If you have been watching TV for the last few years, you probably have a favorite tongue-in-cheek, self-referential joke from your favorite show.
These kinds of jokes are especially common on FOX, a network populated by shows that are famous for being risque and breaking the mold…but which is famously owned and run by ultra-conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
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Even in the days before Disney bought the Fox movie and TV assets and made a year of easy punchlines for comedians, the idea of FOX shows taking aim at their corporate overlords was a pretty common one.
So, in the spirit of the internet, YouTuber Synthetic Saint has created an almost 15-minute-long video pulling together examples of this from various FOX shows, including The Simpsons, Family Guy, Futurama, and more.
It’s a ton of fun, even if you have probably already seen the best bits already.
Older shows like Married…With Children and The Critic are represented as well, although not quite as much as The Simpsons, which is probably about 2/3 of the video alone.
Which shouldn’t surprise anyone, since The Simpsons is generally not just politically vocal and astute, but surprisingly good at getting out ahead of things before they beome mainstream ideas.
The Simpsons had predicted the Trump presidency way back in the year 2000.
After the buzz on social media about The Simpsons’ precognitive abilities, leave it to show to have a witty retort to its own trending popularity. As The Simpsons aired its new episode on the week after the 2016 presidential election, it included sly commentary in its opening credits, as part of Bart’s customary chalkboard writing gag: “It sucks to be right.”
The shape of FOX following its upcoming merger with Disney (something else The Simpsons correctly guessed years ago) is yet to be defined, and while it seems like a safe bet that FOX shows will keep making these jokes going forward…well, there’s no guarantee. Disney is fiercely protective of its image, as evidenced by the recent firings of controversial-but-money-making figures like Roseanne Barr and James Gunn.
FOX’s animated lineup, including The Simpsons and Family Guy, begins again this weekend when The Simpsons premieres its 30th season on Sunday, November 30 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
Disney’s