Bait And Switch / The Simpsons

Bait-and-Switch examples from The Simpsons. Former executive producer/showrunner David Mirkin liked to refer to this kind of humor as "screw the audience" jokes.

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• The long version of every opening sequence since Season 1 contains one where Maggie appears to be driving Marge's car, only for a wider shot to reveal that she's playing with a toy steering wheel in her car seat while Marge actually drives (though you can see Marge in the driver's seat earlier than that if you pause).
• "Grampa vs Sexual Inadequacy":
  • Lisa and Bart buy some books, with Lisa buying Peter Ueberroth's biography and Al Gore's book "Sane Planning, Sensible Tomorrow", and Bart buying one about UFOs, saying the government is covering them up (something Lisa derides as being "a paranoid fantasy"). As they get rung up, the library scanner sends a signal to a satellite, which sends it to the US Pentagon, and it's printed out. An Army officer looks over it, and immediately hurries to the White House, reporting to Al Gore... because "someone finally bought a copy of [his] book".
  • Later in the episode when Grampa and Homer take their tonic on the road, once the citizens catch wind of their ruse to make it appear that Homer is a stranger who will demonstrate the potion's effectiveness (in spite of his face being on the bottle), the next scene is of the angry citizens running the duo via car chase out of town. As Grampa yells at him that his bad acting ruined their pitch, Homer then counters that they didn't start chasing them until he put on the getaway music. Indeed, once Grampa switched the radio with said music off, the citizens stop chasing them and drive back home.
• In "Lisa the Vegetarian", Homer pours an entire bottle of lighter fluid onto his barbecue. Then another bottle. Then he goes to light it... and it lights as normal, and he proceeds to cook. Of course, in a Treehouse of Horror episode with a similar scene, the lit barbecue ignites into a mushroom cloud that can be seen from across the city.
  • In the Itchy And Scratchy cartoon within the episode, Itchy tricks Scratchy into cutting up and eating himself by disguising his own belly as rare steak. This isn't what kills Scratchy though, in fact he actually seems to enjoy his meal and never notices the ruse, what really kills Scratchy is seeing the bill. His head explodes.
  • Towards the end of the episode, Paul McCartney asks Lisa if she'd like to hear a song. When she agrees, Paul... asks Apu to play, performing "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band".
• "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday":
  • Homer imagines himself at the Super Bowl.
    Coach: Dang! That was my last quarterback. Now what am I gonna do?
    (The coach looks into the crowd, and sees Homer) You!
    Homer: Me?
    Coach: Yeah, you! Get your hand off my wife's leg!
  • Homer invites most of Springfield's men to get front seats for the Superbowl. But the cards turn out to be faked, and they have to look for another way in. Then they see a waiting wardrobe-on-wheels bearing dozens of marching band uniforms waiting at the rear entrance. They use... the wardrobe-on-wheels to topple two policemen standing next to entrance, and rush past them into the arena's interior. It gets them arrested almost immediately.
• "The PTA Disbands":
  • The Springfield Elementary students, on their way to Fort Springfield, are trying to slow the dilapidated old bus by holding their coats out the window. Cut to a Fort Springfield tour guide showing people a cannon, explaining it's "fully restored and is in ready-to-fire condition" but won't be fired since it's aimed directly at a manned lookout tower, and adding that these old cannons can easily go off if they get a slight shock. The bus crashes straight into it... and nothing happens. "Of course, for safety reasons, we don't keep the cannon loaded. It's just common sense."
  • Later in the episode, Bart plays chess against three people at the same time and loses each game.
• In "Lost Our Lisa" Homer decides that he needs to get up high to be able to scan the surrounding city for her and then goes to a vendor selling balloons, seemingly leading up to a joke that Homer is dumb enough to think he could float using a handful of balloons.... Then, he offers the balloons to a cherry pick driver in exchange for using his machine to lift him up. It works.
  "Well, I've already got some balloons... but they're not this nice. Deal!"
• When Homer is in jail during "Dumbbell Indemnity" Hans Moleman wheels a cart of books into his cell and asks him if he would like something to read. Homer spots "How to Tunnel Out of Prison" and thinks it could be useful. He then knocks Hans out with the book and escapes on the cart.
• "Marge on the Lam":
  • Marge and Ruth Powers drive up to a bar with a large neon sign saying "SH T KICKERS" (the letter between H and T is burned out). Marge comments that she's heard a lot about "Shot Kickers".
  • Only a moment later, we see the two women inside, and Marge is approached by a burly man who asks if she feels like "gettin' lucky." Marge replies that she is lucky, having a husband and three wonderful children, and thanks him for the compliment. He adopts a more threatening tone, saying he ALWAYS gets what he wants. Marge clarifies that she said "No." He is suddenly apologetic, says he misunderstood her, and backs off politely.
• In "Itchy and Scratchy Land", while driving to the titular theme park, Marge tells Homer to find a hotel for the night; Homer tells her, "I'm not tired, I'm not tired at all." A car that appears to be the Simpsons' then crashes into a telephone pole, but then we Smash Cut to the Simpsons watching from the safety of a nearby hotel room.
  Bart: Whew, glad that wasn't us.
• A similar gag is used in "The Parent Rap" where Marge and Homer attempt to place a banner on a female judge's house, and the first two letters can be seen as "BI-", implying that it's "Bitch." They reveal the full banner and it turns out to read "Big Meanie."
• In "Realty Bites" Homer bought Snake's confiscated car, and one of Snake's plans to kill Homer involved laying out some piano wire to decapitate him as he drives by. Homer ducks to pick up a gumball right as the wire goes over him and is then followed by Kirk Van Houten in his car indignantly holding up a sandwich:
  Kirk: I told that idiot to slice my sandwich!
  [wire cuts half of his arm off]
  Kirk: Ow.
• From "Marge vs. Singles, Seniors, Childless Couples and Teens, and Gays":
  Lindsey Neagle: Let's destroy every child... friendly thing in town!
• In "Burns, Baby Burns" Homer and Larry, the son of Mr. Burns, on the run from the law after Homer pretends to kidnap Larry to make his father love him (It Makes Sense in Context). At one point, the two run inside a costume shop and a few seconds later, two figures in costumes that match their sizes walk out, implying that the two are now in disguise. Then shortly after that we cut into the costume shot where the two are actually hiding out in the back closet, and are promptly kicked out by the store's owner.
• In "The War of the Simpsons", Bart complains about being sent to bed before Homer and Marge's party begins, saying, "You can't have any fun in bed." Homer chuckles and says, "Oh, son, when you're older you'll know better." We then see an Imagine Spot where Homer is in bed eating a giant sandwich.
• Almost the exact same joke is done in "The Otto Show", only this time with a pizza in the back of a car.
• In "Lisa the Beauty Queen" Homer tells Bart to always compliment women on how they look and he'll "get something in return." When Bart asks what, Homer says he'll tell Bart when he's older. Homer then imagines lying in a hammock while Marge mows the lawn.
• "Skinner's Sense of Snow":
  • The Simpsons go to an Expy of Cirque du Soleil. While watching some contortionists, Marge whispers to Homer that their poses are giving her ideas. She then imagines herself in those poses... cleaning the bathroom.
  • Later, Chief Wiggum appears to be writing his name into the snow. He even asks Lou to "shake out the last few drops" for him. They turn around to reveal he's just pouring out his coffee thermos.
  • When the children arrive at Springfield Elementary School, Principal Skinner tells them that he's going to put on a movie about "a Grinchy fellow who tries to steal Christmas". The film they see instead is The Christmas That Almost Wasn't, But Then Was.
• Combined with Exact Words in "Kamp Krusty". Homer is on a picnic with Marge during twilight and he's rubbing her shoulders and both have a seductive look. Marge says she's worried they'll miss the fireworks. Homer replies, "We have all the fireworks we need right here." He then pulls back a blanket to reveal a picnic basket filled with fireworks.
• A similar joke happens in "Special Edna". Homer and Marge watch some fireworks, leading Homer to say that they should make some fireworks of their own. Marge seductively agrees... then Homer brings in a cone filled with gunpowder and Marge starts patting it down.
  • Also in "Special Edna", when Skinner is having second thoughts about blackmailing Bart into sabotaging Mrs. Krabappel's nomination, he says to himself, "This is the worst thing I've ever done. Even worse than what I did in 'Nam.". We got to a flashback during the Vietnam War showing him... swiping a cupcake next to a "Cupcakes for officers only" sign.
• In the second segment of "Treehouse of Horror V", Homer changes history causing Springfield to became a totalitarian state run by Ned Flanders. When Homer attempts to escape back to his house and activate the toaster/time machine again to undo the damage, Flanders releases some guard dogs to stop him. Homer then pulls out a string of hot dog wieners, saying "these will help me escape!," which leads you to think he's going to throw the wieners to the guard dogs and they'll be too distracted with eating them to chase him anymore. Instead, Homer eats them himself, which amazingly enough gives him an extra burst of energy that lets him make it back to his house.
• "Lemon of Troy":
  • Bart is being chased by a guard dog. Homer attempts to distract it by throwing a steak its way, but instead the dog swallows it whole while still chasing after Bart, leading Homer to exclaim, "Run boy! He has a taste for meat now!"
  • Bart is discouraged because he can't find the lemon tree. He says that the raid was as useless as the "yellow lemon-shaped rock" he notices behind him, leading the viewer to believe that Bart's about to realize the "rock" is actually a lemon from the tree.
    Bart: Wait a minute... there's a lemon behind that rock!
• In "Homie the Clown", just after Krusty barges into Fat Tony's club (where Homer is already present, dressed as Krusty):
  Legs: (gasps) I'm seeing double here: four Krustys!
• In "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore", before showing his employees an Outsourcing-themed movie, Mr. Burns asked for a minute of silence for the employees who died doing something heroic. Whatever it was, we never got to learn because Homer interrupted him by demanding the movie and the topic was never brought up again.
• Superintendent Chalmers and Principal Skinner doing a sketch for a talent show in "Marge Simpson in: "Screaming Yellow Honkers"":
  Chalmers: Well, Seymour, it seems we've put together a baseball team, and I was wondering; who's on first?
  Skinner: Yes, not the pronoun, but rather a player with the unlikely name of 'Who', is on first!
  Chalmers: Well, that's just great, Seymour. We've been out here six seconds and you've already managed to blow the routine!
• In "Homer Loves Flanders", Homer is sad that he doesn't have tickets for the big Springfield vs Shelbyville game and Lisa attempts to put it in perspective:
  Lisa: It's just another chapter in the pointless rivalry between Springfield and Shelbyville. They built a mini-mall, so we built a bigger mini-mall. They made the world's largest pizza, so we burnt down their city hall.
• In "Thirty Minutes over Tokyo", we think Homer is being racist at first.
  Homer: If we wanted to see some Japanese people, we could have gone to the zoo.
  Marge: Homer!
  Homer: What? The guy who washes the elephants is Japanese. His name's Takashi. He's in my book club.
• In "Bart's Girlfriend", we think Bart is marking off the days on his calendar avoiding seeing Jessica Lovejoy only to conclude, "There. I just need to make it this many days," and re-marks the first day.
• "Viva Ned Flanders":
  • In order to escape the women they accidentally married while drunk, Homer and Ned momentarily mug two janitors in order to steal their uniforms. After some brief sounds of violence occur, the two janitors exit unscathed while Homer and Ned appear brutally beaten up.
  • Later on in the episode, while being chased by the angry mob, Homer and Ned try to find a way to evade them all. Spotting a car on display, both men hop in as Homer cries out "So Long, Suckers!" only for the mob to attack them even before he manages to finish the phrase or they were able to drive off.
• "Barting Over" has Bart find a series of videos entitled "Homer and Marge Get Dirty"... only to discover that the tape is just a recording of the two of them carving pumpkins for Halloween and getting covered in pumpkin pulp as a result.
• The future episode, "Holidays of Future Passed", parodies the Food Pills trope. Marge adds water to a pill labeled "Christmas Cookies", which turns out to be a recipe for cookies. She then takes the ingredients out of the cupboard.
• "Treehouse of Horror IX":
  • When Homer is preparing for surgery:
    Dr. Nick: [holding a syringe] These drugs will make the operation seem like a beautiful dream.
    [Beat]
    [knocks Homer out with a punch to the face and injects himself with the syringe, before dreamily beginning the procedure]
  • Later in the episode, once Snake's soul had possessed Homer into killing Bart, we see an image of the latter looking up and screaming as the sledgehammer the former was carrying comes crashing down on him...only to realize that it was a school picture of Bart in that peculiar pose.
• "The Springfield Files":
  • Homer talks about the Camera Spoofing technique he learned from Speed.
    Homer: I saw this in a movie about a bus that had to speed around the city, keeping its speed over fifty, and if its speed dropped, the bus would explode! I think it was called The Bus That Couldn't Slow Down.
  • During Rev. Lovejoy's sermon and while all of Springfield has "Alien Mania" due to Homer discovering an alien.
    Rev. Lovejoy: I remember another gentle visitor from the heavens. Who came to earth... and then died... only to be brought back to life again. And his name was: E.T., the extra-terrestrial. [sniffs] I love that little guy.
• In "Treehouse of Horror VIII", Bart's DNA is combined with a fly - putting a fly's head on Bart's body. Lisa says "I wonder what happened to his head". Answer Cut to Bart's head on a fly's body - seemingly trapped on a spider's web. But as the spider approaches, Bart flies away and says "sucker" - the spider shaking its legs at him in anger.
  • After Bart and the fly are returned to normal, Homer picks up a fire axe:
  Marge: Homer, what are you doing?
  Homer: Something I should have done a long time ago... [to Bart] I'll teach you to mess with my machine! [cue the episode ending with Homer chasing Bart with the fire axe back and forth across the living room]
  • An earlier scene has Homer using the transporter to get a beer from the fridge, only to grab Snowball II's ear medicine by mistake instead. We then hear a loud, sustained groan from Homer, only for him to proclaim right after, "Ohhh man, that's good!"
• In "Bart Gets an Elephant", Homer opens the door to kids who want to see Stampy the Elephant and offer to pay money to see it. This gives Homer an idea to put up a sign… that says "Go away".
• In "My Mother the Carjacker", Lenny and Carl bow their heads in remembrance of their third friend Steve's hat.
• "Radioactive Man": "Congratulations, Bart Simpson: you're our new Fallout Boy!… That's what I'd be saying to you if you weren't an inch too short. Next!
• In "Marge Be Not Proud", Bart was caught shoplifting and the security guard threatened him with juvenile hall if he caught him in the store again. He hides the message so the family remain unaware but soon learns that they are going to have their picture taken at the same store. Suddenly steam appears to shoot out his ears accompanied by a loud whistle. Marge then announces her teapots are ready and reveals two hot kettles previously hidden behind Bart's head.
• In "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace":
  Edison Museum Tour Guide: Now behind that door is Edison's actual preserved brain. Ordinarily, folks, tour groups are not allowed to see it... [unhooks the rope barrier] ...and of course, today will be no exception! [re-attaches it]
• In "Das Bus", Otto's driving while he hears kids singing:
  Kids: Sixty three bottles of beer on the wall, sixty three bottles of beer...
  Otto: Oh, this song is driving me crazy.
  (Otto fast forwards his cassette tape, and we see the kids on the bus are silent.)
  Kids: B-I-N-G-O and bingo was his name-o!
  Otto: Man, I don't know why I bought this stupid tape! (He ejects the tape, entitled "Songs to Enrage Bus Drivers")
• The Simpsons Movie
  • Homer is nailing shingles, his thumb clearly over the head of the nail. He gets the claw end of the hammer on his eye instead. The gag is revisited at the end, where Homer has clearly learned his lesson, keeping his thumb out of the way and wearing safety goggles. He hammers the nail perfectly... into his thigh.
  • Bart skateboards across town completely naked, with various objects like fences and blown bubbles censoring his privates along the way. Just when it seems like the scene is going to end, he goes past a hedge that hides everything but!
  • Homer is trying to work out how to reach the hole at the top of the dome to get inside it. He stumbles across a military inventory containing a highly visible jetpack, and gasps in delight, before picking up a much less obvious tube of superglue and trying to use it to crawl up the side Spider-Man-style. The plan doesn't work too well...
• In "The Man Who Grew Too Much", Sideshow Bob demonstrates his newfound Super-Strength obtained through giving himself animal DNA by throwing the concrete block chained to his leg through a skylight. Outside, Hans Moleman is selling porcelain figurines. You're led to assume the block will land on the figurines, but instead, it lands on him.
  • A similar joke was previously used in "E. Pluribus Wiggum", where Homer's idiocy causes the fast food district to blow up. After the pizza restaurant blows up, several residents look up at the explosion and have dough land on top of their faces. Then Hans walks up and looks up in anticipation of getting a face full of dough, only to be crushed by a large piece of the building instead.
• In "Mountain of Madness", a mountain ranger finds the workers from the power plant's teamwork exercise in the wrong cabin since the correct cabin was covered by avalanches:
  Ranger: Where is Ranger McFadden?
  Man: (extremely drunk) I was just so happy to see so many nice people!
  Ranger: Quiet, you drunk. Where is Ranger McFadden?
  McFadden: Right here, sir, behind the drunk.
• In "Homer vs. Patty and Selma", not wanting both women in the house, he hikes up his pants and says, "Well, it looks like it's time for me to take out the trash!", meaning the women being trash, only for him to continue his statement by saying, "But first I'm going to have to ask you two to leave!"
• "A Tale of Two Springfields" has Homer and Bart sneaking in to see The Who and trying to bypass the security guards. He then decides to use the chloroform he was given... by giving the guard the bottle as a present. The guard then yells if he wants to see them, he just needed to say so and then throws them out a door—into the dressing room of the band!
• "And Maggie Makes Three":
  • In one scene, Homer quits his job at the nuclear power plant, saying, "Goodbye, mind-numbing, backbreaking labor forever. Hello, dream job in paradise." The scenery around him then fades from the outside of the plant to a tropical beach, complete with appropriate music playing on the soundtrack, selling the idea that Homer's goal is to Pursue the Dream Job in the tropics. Then Homer declares, "And now..." and the camera pulls back to reveal that he's standing in front of a tropical-themed Duff advertisement inside the Bowlarama — the location of his real ideal job — as he continues, "...the final phase of my plan."
  • Later in the episode, to celebrate Homer's new job, he and Marge go out for a romantic evening, with their first activity being dinner and dancing. We see a shot of a high-end restaurant and dance club district, implying that this is where they will spend their evening. Then the camera pans across town to a nearby Krusty Burger, where Homer and Marge are sitting in the drive-thru dancing to the radio.
  • When Patty and Selma learn that Marge is pregnant, she makes them promise not to tell Homer. They go home, and Patty gets out a phone book, opens it to the first page, and calls someone named A. Aaronson, telling him that Marge is pregnant. After that, the scene cuts to Patty, on the last page of the phone book, telling the same to a man named Zykowski. Then she heaves a sigh of relief... and says: "Aaronson and Zykowski are the two biggest gossips in town. In an hour, everyone will know."
• "Lisa on Ice":
  • Principal Skinner calls a school assembly to give academic alerts to various students failing certain subjects. After giving alerts for "Wiggum, Ralph" and "Muntz, Nelson", he starts calling for "Simpson..." and Bart, who is well established to have constant problems at school at this point in the series, preemptively stands up from his seat. Then Skinner finishes, "...Lisa," to the shock of the entire student body.
  • Later in the episode, Lisa has an Imagine Spot where she is exiled to "Monster Island" and informed that the name is wrong. It turns out that Monster Island is actually a peninsula and she does get attacked by monsters.
  • Annoyed at how Lisa's doing well in hockey, his area of dominance over her, Bart decides he should do well in classwork, Lisa's area of dominance over him. So we see a montage of Bart raising his hand to answer questions, but the montage ends with Ms. Krabappel saying "Bart Simpson, would you stop raising your hand!? You haven't had one right answer all day!"
  • After Bart and Lisa make up with each other, ending their game on a tie, Marge tears up over this tender exchange. She sees Homer tearing up too, seemingly moved also, until he says "They're both losers. Losers!"
• In "Simpsons Christmas Stories", the Nutcracker segment shows how the various citizens of Springfield spend their respective holiday. We then see that Groundskeeper Willie is sitting around the table enjoying Christmas dinner with his family...which then turns out to be All Just a Dream as we see him sleeping alone in his shack...which then turns into a Dream Within a Dream as we see him actually passed out in the snow with a flask of whiskey at his side.
• "Jazzy and the Pussycats" begins with the funeral of Amber, Homer's Vegas wife from "Viva Ned Flanders". As the service goes on, Lenny comments on the death, saying, "You know that sign that says "Do Not Stand Up On The Roller Coaster"? Well, she overdosed right in front of it."
• "Bart the Fink" has the family at a will reading and being left some money by a recently deceased relative, but with the stipulation that they spend the night in a haunted house. As they go into the ominous-looking house that night and a Scare Chord is heard and a flash of lightning is seen for effect, the next morning has the sun shining brightly, birds singing, peaceful music heard throughout and the family all standing outside of the home and impressed at how much of a good night's rest they all had, even commenting that the house's linens were much cleaner than the ones at their own home.
• Leopold, Superintendent Chalmers' assistant, could be the poster boy for this trope, despite his very few appearances. In his first appearance, season 5's "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song", when Principal Skinner is fired, Chalmers announces that Skinner has been replaced, and introduces Leopold. A foreboding chord is played as he approaches the podium, and he issues several threats, terrifying the children, as they think Leopold is the replacement. His demeanor immediately changes to friendly as he introduces the real substitute, Ned Flanders, and the audience sighs with relief. This joke is rehashed in season 6's "The PTA Disbands", when Leopold introduces Marge Simpson as a substitute teacher.
• "The Springfield Connection":
  • At the police station, Marge sees three cops apparently taking a criminal into the police station, saying things like "I can't wait to get a piece of you!". It turns out that they are bringing in a pizza.
  • Immediately after Marge is hired as a police officer, there is a cut to an exterior shot of the Simpsons' house as Homer exclaims, "You did WHAT!?" We then cut to Homer and Marge's bedroom at that moment, where Homer has been talking to... Bart.
    Bart: I borrowed your nail clipper, what's the big deal?
    Homer: Nothing, I'm just a little edgy since your mother told me she wants to be a cop.
  • When Marge is going through police training, she attempts to climb over a high wall. Chief Wiggum watches her climb, too amused to inform her that she could have gone through the door.
• In "The Burns Cage", while Homer, Lenny, and Carl discuss the depression of Mr. Smithers, Lenny suggests that they get him a woman, leading the viewer to think that the characters are still oblivious about his actual sexual orientation. Then he adds, "A woman who can find him a man!"
• "Secrets of a Successful Marriage" has a saddened Marge, who just threw Homer out of the house after he told some embarrassing secrets about her he wasn't supposed to, driving down the street and being reminded of the breakup and of her memories of him:
  Homer's voice: (In Marge's head) I love you. Will you marry me, Marge? You mean I'm gonna be a Daddy? I hope we'll always be together...together...together...
  (Marge then turns around and angrily faces the backseat to find Homer hiding back there with a paper towel roll in his hand, having made the "voices" himself)
  Homer: (with a nervous smile) Together?
  (Marge then makes a wide turn that throws him out of the car and onto the street)
• "Fear of Flying":
  • Marge, who is afraid of flying, visits a psychiatrist in the hopes of combating her fear. Bart then spots Principal Skinner in the office, who then tries to hide his face by lifting up a magazine as a disguise, only for him to be on the cover of the issue itself (and making the exact same face, no less.)
  • Homer is looking for a new drinking hole and wanders into the 'She She Lounge' full of butch women:
    Homer: Wait a minute... there's something bothering me about this place... I know! This lesbian bar doesn't have a fire exit! Enjoy your death trap, ladies!
  • The scene is then followed by a woman glancing at Homer after his outburst:
    Woman: What's her problem?
  • A man going by the suspicious name "Guy Incognito" enters Moe's Tavern for a drink. He looks and sounds just like Homer, only with a fancy suit, top hat, and mustache. Having been previously banned from the establishment, the patrons beat him up and throw him out...just in time for Homer to walk by and catch his double lying unconscious on the pavement.
• "Missionary: Impossible":
  • When the PBS show Homer and Bart is preempted for the station manager and Betty White to ask for donations for their pledge drive, they display some items that viewers will receive for their pledges, which include a tote bag with the PBS logo on it and a nice umbrella with a picture of the tote bag with the PBS logo on it.
  • A bit later, when Homer is exposed as the donor of $10,000 to the pledge just to get the show he was enjoying before it was interrupted back on, he tries to think of an idea to get out of the mess and asks for Bart's help. He then heads out the window, apparently to get help...only for him to begin playing on the family swing set.
  • After Homer manages to evade Big Bird in an alley, he shouts, "Bingo!". It is then revealed that "BINGO, 7 PM" is advertised on the church's billboard.
• "Helter Shelter" has the family living in 1895 for a reality show and Bart's initial outfit is a little boy's sailor suit with a curly mop of blonde hair. He refuses to go out as the bullies will beat him up because of his appearance. We then see Dolph, Jimbo and Kearney standing outside of the house with menacing looks on their faces...with the latter two jealous of his outfit and his hair to the point of wanting it for themselves.
• "Bart the Mother" has Marge reading some mail saying that the children are being honored for an elementary school award. To this news, Homer gasps really big (presumably in surprise), then belches out loudly.
• In "Treehouse of Horror VII":
  • The children discover there's something in the attic and run away screaming. We see three porcelain vases, one large, one medium and one small, and hear the kids' muffled voices, making us think that's where Bart, Lisa and Maggie are hiding. Then they come bursting out of the closet.
  • When trying to calm down Bart's crazed long-long twin brother Hugo, Dr. Hibbert gives him a speech and at one point holds up a mirror to see his reflection for the first time. Only it's actually an empty picture frame that he ends up punching him out through.
• In "A Fish Called Selma", as Troy and Selma are in the middle of a makeout session after she accepts his wedding proposal, he then pulls away, takes out some breath spray, says "Just a sec" and initially aims the container at his mouth, only to then spray it into her mouth and resumes kissing her.
• In "The Dad Who Knew Too Little", Bart is trolling Principal Skinner from far away with the laser pointer he bought Lisa for her birthday and has it aimed at his crotch while the latter is outside retrieving his mail. Upon seeing it, he first takes down his pants and still seeing it on his underwear, he pulls them down, too. This immediately gains Chief Wiggum's attention...who then informs him that he should get that red dot checked out by a doctor, claiming that a relative of his died of "crotch dot".
• "Treehouse of Horror XIII": in "The Fright to Creep and Scare Harms," when Billy the Kid comes back from the dead to take over Springfield, he's accompanied by an undead gang consisting of Frank and Jesse James, the Sundance Kid, and "the most evil German of all time...Kaiser Wilhelm!" It is implied the undead gunslingers are unaware of world history which transpired since they were buried, and have never heard of Adolf Hitler.
• "C.E. D'oh" has an Itchy & Scratchy cartoon, "Bleeder of the Pack", where Scratchy (sans his skin) is loaded onto an airplane. But once it takes off, The Big Bopper, Ritchie Valens, and Buddy Holly greet Scratchy. Among realizing who they are, Scratchy cries out "NOOOOOOOOOO!", not because of what happened to the three musicians in real life, but because they are actually vampires that attack him. And then their plane crashes anyways.
• In "El Viaje Misterioso De Nuestro Jomer", Homer is lying on a couch, lamenting that he thought Marge was his soulmate, but now he doesn't know if he even has a soulmate, much less if it's Marge. We are led to assume he's talking to a psychiatrist... until the view widens to reveal that he's lying on a couch in a furniture store, talking to a salesman.
  Salesman: Now, if you don't want the sofa, I'll have to ask you to leave.
• In "The Cartridge Family", Homer concludes that using his gun to rob the Kwik-E-Mart will apparently lead to him becoming a rich State Senator, we then see a close-up of his face deciding to do so. Fortunately, he's already in his car driving away to his chagrin, but decides to do it next time.
• "Homer the Smithers":
  • Smithers, forced to take a vacation, decides to find the worst option for his replacement, so Mr Burns will realise he's irreplaceable. He searches the employee database for a variety of familiar-sounding negative traits, but when this fails to narrow his options down much, he just decides to ask Homer.
  • Also, when Mr. Burns is "accosted" by a drunken Lenny and Smithers begins to blame himself for not protecting him, the former blithely replies that if things really went south, then he always had his mace to defend himself. Not the potent spray in a can, mind you, but the swinging spiked ball on a chain that he has hanging in the back of the limo.
• In "Homer vs. The Eighteenth Amendment", when a recently-fired Chief Wiggum asks Homer if he has an idea to get beer back into town after it's outlawed, the latter coyly says, "Maybe I do, Chief. Maybe I do..." The scene then fades to the living room with him beckoning Bart to come up with an idea while he's doing a headstand.
• In "Two Bad Neighbors", after Bart and Homer in their escalating war with George H. W. Bush fire numerous bottle rockets at his home, he then decides to get even while he holds up a can of spray paint, with the implication that he was going to deface their property with graffiti. Instead, he puts up a banner on his own home with two very crudely drawn pictures of the Simpson men and the headline "Two Bad Neighbors". Unfortunately, the pictures are so poorly rendered that the other neighbors are confused about who he was slandering, even believing he was saying that about Barbara and himself.
• When Bart takes drugs to improve his mental health in "Brother's Little Helper", he tells Lisa, "Did you know most people use ten percent of their brains? I am now one of them."
• In "The Mansion Family", Homer wants to win an award. Lisa points out that he won a Grammy, and Homer says that he means an award worth winning. Then there is a disclaimer that says that Homer's views do not refect those of the producers, who do not consider the Grammy an award at all.
• At one point in "Homer's Barbershop Quartet", Homer is at a Grammys party with the Be-Sharps when he encounters George Harrison and proceeds to freak out...over the brownie he's holding in his hand.
• "Duffless":
  • After Homer is arrested for DWI, we see Lionel Hutz leaning inside of his cell assuring him that he'll get him off of the charges, only for an officer to hit his hand telling him to be quiet as he's sitting in a cell next to Homer's.
  • The next day, Homer is seen outside seemingly in his car and about to leave for work. Marge then bids him goodbye and he leaves... via riding Lisa's bike (which Nelson soon makes fun of him for).
• "Jaws Wired Shut":
  • Homer's reaction to finding out that the Gay Pride Parade at first sounds like he's scared or bigoted towards it, until he lets out a "whoo-hoo!", indicating that his tone was excitement.
  • The Simpson family decides to go see a movie. During the previews, the movie screen shows a word jumble for celebrity names. One seems to obviously spell Tom Hanks, before it's revealed to be "Otm Shank". According to Apu, "He is India's answer to Brian Dennehy."
  • After many previews, the narrator says "And now, our feature presentation..."
    Homer: (gasps with excitement)
    Narrator: If that's a phrase you like to hear, then you'll love MovieCall!
    Homer: (screaming in fury) Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaugh!
  • Marge hears Homer shout out "I'm going to kill you!" and thinks Homer has already gone back to his old ways. It turns out that he was reading the title of a play he was helping Bart prepare for.
• At the end of "Two Dozen and One Greyhounds", She's the Fastest and Santa's Little Helper's 25 puppies earn Mr. Burns over ten million dollars as racing dogs, and in the next scene, Marge goes down to the basement, sees Homer's shadow swinging above the ground, and says, "Homer! For the love of God, no!", implying that Homer hanged himself. It is then revealed that Homer is actually holding onto the rafter and swatting a lightbulb in the basement, which was his only way of comforting himself after having all of the puppies stolen.
• One episode has a shot of the Simpsons' living room showcasing a clean and spacious area with upgraded furniture. It then pans out to reveal that it was only the cover of a magazine amidst the true unkempt mess of the room and that its name is Better Homes Than Yours.
• "Brother From the Same Planet" has Marge, who's about to run an errand, tell Homer to pick up Bart from soccer practice, to which he yells out "I'm on my way!" After she leaves, we see that the phrase was the puzzle answer for the Wheel of Fortune episode he was watching and that he didn't even hear what Marge said.
• "Mom & Pop Art":
  • Homer attempts to build a DIY barbecue pit, but accidentally drops the instructions in the cement, rendering them illegible. In a fit of panic and rage he just starts to stick the various bits together in a random arrangement. The scene then jumps ahead and it seems he's somehow managed to pull it off, with Homer proudly saying "Yeah, that's one fine-looking barbecue pit!". But then it's revealed he's actually just looking at the illustration on the box, and his attempt at a barbecue pit is still a complete mess.
  • At an art show Mr. Burns explains that he gave up a painting of Pablo Picasso's very valuable Guernica to buy a song. While at first that seems like a foolish move on his part, he then continues by saying how "that song" was the rights to the classic "White Christmas"^note the most valuable and successful song in history and made him exceedingly richer.
• In the "Treehouse of Horror XI" segment, "Scary Tales Can Come True", Bart comes across the Three Bears' porridge. He first tests Papa Bear's porridge and finds it too hot, then he tests Mama Bear's porridge and finds it too cold. He then looks over at Baby Bear's porridge, says, "Well, this doesn't take a genius."... and pours Mama Bear's porridge into Papa Bear's.
• "Diatribe of a Mad Housewife":
  • One scene has two in a row. Homer, in desperate need of a job, sees a sign at "Boris' Car Loft" saying "salesman wanted" and gets an idea: He'll steal the sign and make them pay him for a new one. A car salesman catches him immediately and drags him off, saying "I'll show you what we do with scammers like you!". He's hired on the spot.
  • At the end of the episode, Homer and Marge reconcile and Homer suggestively says that they should go home and "collaborate on a little project on [their] own". Cut to the two researching conspiracy theories for their new novel Who Really Killed J.F.K.
• "Homer at the Bat" begins with Homer choking on a donut at the Power Plant's cafeteria. After Lenny asks the other employees if they know where the first aid chart is (to no avail), he says, "Hey, look at this!" as the camera focuses on one for the Heimlich maneuver. The camera then moves over to a note of notice for softball sign-ups, revealing it to be what Lenny was referring to. Fortunately, Homer manages to cough up the donut when he finds out.
• In "Mr. Lisa Goes To Washington", Homer at one point catches Bart in their hotel room, having ordered lots of room service and is getting a massage. As he yells out "Why, you little...!" and slowly but angrily advances on him, Bart reminds him that since Lisa won the essay-writing contest for herself and the family, everything is all expenses paid. The scene then cuts to both of them having room service, getting massages and laughing together.
• "Who Shot Mr. Burns?":
  • In Part 1, Homer is consumed with rage over Mr. Burns repeatedly failing to remember his name. He drives to the plant and sneaks into Burns' office, carrying a duffel bag. The bag contains spray paint, which Homer uses to leave the message "MY NAME IS HOMER SIMPSON". Then, when Mr. Burns walks in on Homer and once again fails to realize who he is, Homer snaps and charges towards Burns... and grabs him by the shirt and shakes him.
  • In Part 2, the climax of the episode sees Homer sneak into Mr. Burns's hospital room and moves towards him, hands raised, intending to make sure Burns stops saying he shot him. When everyone rushes into the hospital room later on, we see Homer yet again shaking Mr. Burns by the shirt.
• "Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily":
  • The Simpsons are told Bart, Lisa and Maggie will be taken to a place where Homer and Marge will never see them again. Then they're left at the Flanders' house next door (which actually is a violation on the 100-foot restraining order Homer and Marge were given against their own children).
  • This happens a couple times with Bart and Lisa at the Flanders' house. First, Ned tells the kids he made "nachos, Flanders style" which is just cucumbers with cottage cheese. Later when Ned invites the family to play a game, Bart and Lisa are initially excited since he referred to it involving a "bombardment" until Ned continues with "of Bible trivia questions".
• "Don't Fear the Roofer":
  • Moe kicks Homer out of his bar after Homer accidentally ruins the cake he prepared for Lenny's surprise party. Homer sadly starts to leave the bar, but Moe stops him, seeming to be inviting him to stay... only for him to scrape the cake Homer sat on off his butt before shoving him out the door.
  • After Homer receives a brutal session of electroshock therapy to alleviate his delusions, Dr. Hibbert asks him who he sees, to which he replies seeing him, Marge and Yogi Bear, only to cry out "Kidding!" for the last one. Hibbert then jovially remarks that he hasn't lost his sense of humor, then to suddenly and grimly explain that that's a bad sign and to subject him to the treatment once again.
• In "The Last Traction Hero", Homer is put in an upper body cast after falling through a trap door under renovation at the Nuclear Power Plant. Bart writes something on Homer's cast in a spot he and the audience can't see, and Homer demands to know what it is. Bart says that it starts with an F and ends with a CK. It is soon revealed that he wrote "FATHER GOOD LUCK".
• In "Old Yeller-Belly", when Homer looks for some new lumber to rebuild Bart's treehouse, he and Bart pass by the lumberyard. When Bart asks Homer why he did that, Homer tells him that only losers buy lumber, and he's going to get free wood from nature's lumberyard as he pulls into a forest, implying he's going to chop down trees to make wood. In the next scene, it's revealed that he and Bart are stealing railroad ties from a train track.
• In "Hungry, Hungry Homer", Lisa receives a Blockoland model of The Eiffel Tower that is missing a piece. When Homer returns to the souvenir stand where it was bought and the clerk refuses to reimburse them, he then shakes his fist at him and offers a "souvenir" of his own; not a punch, but a small snowglobe with a smiling picture of himself. The man is so touched by the gift, he gives her the missing piece of the tower.
• Similarly in "No Loan Again, Naturally", the family loses their home to foreclosure due to Homer's overspending, only for Flanders to buy their home back for them at the last minute. When Ned comes to tell the Simpsons that they are free to stay, Homer says he needs to take care of "a surprise" that he left in the bedroom. The initial way the scene is set makes it look like Homer did something awful for the sake of revenge like take a dump on the bed, but it turns out that he had left behind a bouquet for any future tenants with the note "Please love our home as much as we did."
• In "D'oh-in' in the Wind", Homer tries to become a hippie. After accidentally ruining an entire shipment of his hippie friends' juice business, Homer secretly tries to save it by harvesting vegetables from their secret garden, only to learn too late that the vegetables in question were drugged. This attracts the police, who are willing to kill the hippies, to the farm. Homer makes a Rousing Speech and places flowers in the policemen's rifles, but the last rifle goes off as he is placing the flower into it. The next scene cuts to a graveyard, implying that Homer was killed. The camera then pans over to the hospital, where Homer is being treated for the flower that got lodged in his head.

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