audience.” While they may not all have the best factual footing, they are certainly fun to think about and evolve in our free time. Here are 12 more fan theories about our favorite comedy shows.

The World Is From Stewie’s Imagination: Family Guy

Stewie and Brian Family Guy

FOX

One Family Guy theory states that the show is all told from the perspective of Stewie Griffin's imagination. Essentially, the fact that not everyone can understand him, he has wild adventures with the family dog and sees the world so magically is because he is just a baby. The theory even goes on to say that he and Brian are such good friends because they would be the only to members of the family who can’t speak, so they would talk in gibberish to each other all day.

Earl Is In Purgatory: My Name Is Earl

My Name Is Earl Cast

NBC

A My Name Is Earl fan theory claims that in the pilot episode when Earl Hickey is hit by a car immediately after winning the lottery, instead of just going to the hospital and finding the ticket later, he died on the spot. The theory says that Earl is in a Purgatory that lines up with his former life and allows him to atone for all of his sins before he goes to heaven. It also explains why he’s been able to stretch his lottery winnings so far.

The Janitor’s Real Name: Scrubs

Scrubs Janitor

Doozer

In the show’s season eight finale (the only one that matters), The Janitor told J.D. that his name was “Glen Matthews,” despite hiding his identity for the entire series. After he tells J.D. his name, however, someone calls him “Tommy,” meaning he still was most likely not telling the truth. When the show was rebooted for a ninth season J.D. eventually returns to the hospital and mentions that he saw The Janitor in The Fugitive meaning that The Janitor's true identity would have to be actor, Neil Flynn. 

The Bluths Are Norse Gods: Arrested Development

One theory by Redditor U/MisterTaylor hypothesizes that the Bluth family from Arrested Development are a parallel for the Norse Gods. George Bluth Sr. is Odin, the patriarchal Norse God that would use his brothers Vili and Ve to stand in for him in his absence just as George did with his brother Oscar. Lucille is Frigg, the wife of Odin, Michael is Thor, Gob is Loki due to his trickster tendencies and Buster is Tyr as both are missing a hand.

The Simpsons Are Geniuses: The Simpsons

Homer Genius

FOX

What if I told you the Simpsons were actually a family of geniuses? According to Redditor, U/Kerbyklok, it’s entirely possible. To back up this claim they bring up that Grampa Abe has flashbacks of being a fighter pilot and accomplished pianist before he became senile. Marge was an excellent student but gave up her academic pursuits to be happier as a homemaker. Homer was shown to have a crayon lodged in his brain that makes him stupid, and once it was removed he became a genius but put the crayon back in to go back to being dumb but happy. Bart was shown to be of above-average intelligence at a young age, but decided to follow in his father’s footsteps with the “ignorance is bliss” philosophy of life. Lisa is just a genius in general but the least happy of her family members. Congrats, Lisa.

Barney Isn’t A Womanizer: HIMYM

Barney Stinson guitar

CBS

One fan theory believes that in How I Met Your Mother, Barney was never actually a womanizer at all. Since Ted controls the story, because he’s the one telling it to his children, he could have completely made up Barney’s misogynistic antics in an effort to make his kids think Barney was not good enough for Robin. 

Bender Is A Different Robot In The Pilot: Futurama

Bender penguins

The Curiosity Company

One Redditor believes that the Bender we know from most of Futurama isn’t the Bender that we originally met in the pilot. In the pilot, Bender feels suicidal because he found out he was making suicide boots, something Bender usually wouldn’t think twice about. When Bender and Fry are running from Leela in the head museum, Bender is electrocuted by an old light fixture, which may have caused him to reboot. This is supported by the fact that when Bender is rebooted he turns into something to match his surroundings, so when he was rebooted around penguins, he acted like a penguin. The theory concludes that because Bender was rebooted in the Hall of Criminals, he assimilated to his environment and became a criminal-wise-cracker himself.

The Babies Don’t Exist: Rugrats

Angelica rugrats

Nickelodeon

This is a dark theory, so you may want to read this with your eyes closed. This fan theory believes that Angelica from Rugrats was imagining all of the other babies on the show. Chuckie and his mother died, which is why his dad is so constantly anxious. Tommy was a stillborn leading Stu to make toys for the son he lost. The Devilles aborted their child, leading Angelica to imagine twins since she didn’t know the gender. 

Walter White Is Malcolm Grown Up: Malcolm In The Middle

Malcolm and Stevie Malcolm In The Middle

FOX

One theorist believes that it could be possible that Walter White from Breaking Bad, is actually a grown-up Malcolm from Malcolm In The Middle. You do have to stretch your mind far enough to believe that Malcolm would grow up to look EXACTLY like his dad, but we’ll get there. To back up this claim, we know that Malcolm is no stranger to breaking the law, and teeters on what seems to be a constant psychotic break. Malcolm is also obviously a gifted chemist, along with his Krelboyne allies. The theorist believes Malcolm may have changed his name at some point and chosen the name of Hal’s father, “Walter,” to replace his own. 

Eric Foreman Died In Season 4: That 70s Show

Eric Foreman That 70s Show

20th Century Fox

There’s nothing fan theorists love more than to guess that “it was a dream all along.” One theorist believes that it’s possible that in the episode “Tornado Prom,” Eric is hit by the tornado and goes into a coma. The theorist cites that in the episode a tornado chases Eric in his car and that later on Kitty and Red are seen in the basement with the radio, when it announces, "And updating our top story, a local teen is in critical condition...." The theorist thinks that everything beyond this point in the show is a part of Eric’s coma-dream, which would explain why the That 70s Show timeline gets so sloppy after season four. They also believe that the season eight finale is Eric’s brain finally letting go and dying.

Mr. Bean Is An Alien: Mr. Bean

Some fans believe that Rowan Atkinson’s Mr. Bean is actually an alien. Episodes of his show began with Bean falling from the sky in a beam of light, which could be perceived as an alien tractor beam. This theory accounts for the fact that Bean doesn’t speak much, and why he seems to be so different from everyone around him. 

Radon Poisoned The Dunder Mifflin Staff: The Office

The Office Toby

NBC

If you’re like me, you think the characters of The Office get a little too outlandish and out of character in the last couple of seasons. One theorist set out to explain this by bringing up the radon in the building that Toby is so keen on getting checked out. By having no one remove the radon, everyone eventually had their brains deteriorate and altered to become cartoonish caricatures of the people they once were. Kevin is a whole lot smarter in the beginning, then he’s gluing turtle shells back onto turtles? Darryl sure seemed a lot more normal before he moved upstairs. Robert California started as a genius and ended up a self-sabotaging psychopath. This also explains why Michael is so calm during his final cameo, as his brain had time to heal.

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