'The Simpsons' producer shuts down fan criticism about error

The Simpsons may have a reputation for gazing into future events but as pointed out by The New York Post, it seems like their time machine may not work as well with what’s in the past…

Viewers of the long-running show were left scratching their heads after a flashback sequence in Episode 15 of Season 32, titled Do Pizza Bots Dream of Electric Guitars?, depicted Homer Simpson as a 14-year-old in the 1990s.

Hawk-eyed fans were quick to note that the show had previously portrayed Homer as a teenager in 1974!

In a tweet that has since garnered more than 22,000 likes on Twitter, a fan wrote, “Homer was now a teenager in the late 90s, meaning his hypothetical birthday is later than Bart’s was at the start of the show. Homer is now younger than Bart.”

Homer was now a teenager in the late 90s, meaning his hypothetical birthday is later than Bart's was at the start of the show.
Homer is now younger than Bart.
HOW LONG CAN THEY KEEP IT UP THO pic.twitter.com/Ux85l8atbF

— Caleb (@NessMudkip) March 12, 2021

Another fan pointed out how that makes the Simpson family patriarch a millennial!

https://twitter.com/maximrutter/status/1370498529932677122

The discourse eventually found its way to the very top to none other than the executive producer of the show, Matt Selman, who then took it upon himself to dispel the “glitch in the timeline”.

“Continuity Alert: Sunday’s @TheSimpsons playfully re-interprets the show’s timeline to allow Homer to be a teenager in the early ’90s — The Simpsons is a 32-year-old series where the characters do not age, so the ‘canon’ must be elastic/contradictory/silly,” explained Selman. 

Continuity Alert: Sunday's @TheSimpsons playfully re-interprets the show's timeline to allow Homer to be a teenager in the early '90s — The Simpsons is a 32-year-old series where the characters do not age, so the "canon" must be elastic / contradictory / silly. pic.twitter.com/GTOpOHUa0w

— Matt Selman (@mattselman) March 14, 2021

He further continued, “This does not mean other beloved classic @TheSimpsons flashback shows didn’t happen…” pointing out that essentially, none of it happened since everything is “made up.” 

“Every episode is its own Groundhog Day that only has to make sense for that story (if that),” he said.

https://twitter.com/mattselman/status/1370927104934649856

The award-winning producer then clarified that there is no ‘canon’ or ‘non-canon’ in The Simpsons world. “There are only stories. If all these crazy things really happened to one family the characters would be in a mental hospital.”

https://twitter.com/mattselman/status/1370927728615038979

He then thanked people for loving the show, taking a dig at the ‘timeline’ saying, “Thank you so much for watching/caring about @TheSimpsons at any point in its 100000 years of existence.”