‘The Simpsons’: Homer Makes History By Using Popular GIF Of Himself

The Simpsons may not get the same love it used to from the masses, but the show’s classic moments have definitely lived on in this new era of Internet memes and .gifs. In fact, The Simpsons no doubt inspired one of the most popular.gifs in all of social media: Homer Simpson Backing into the bushes. It’s been the pitch-perfect response for social media interactions – be it when you want to exit a discussion; offer a quick perspective and duck back out; or the other million snarky ways people have found for its use.

The moment comes from the episode “Homer Loves Flanders” (S5E16), when Homer comes to invite his newfound BFF Ned Flanders to a round of min-golf. The chaste and pious Ned breaks from his usual moral righteousness by lying to Homer that his family already had plans. Homer fades back into the bushes bewteen their houses, mimicking the T-1000 from Terminator 2, and setting a later sequence where ‘T-1000 Homer’ chases the Flanders family down in their Geo.

Fans of the Simpsons in its ’90s heyday have loved those scenes for years, and in the latest episode of the series, the opening credits paid special homage to the ‘Homer in the bushes’ .gif craze!

Homer Wins the Internet

If The Simpsons doesn’t want to do a whole show anymore, a weekly opening credits sequence with different jokes embedded would still be fine by us… 

Grandpa Remix

The Simpsons gave a perfect response to the Internet. 

Then the Internet gave a perfect response to The Simpsons‘ perfect response. 

Don’t Come For Them

This guy thought he knew better about what that Simpsons opening credits joke was all about than the makers of the show. 

As the Internet quickly showed him, he was dead wrong about it, and for it. 

Best In Years

This little in Joke has even gotten the attention of Simpsons fans who haven’t appreciate the show’s humor for a long time. 

The Opposite Effect

For other fans, moments like this just make them want to go back to the good old days of the show. 

More Meta Than Ever

The Simpsons is, by now, such a big cultural staple for its skewed mirror of our society and changing times that it’s impossible for it not to be meta in its self-awareness. 

Mind Blown

Some people can’t handle the level of meta that The Simpsons has reached in our culture. 

Eventually, we may find out that we’re all just an episode of the show. 

GIFception

How long before someone adds those Inception horns to that Homer .gif? 

Time Keeps On Slipping…

In the end, for people who saw this .gif moment when it first aired, this new meta reference is just further conformation that we’re getting old. 

The Simpsons is still airing Sunday nights at 8/7c on Fox.