History ShallowParody / TheSimpsons

* There's something resembling an anime parody in the Season 12 episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS12E9HOMR HOMR]]". While at an animation convention, Bart and Lisa watch a Japanese cartoon (which Bart refers to as "Japanimation", a term which hasn't seen much use since The80s) in which a robot-wolf-like creature captures a female warrior who turns into a prawn and destroys the robo-wolf, who then turns into a pair of wind-up shoes and walks away. So the point Al Jean (the episode writer) is making is "Ha-ha-ha, [[QuirkyWork anime is weird]]" (which Bart and Lisa lampshade). Oddly, it seems more like a parody of American science fantasy cartoons from the '80s (''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983'', ''Thundarr the Barbarian'' etc.) than actual anime. Same thing with the "Battling Seizure Robots" parody from Season 10's "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS10E23ThirtyMinutesOverTokyo Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo]]" (though that's more of a reference to that infamous ''Pokémon'' episode "Electric Soldier Porygon", which was banned after viewers suffered seizures).

* The parody of ''Series/{{Dinosaurs}}'' in the episode "Black Widower" [[TheyCopiedItSoItSucks accuses the show of plagiarizing]] ''The Simpsons'' and singles out the character of Robbie in particular as being a copy of Bart. The parody only vaguely resembles the real show, because ''Dinosaurs'' and ''The Simpsons'' have very little in common besides being broad satires of {{Sitcom}} tropes, and Robbie and Bart are absolutely nothing alike other than being the older brothers in their respective ABoyAGirlAndABabyFamily, and if anything, Robbie is more similar to Lisa, being the resident SoapboxSadie and VoiceOfReason.

* "Round Springfield" has a brief joke involving Mufasa showing up in the clouds and saying, "You must avenge my death Kimba-I mean Simba.". Not only is the notion that ''The Lion King is a carbon copy of ''Kimba the White Lion'' a [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/CommonKnowledge/KimbaTheWhiteLion grossly embellished one]], but Mufasa never told Simba to "avenge his death" but rather that Simba needed to return and take back his place in the "circle of life".

* The parody of ''Series/{{Dinosaurs}}'' in the episode "Black Widower" [[TheyCopiedItSoItSucks accuses the show of plagiarizing]] ''The Simpsons'' and singles out the character of Robbie in particular as being a copy of Bart. The parody only vaguely resembles the real show, because ''Dinosaurs'' and ''The Simpsons'' have very little in common besides being broad satires of {{Sitcom}} tropes, and Robbie and Bart are absolutely nothing alike (if anything, Robbie has more in common with Lisa).

* There's something resembling an anime parody in the Season 12 episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS12E9HOMR HOMR]]". While at an animation convention, Bart and Lisa watch a Japanese cartoon (which Bart refers to as "Japanimation", a term which hasn't seen much use since TheEighties) in which a robot-wolf-like creature captures a female warrior who turns into a prawn and destroys the robo-wolf, who then turns into a pair of wind-up shoes and walks away. So the point Al Jean (the episode writer) is making is "Ha-ha-ha, [[QuirkyWork anime is weird]]" (which Bart and Lisa lampshade). Oddly, it seems more like a parody of American science fantasy cartoons from the '80s (''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983'', ''Thundarr the Barbarian'' etc.) than actual anime. Same thing with the "Battling Seizure Robots" parody from Season 10's "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS10E23ThirtyMinutesOverTokyo Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo]]" (though that's more of a reference to that infamous ''Pokémon'' episode "Electric Soldier Porygon", which was banned after viewers suffered seizures).

* There's something resembling an anime parody in the Season 12 episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS12E9HOMR HOMR]]". While at an animation convention, Bart and Lisa watch a Japanese cartoon (which Bart refers to as "Japanimation", a term which hasn't seen much use since TheEighties) in which a robot-wolf-like creature captures a female warrior who turns into a prawn and destroys the robo-wolf, who then turns into a pair of wind-up shoes and walks away. So the point Al Jean (the episode writer) is making is "Ha-ha-ha, [[WidgetSeries anime is weird]]" (which Bart and Lisa lampshade). Oddly, it seems more like a parody of American science fantasy cartoons from the '80s (''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983'', ''Thundarr the Barbarian'' etc.) than actual anime. Same thing with the "Battling Seizure Robots" parody from Season 10's "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS10E23ThirtyMinutesOverTokyo Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo]]" (though that's more of a reference to that infamous ''Pokémon'' episode "Electric Soldier Porygon", which was banned after viewers suffered seizures).

* The parody of ''Series/{{Dinosaurs}}'' in the episode "Black Widower" [[TheyCopiedItSoItSucks accuses the show of plagiarizing ''The Simpsons'']] and singles out the character of Robbie in particular as being a copy of Bart. The parody only vaguely resembles the real show, because ''Dinosaurs'' and ''The Simpsons'' have very little in common besides being broad satires of {{Sitcom}} tropes, and Robbie and Bart are absolutely nothing alike (if anything, Robbie has more in common with Lisa).

* Their "Bartman Begins" parody does try to just spoof Creator/ChristopherNolan's ''Film/BatmanBegins''. Instead they present a general recapitulation of the character type, promiscuously drawing from various ''Batman'' media. The campy villains and bizarre decision to set the story in 1933 are strange enough, but the most egregious is making Ba(r)tman a SociopathicHero. He avenges his parents' murders by killing all criminals, [[AllCrimesAreEqual even nonviolent ones]] - and, in some cases, people who simply ''look'' like criminals! He shoves them into [[NoOSHACompliance exposed electrical wiring]] purely out of spite, and they die instantly. Granted Batman did kill criminals early on in the comics, but that aspect was phased out. Ironically it ends up working better as an unintentional parody of Frank Miller's Batman in the infamous "All Star Batman and Robin" comic.

* Season 12's episode ''"Pokey Mom"'' is the most blatant example of this, the name of the episode is clearly meant to sound alike to ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' as the episode came out in the admist of PokéMania, and what does the episode have to do with Pokémon? ''Literally nothing''; it's an episode about Marge taking care of an ex-convict and the B-plot is about Homer becoming an unlicensed chiropractor with the use of a garbage can. The name of the episode is completely arbitrary beyond alluding to it being a Marge-centric episode (for the confused, "the pokey" is an old slang term for jail, so it's really just a PunnyTitle about Marge's A-plot that happens to be very loosely based on the name "Pokémon").

* Season 12's episode ''"Pokey Mom"'' is the most blatant example of this, the name of the episode is clearly meant to sound alike to ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' as the episode came out in the admist of PokéMania, and what does the episode have to do with Pokémon? ''Literally nothing''; it's an episode about Marge taking care of an ex-convict and the B-plot is about Homer becoming an unlicensed chiropractor with the use of a garbage can. The name of the episode is completely arbitrary beyond alluding to it being a Marge-centric episode.

* Another episode had a parody of ''Radio/FibberMcGeeAndMolly'' consisting only on lame puns and jokes about alcoholism, none of which were featured in the actual show.

* The 2010 ''Treehouse of Horror'' episode features a parody of ''Film/{{Twilight}}''. ''Twilight'' being probably one of the most widely-parodied subjects of the era, it's rather conspicuous when the only ''Twilight'' elements are the fact that it features a RomanticVampireBoy who looks like Edward Cullen, a few scenes that seem to have been taken from the first film's trailer, and a gag about [[FurAgainstFang Milhouse being a were-poodle]]--all of which happen very early in the episode. The most infamous element of the franchise--that ''Twilight'' vampires sparkle in sunlight--isn't acknowledged at all, nor are any of the other StockParodyJokes about ''Twilight'' (creepy relationship dynamics, oddly-sanitized takes on vampire lore, Bella's lack of personality) that made it such a punching bag back in the early '10s. Tellingly, at one point in the episode, Literature/{{Dracula}} shows up: in most other parodies of the era, this would mark [[YourVampiresSuck some kind of comparison]] between classical vampires and ''Twilight''-style ones, possibly resulting in a fight between Dracula and not-Edward. Instead, the differences are never acknowledged; in fact, Dracula is Edward's dad, and there's no sign of animosity between them. Basically, for this one, they hadn't even seen ''other parodies'' of ''Twilight.''

* A Radio Disney announcer in the episode "Large Marge" describes the station as "your favorite songs, rewritten for babies." This is a reference to the fact that Radio Disney had a one-hour block aimed at infants, though the block had been discontinued by the time the episode had aired, (though it did return for a while in 2011) and because the station was mainly aimed at tweens and teens some people got confused by the joke (as even some listeners weren't even aware such a block existed on the station).

* A Radio Disney announcer in the episode "Large Marge" describes the station as "your favorite songs, rewritten for babies." This is a reference to the fact that Radio Disney had a one-hour block aimed at infants, though the block had been discontinued by the time the episode had aired, (though it did return for a while in 2011) and because the station was mainly aimed at tweens and teens some people got confused by the joke(as even some listeners weren't even aware such a block existed on the station).

* Their "Bartman Begins" parody is just as bad. They don't even try to spoof Creator/ChristopherNolan's ''Film/BatmanBegins''. Instead they present a general recapitulation of the character type, promiscuously drawing from various ''Batman'' media. The campy villains and bizarre decision to set the story in 1933 (six years before Batman even existed!) are bad enough, but worst of all is their making Ba(r)tman a SociopathicHero. He avenges his parents' murders by killing all criminals, [[AllCrimesAreEqual even nonviolent ones]] - and, in some cases, people who simply ''look'' like criminals! He shoves them into [[NoOSHACompliance exposed electrical wiring]] purely out of spite, and they die instantly. Granted Batman did kill criminals early on in the comics, but that aspect was phased out. Ironically it ends up working better as an unintentional parody of Frank Miller's Batman in the infamous "All Star Batman and Robin" comic.

* A Radio Disney announcer in the episode "Large Marge" describes the station as "your favorite songs, rewritten for babies." It feels like the writer who pitched this joke made an assumption of what Radio Disney is solely based on its name (or possibly confusing it with Music/KidzBop); the program doesn't "rewrite" songs, and it's oriented towards teenagers.

* [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin As the title implies]], Season 23's "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS23E11TheDohcialNetwork The D'oh-cial Network]]" is established as a parody of ''Film/TheSocialNetwork''. The similarities, however, are more or less restricted to: Lisa starting a Website/{{Facebook}} {{Expy}} networking site, use of Music/{{Radiohead}}'s "Creep" (which was present in the ''trailer'', not the actual film), and a cameo by Creator/ArmieHammer. It seems like the writers watched a trailer for ''The Social Network'' before penning this one.

* In a sort of crossover with the ''Robot Chicken'' entry above[[note]]Due in part to RC regular Tom Root writing it[[/note]], the CouchGag for "The Cad and The Hat" uses a rather out of place parody of the California Raisins singing about how bad they are to the tune of the Music/MarvinGaye hit turned jingle, "Heard it Through the Grapevine".

* [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin As the title implies]], Season 23's "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS23E11TheDohcialNetwork The D'oh-cial Network]]" is established as a parody of [[Film/TheSocialNetwork a certain 2010 film]]. The similarities are more or less restricted to: Lisa starting a Website/{{Facebook}} {{Expy}} networking site, use of Music/{{Radiohead}}'s "Creep" (used in the ''trailer'', not the actual film), and a cameo by Creator/ArmieHammer. It seems like the writers watched a trailer for ''The Social Network'' before penning this one.