5 ‘Simpsons’ Continuity Screwups That Can’t Be Blamed on a Wizard
The Simpsons has unquestionably earned its place as one of television’s greatest shows, but since it’s been on the air longer than some legit adults have been potty-trained, there have, unsurprisingly, been some pretty big mistakes along the way. Sure, the show has cheekily joked about cartoon gaffes, pointing out that it shouldn’t really matter if, say, Scratchy’s rib produces two distinct notes when played like a xylophone.
Or, as Lucy Lawless once pointed out, it could be argued that every time a continuity error boggles the minds of overly attentive nerds, the actions of some dastardly off-screen wizard are to blame.
But the hypothetical actions of rogue warlocks won’t stop us from pointing out some of the most baffling screwups in the history of The Simpsons, starting with how…
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‘The Simpsons Movie’ Forgot the Name of Moe’s Tavern
After nearly 20 years, we finally got The Simpsons Movie in 2007, which was a lot like the show but with more Spider-Pigs and gratuitous frontal nudity. But there were a few odd things about the film adaptation like Rainier Wolfcastle just being called “Arnold Schwarzenegger” so as not to confuse anyone who had somehow never seen The Simpsons before this moment.
More glaring is the film seemingly forgetting the name of Moe’s Tavern. For joke-related reasons, Moe’s is located next to the church. Okay, fine. But Moe’s Tavern, which historically boasted a simple sign reading “Moe’s” (with the exception of the time it was “Moe’s Cavern” in the Beatles parody episode “Homer’s Barbershop Quartet”) suddenly read “Moe’s Bar” in the movie.
This stark continuity error was some kind of slipup, or, more likely, the sign was modified to, once again, cater to audiences who had never ever watched The Simpsons, possibly due to some kind of beer-related coma.
Homer’s Grave Somehow Misspelled ‘Simpson’ in One Shot
In “Mother Simpson” — aka the episode that gave us the meme through which we all process grief now — Homer fakes his own death, prompting Patty and Selma to show up with a pre-prepared tombstone. Writer Josh Weinstein revealed on social media that the original design for the tombstone misspelled Homer’s last name as “Simson.”
Weinstein claimed that the mistake had been “corrected” before the episode aired, but as one fan pointed out, the misspelled tombstone is actually visible in one shot that was left in the show.
Though, in retrospect, Patty and Selma having casually misspelled Homer’s name on his grave would have actually been a pretty solid joke.
The Simpsons’ Address Kept Randomly Changing
The Simpsons’ home is famously located at 742 Evergreen Terrace, next to Ned Flanders and, briefly, across from George H.W. Bush. But the actual street number has fluctuated wildly throughout the years, including 1094, 1092, 59, 94, 430, 723, 555 and 1024 Evergreen Terrace. When Lisa wrote her parents a letter in “Kamp Krusty,” the address, bizarrely, was on a whole other street: 430 Spalding Way.
Meanwhile, in “Homer’s Triple Bypass,” 742 Evergreen Terrace is the address of the (cow-filled) house where Snake is hiding out from the cops.
And we haven’t even mentioned that this house with the metaphysical ability to shift locations also has a secret room that no one dares to enter for some reason.
In One Early Episode, Carl Speaks With Lenny’s Voice
While Homer sometimes has a hard time telling his friends Lenny (white) and Carl (Black) apart…
…one would expect that the people making the show would be able to tell the difference. But in the Season Two episode “Brush With Greatness,” at one point, Carl opens his mouth, and Lenny’s voice comes out.
Josh Weinstein said of the moment, “Wow, that’s clearly just a mistake,” speculating that it was likely never caught because “it could’ve been fixed right up to the final mix simply by redubbing Carl correctly.” And to be fair, if you go back to Season One, Carl sounded more like Ned Flanders for some reason.
There’s Even a Continuity Error in the Show’s Opening Sequence
Even the show’s classic opening sequence, which Simpsons fans have watched over and over and over again, contains a big mistake — not counting the mistake of putting an infant in the front seat of a car. The toy steering wheel doesn’t make it okay, Marge.
Note how the boxes, bicycle and rake seen in the Simpsons’ garage disappear and are replaced by two closed boxes in the following shot of Homer narrowly escaping Marge’s car. The reason for this seems to be that the wide shot was redone for the Season Two opening, but the close-up was recycled from Season One, where it better matched the preceding animation.
I mean, what are we to believe that this is some sort of a *snortsnort* a magic garage or something?
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