The Simpsons Writer Might Have Entirely Changed Meaning of This Joke After 30 Years

Some of the best jokes, are the ones that you later realize have a deeper meaning that you missed the first time around. That seems to be happening on a global scale today, as The Simpsons fans grapple with the possibility that they’ve misinterpreted a joke from the beloved animated series for decades…but with the caveat that the joke as written (at least according to The Simpsons writer Josh Weinstein) is a bit less funny than the “original version” that existed only in the minds of the audience. Because in most people’s minds, the joke was a total non-sequitur, when in fact it’s rooted in everyday humor.

In the season five episode “Bart Gets Famous,” Bart goes missing during a field trip, prompting a call to his parents from Principal Skinner and Mrs. Krabappel. After getting no answer at home, they call Homer at work, where he’s seen wearing a towel around his waist.

“You’ll have to speak up, I’m wearing a towel,” Homer tells the callers.

For years, many (most?) fans have assumed this was just a case of utterly bizarre humor — after all, he’s wearing a bath towel in the middle of a work day, and there have been no end of jokes over the years about Homer’s failure to take his nuclear safety officer job seriously. Why not assume that the actual line was more or less just there to add to the surrealism?

There’s a mundane answer, though.

“For 25 years, I assumed (and loved it) that it was just a non-sequitur but then someone explained it’s what people with long hair say when they have a towel over their wet hair (and ears) after a shower when they answer the phone,” Weinstein explained via Twitter. “Makes 100% sense but also make me like joke less.” 

Given that Homer is wearing the towel around his waist, not his head — and that he has no hair to actually dry, had he been wearing it around his head, which means this answer would likely  have confused the callers, who know what he looks like — is still a pretty good gag. Nevertheless, for many fans on Twitter, the revelation that there is actually a punchline to the joke seems to have taken a little shine off of it — and got them re-evaluating what other hidden gags they may have missed over the last few decades of The Simpsons.