12 Jokes From The Simpsons That Aged Terribly

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"The Simpsons" has made many absurd predictions over the years that have actually come true. Such premonitions have led some to believe "The Simpsons" writing staff contains time travelers who are able to see into the future. But that theory doesn't hold up to scrutiny because if that was the case, you'd hope they'd avoid making some problematic jokes that wouldn't age well.

It's natural for TV shows from the 1980s and '90s to have bits that seem crude in retrospect. It's actually kind of a good thing because it shows just how far society has come that making fun of certain groups or ideas is no longer acceptable. Of course, not every joke ages poorly due to political correctness. Sometimes, a show makes a joke about something that makes sense in the moment, but after a couple of years, people forget what it was even supposed to be about. 

"The Simpsons" has both of these types of poorly-aged jokes. /Film has already gone over the worst "Simpsons" storylines, but for this list, we're looking at individual jokes that don't hold up today.

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The events of September 11, 2001 changed the world on a massive geopolitical scale. It also meant a lot of movies and TV shows had to change certain things, like the climax of Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man." Plus, one joke from Season 9's "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson" was cut from reruns.

The episode sees the Simpsons travel to New York City so that Homer can get his car back. It's parked between the Twin Towers, where one man yells at Homer for fruitlessly trying to remove the boot from his vehicle. This causes another guy to yell at him and then explain to Homer, "Sorry about that guy. They stick all the jerks in Tower One." It was a harmless off-hand comment when the episode first aired in 1997, but after 9/11, it perhaps came across in poor taste to have someone insulting people who lost their lives that fateful day. 

Some believe that entire episode is "The Simpsons" predicting the events of 9/11. That's not the case, but showrunner Al Jean admits the eerie coincidence (via NME): "In the World Trade Center episode, ['The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson'], there was a brochure reading $9 a day with an 11 styled up like the towers. That was in '96, which was crazy, like this insane coincidence." Hopefully, if the "Simpsons" writers could've actually predicted 9/11, they would've been a lot nicer toward the folks in Tower One. 

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This one might actually hold the record for the "Simpsons" joke that aged poorly the fastest. In "Itchy & Scratchy Land," Homer and Marge wind up at Itchy's '70s Disco, where Marge makes a comment about the attention to detail, including how the bartender looks like John Travolta. This causes the barkeep to say, "Yeah ... looks like." The joke is obviously that by the '90s, Travolta was a washed-up movie star who could've theoretically just been working at some random amusement park. 

However, Travolta fading into obscurity wouldn't really remain a concept for long. "Itchy & Scratchy Land" first aired on October 2, 1994. "Pulp Fiction," which saw Travolta star as Vincent Vega and rejuvenated his career, would come out just 12 days later in the United States on October 14. Travolta would even get nominated for an Academy Award for his part, so if he ever needed to bartend to make ends meet, those days were behind him at that point. 

1994 was well before the days of streaming services, when people could watch whatever episode they wanted on-demand. That means, for the most part, if someone didn't see that episode right when it aired, there was a good chance they wouldn't see it until Travolta was a megastar again. Granted, Travolta's star has risen and fallen over the decades, so maybe the joke makes more sense when his career is in a downward spiral (looking at you, "Gotti"). 

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Season 8's "You Only Move Twice" is mostly known for introducing the world to Hank Scorpio, the most delightful supervillain ever who's also responsible for one of the funniest moments in the history of "The Simpsons." Homer starts working for him, even confiding that his lifelong dream is to own the Dallas Cowboys. After quitting his new job and moving back to Springfield, Scorpio helps Homer get a little closer to attaining his goal by gifting him the Denver Broncos. While Marge thinks it's "pretty good" to own the Broncos, Homer is dismayed, insisting she doesn't know anything about football. 

This is another case where the joke almost immediately ages poorly. The episode came out in 1996, when the Broncos were, admittedly, having some pretty tough seasons. However, that was right before they had back-to-back Super Bowl wins in 1998 and 1999. Maybe Hank Scorpio knew something Homer didn't.

Scorpio's gift turned out to be a blessing in disguise. As the owner of the Broncos, Homer would've probably made quite a bit of money following those wins. Maybe owning the Broncos explains why the family can afford such nice things and go on extravagant vacations.

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"Beyond Blunderdome" is a fascinating time capsule of an episode. The plot hinges on everyone loving Mel Gibson, a sentiment that would quickly deteriorate in the real world due to a host of controversies. But for the time being, he's the toast of tinseltown, and the Simpsons fly out to Hollywood so that Homer can help Gibson with his next movie. The rest of the family take a tour, with Marge pointing out, "Look, they're making a movie! Robert Downey, Jr. is shooting it out with the police." After this, Bart notes, "I don't see any cameras."

The late '90s may have been good for Gibson, but it was a turbulent time for Downey, who was in the throes of drug addiction. He was arrested on several occasions and even spent time in county jail and eventually state prison. The joke pokes fun at Downey constantly being a source of tabloid fodder at the time, but it wouldn't be long before Gibson and Downey traded perceptions in the general consciousness. 

Downey eventually got clean and focused on acting again with "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang," a role that would help him land a leading spot in "Iron Man," and the rest is cinematic history. I say it's high time for a "Beyond Blunderdome" remake where Homer helps Downey with a new movie while Gibson is on the fringes doing something unsavory. 

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Nelson has beaten up Milhouse plenty of times over the years. It's an intrinsic part of their dynamic as bully and dweeb; however, none of his beatings have ever left such a bad taste in the mouth as much as the one on Season 8's "Lisa's Date With Density."

Lisa develops a crush on Nelson and enlists Milhouse's help in giving Nelson a note. Milhouse, despite having his own crush on Lisa, agrees, but when Nelson reads it, he realizes it was passed down to him by Milhouse. The scene abruptly cuts to Milhouse getting rolled out of the school on a stretcher, with the implication being Nelson beat him up so hard he had to go to the hospital. 

The idea is that Nelson beat him up particularly hard because he believed Milhouse had the crush on him, not Lisa. It's nothing short of a violently homophobic act, something that was tragically common in the 1990s but often gets left out of modern media that takes place during the decade. It's tough to watch the episode today knowing the kind of abuse homosexual youth face all the time. What's even worse is that Lisa still wants to date Nelson even after seeing him be such a violent homophobe. Maybe Lisa isn't as woke as we all thought. 

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"Homerpalooza" is all about Homer feeling out of touch with the young people. It's a classic storyline where he wants to prove to his kids that he's hip. The plot centers on Homer's relationship with music, which entails him going to a record store and not knowing any of these newfangled bands (for the '90s) like Nine Inch Nails and Sonic Youth. As a further demonstration of just how out of touch Homer is, he brings up Apple Computers to the store clerk, who fires back, "What computers?"

It's really odd to think Homer would be more knowledgeable about a major tech company's existence than a young kid, but in 1996, when the episode came out, Apple was in dire straits. The beginning of the year saw the company lay off 1,300 employees and reporting substantial financial losses. It was unclear if Apple would even be around much longer, but the age of ubiquitous internet was soon upon us. Apple products are part of daily life, and this joke now makes the cashier seem like he's been living under a rock for his entire life. 

To be fair, it's hard to hold a grudge against "Homerpalooza" too much. It also contains this gem of a line from Mr. Burns: "And to think, Smithers. You laughed when I bought TicketMaster. 'Nobody's going to pay a 100% service charge.'" TicketMaster continues to be the bane of any concertgoer's existence, so that "Simpsons" joke continues to be painfully relevant. 

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The following slide contains references to sexual assault.

In the "Treehouse of Horror XVI" segment, "I've Grown a Costume on Your Face," everyone in Springfield transforms into whatever they were wearing Halloween night. Bart becomes a werewolf. Lisa turns into Albert Einstein, and Chief Wiggum turns into Jared Fogle from Subway, which is now more horrifying than anything else in that installment. 

The gimmick may have seemed harmless in 2005 when it aired, but in 2015, Fogle was arrested on charges of obtaining child pornography and engaging in sexual acts with minors. He pled guilty to those charges and was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison.

Chief Wiggum being Jared is one thing, but it's his line that really sends this moment over the top when he declares: "I'm Jared from the Subway ads. I'm only a little overweight and sexually ambiguous." His sexual preferences didn't remain ambiguous for long. It's bad enough there's a Fogle reference anywhere, but it's such a disturbing line to have Wiggum say in hindsight. 

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

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"The Simpsons" has an abysmal track record when it comes to proper trans representation. So often, trans characters have been relegated to one-off gags, such as Helen Lovejoy wanting to boast about having a trans cousin named Stanlerina.

Easily, one of the worst trans jokes on "The Simpsons" comes on "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo." Homer and Marge attend a seminar to learn how to live large without spending a lot, and the host explains all the various ways he's saved money, like buying a yacht that smells like cat pee. He also points out that he's surrounded by beautiful women in an image because "they used to be men." It's bad enough the line suggests trans women are inferior or "a bargain" compared to cis women, but the line is followed up by the sound of utter disdain by the audience. They had no problem with him sailing on a urine-smelling yacht, but being around trans women was a step too far for some reason. 

Much like Nelson beating up Milhouse for being perceived as homosexual, this joke shows just how casual transphobia was in the '90s. And if you want a deeper dive into just how prevalent this issue is on the sitcom, check out the incredible breakdown within Lily Simpson's video essay, "The Trans Failure of The Simpsons."

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"You Only Move Twice" has not one but two jokes that quickly didn't make sense shortly after the episode came out. When Bart and Lisa arrive at their new school, there's a sign reading "Cypress Creek Elementary School" along with a URL for "http://www.studynet.edu." "The Simpsons" has plenty of great sign gags, such as "Sneed's Feed & Seed Formerly Chuck's," but this one just doesn't make sense watching it today. 

There's nothing all that comical about the URL itself, and that's because the joke is that a school having a website at all would be something strange and out of the ordinary all on its own when the episode debuted in 1996. "Simpsons" showrunner at the time, Josh Weinstein, remarked on the DVD commentary of just how out of place it soon became, calling it "one of the show's most obviously dated jokes."

Nowadays, every school has a website, even if they aren't as advanced as Cypress Creek. Although I suppose this could almost be seen as an anti-joke these days, where viewers expect the school sign to say something funny, but it's the most humdrum thing imaginable. 

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"There's Something About Marrying" tries to normalize the idea of gay marriage while completely invalidating the existence of trans people in a pretty baffling way. The episode sees Springfield legalize gay marriage before it was approved nationwide. Homer starts marrying anyone who wants to get married, and Patty comes out as lesbian to her sister, Marge. Up until this point, Marge has been pretty accepting of the homosexual community but has a hard time accepting her sister's identity, especially when she reveals she's already engaged to another woman — Veronica. 

But not everything is as it seems, as Veronica turns out to be a man. That's not me being transphobic — in the context of the show, Veronica (whose real name is Robin) is a man pretending to be a woman to excel in women's golf. In the last few years, women's sports has been a battleground issue, as conservatives try to prevent transgender women from competing by insisting they have an inherent advantage. 

The bit reinforces the awful notion that transgender women are really just pretending to have sports careers. It's a bad look, especially as the trans community faces increasingly hostile discrimination. It's high time "The Simpsons" has proper trans representation with a character that doesn't make people cringe years later. 

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Out of all the Oscar winners "The Simpsons" could've chosen for this bit, they had to go with Dr. Haing S. Ngor.

On "Team Homer," Homer bemoans that his bowling team will likely lose an upcoming tournament, which is a shame because he just built a trophy case. We then see said case, and the only trophy in it at the moment is an Oscar belonging to Dr. Haing S. Ngor, with his name crossed out and Homer's written in. The episode came out on January 7, 1996, and if you watched it at first, it just seemed like they picked an Oscar winner at random. Ngor won for best supporting actor for his work on "The Killing Fields," a noteworthy achievement seeing as Ngor had never acted before that film. However, tragedy struck not long after the episode premiered. 

On February 25, 1996, Ngor was killed outside of his Los Angeles home. Reports initially suggested it was a botched robbery, but further investigations suggest there may have been political motivations behind the murder. Either way, Homer now having Ngor's Oscar felt in bad taste, especially with an implication that Homer may have robbed (and killed) Ngor to get the statue. Reruns and the version of "Team Homer" you now find on Disney+ changed the bit to where the Oscar belonged to Don Ameche. He won for best supporting actor for "Cocoon" and had already died in 1993, meaning there was no way Homer could get blamed for his death in-universe. 

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I think child abuse is wrong. Hold your applause, I'm no hero for saying that. And as the years have gone on, it's been increasingly difficult to ignore the myriad times Homer has violently strangled Bart. Due to them being cartoon characters, it's perhaps easier to ignore or simply wave off as a simple gag, but Homer constantly attacking Bart, which goes ignored by Marge and the rest of Springfield, just seems troublesome. 

The show has dialed back on Homer strangling Bart in recent years, with Homer even making an off-hand comment in one episode about how he wouldn't do that anymore since times have changed. This led to a lot of media attention over whether the tradition would end, with the "Simpsons" creative team assuring the world the strangles would continue. 

Even the Season 36 premiere brought back this problematic gag, albeit with Homer attacking Bart within an AI-generated simulation. Even though "The Simpsons" has changed with the times in certain ways, it's still stuck in 1989 in certain aspects. One day Homer may stop physically hurting Bart, but it's not today.