The Simpsons viewers noticed how couch gags, a trademark feature of the animated sitcom’s introductory sequence, no longer appeared as often in later seasons. Recently, in an interview, one of the television show’s executive producers, Matt Selman, explained why it has become the case.

Matt Selman reveals why The Simpsons no longer has couch gags

Matt Selman revealed that couch gags no longer appeared in every episode of the newer seasons of The Simpsons, as he and the creatives didn’t want to trim the story to accommodate them.

Speaking with Four Finger Discount, the executive producer admitted that he wished he could add a “funny couch gag” for each episode. However, he said that he will not sacrifice part of the narrative to make room for it. “So to me the episode is thousand times more important than this flight of fancy at the beginning,” he emphasized. “Sometimes the show is short, and we have a couch gag.” He added that they aimed to tell the best possible story, which took 20 minutes and 40 seconds.

However, he revealed that the Disney+ special, Extreme Makeover: Homer Edition, had a “mega couch gag.” He called it a collaboration with a “very special team of artists,” whom he didn’t name. Further, he noted that they did a “big, dark, weird couch gag” for the 800th episode, absent from the original Fox broadcast but present in the Disney+ version.

The podcast host later pointed out that, in 2026, subscribers often skipped intros to dive into episodes quickly, saying it made sense to no longer feature couch gags because of it.

Selman responded, “If I had infinite money, I would put a couch gag in every episode that would just pop up on streaming, and you’d be surprised by it.” He added that the episode itself took priority over the intro, saying that money first went into making the former.

Selman continued, revealing there was a joke about the “skip intro” practice in Extreme Makeover: Homer Edition. “So you’re thinking the way we’re thinking,” he stated.