Don't forget Apu's children. Maggie is still a baby since before Apu met his wife. Now all 8 children are the same age or even older than Maggie.

There's a Christmas episode where Gill literally lives a full year in the Simpsons' house. So if there was a linear timeline or any continuity, he'd be in their home almost every episode.

You all are missing the most obvious explanation. There is a new couch gag in the beginning of every episode. The couch throws them into a new reality every time.

In the Simpsons/Family Guy crossover episode, 10-year-old Bart tells Chris how he's being tormented every day by Nelson. Chris asks him how long this has been happening and he says, "26 years."

Ned's wife dies, he recovers, he remarries, and his new wife dies, all in less than a year...

It blows my mind when I realize that I was the same age as Bart and Lisa when the show started, and now I'm the same age as Homer and Marge.

I'll just stick to the most logical answer. The writers and producers threw continuity out of the window years ago.

there's one mistake in the B-sharps episode. santa's little helper is present even though bart and lisa are toddlers

This video made me feel weird. Mostly the idea of Bart going through 10 Xmases while never getting older. It's weird how Futurama has such a perfect timeline and was made by the same people.

If and when they ever get to a final episode... I really hope the plot of that last episode is all about the time-line. Like how it's all professor Frink's fault or something. Like he could come out and admit to the town that one of his wacky time machines has been acting up for a few decades and he's finally figured out how to shut it down. And they get all angry at him, and tell him yeah, go ahead and do it then. And suddenly Bart is 40 and fat and bald, Homer looks like his father and EVERYBODY is unhappy with the reality of what they're "supposed" to look like (like MUCH older versions of the original Tracy Ullman animation)... so they tell Frink to just turn his wonky machine back on and everything returns to the status quo one last time. The End.

Another theory: Burns' pollution of the Springfield watersupply started some time in the late 80's because Burns didn't want to die of old age, somehow the radioactive material is making everyone not age or at the very least age slowly. Being affected by it takes a few years however, which is why Apu's kids are seemingly older than Maggie now.

I kinda prefer the alternative timeline explanation, as it explains away why characters have personality traits that differ and are more or less exaggerated from episode to episode (when in reality it's because of the preference of the writer of the episode). For example one episode Otto can be completely incompetent as a bus driver while other he's just a laid back guy who happens to drive the bus, one episode Barney is a recovering alcoholic and the next he's one of the lads with no reference made.

One weird episode, In the season 17 episode Sideshow Bob moves to Italy becomes major and has a son, who appears to be older than Maggie.

I heard that if the show ends, Matt Groening wants it to end at the talent show, infinite loop.

I love these episodes, looking at the weirdness of The Simpsons and asking "What if a Wizard DIDN'T do it?"

I wish I could re-write this video to adjust the tone of it. I completely agree that it's just a cartoon and the whole thing is silly. It's completely cuckoo-bananas! This video is more or less a, "Look at how ridiculous cartoon logic becomes after 20 years" demonstration, and how convoluted a theory has to become just to (kinda) make it work. I think The Simpsons is worth looking at because it is such a ridiculous mess.

my theory is that bart got electrocuted by a his pikachu when bart was trying to protect him from a flock of spearow, and all the events that occur in the simpsons are just occurring in barts comatose mind.

man, the art quality really went down after season 39

Uh-Oh. I think watching this may have brained my damage.

I'm glad someone finally tried to figure out how a floating timeline works rather than just chalking it up to "it's just a cartoon". Another great video from RealJims

Minor correction: The "Time and Punishment" Treehouse of Horror segment isn't technically completely separate universes. It's really a split timeline (although the split point happens a long time ago). It's far enough back to basically be separate universes, though.

No reference to the fact that Apu's kids age?

Remember when Homer and Marge were seniors in high school in 1974? Remember when Lisa got married at age 23 in 2010? Abe fought in WW2 and was born in 1907.

The Simpsons always takes place in whatever year it currently is

The simpsons writers obviously didnt care about continuation and things like that. What is the point of trying to decode the timeline if there is none?

You know that scene where Homer lists every job he's ever had? That kind of proves the comic book timeline theory.

I'd love to see "Kill Gil" worked into the Christmas paradox. We get two Christmases in one episode and the entire year in between, including the start of the new school year with, you guessed it, no promotions for Bart or Lisa.

I think the most noticeable thing are all the kid characters growing up in the era where they can run around and play in the first seasons, to seeing those same characters now be stuck on cellphones all day. Bart could be playing a NES knock-off in a 90's ep and he could consider it an ancient console nowadays. Homer (like most people) went from not knowing how to use a computer, to being able to surf the web and use memes and whatnot (also like most people).

One thing I thought about that always confused me is how they've met celebrities that have both been on the show and passed away during the show's run. Like James Brown, Leonard Nimoy and such. But I'm guessing the whole "character death" thing is a big enough issue with the timeline as is, like you said with Maude. But then there's like Bleeding Gums Murphy who dies, meaning that Moaning Lisa, Dancing Homer and Round Springfield (along with any other episode he's in) have to happen in the same timeline, but wouldn't effect anything if they're taken out of all of the others. I am confusing myself greatly.

That toaster theory actually has some visual proof. In one episode, Milhouse has a snake tongue for a quick gag like at the end of Time and Punishment. And not all treehouses of horror stories have to be non canon. Still something to think about. Maybe this could even explain the minor changes in each intro and the various couch gags.

I wish they would've stopped doing the floating time line thing and actually let the characters get a little older every few years. The show would be so much better because they'd be able to come up with so many fresh new ideas.

I always figured "Bart Gets An F" could fit in the same timeline as Kamp Krusty or Summer of 4'2". It's winter in Bart Gets An F, with snow on the ground, so maybe Bart was worried about his midterms (which usually happen in winter) and then comes the summer paradox. I think Kamp Krusty and Summer of 4'2" could happen in the same year, but at different points in the summer break. We don't know if Kamp Krusty was supposed to last the entire summer or just a few weeks.

Also, this is what I get for waiting to record the ending until after animating. I got a pretty bad cold in the middle of editing. You can totally hear it in my voice during the wrap-up. :p

My theory is that it's probably a cartoon.

There are 5 realities, 6 if you include Abe Simpson, one for each Simpson. Each reality is how they remember it happening. For the adults remembering, the kids grade level is always kind of fuzzy since they aren't going through it. Same with the kids realities viewing the adults, the jobs are kind of fuzzy. The areas of the show with what appears to be continuity errors is showing where events are recalled differently by at least 2 Simpsons. Some realities are self aggrandizing while are self deprecating, some view other Simpsons on a pedestal while others as if in a gutter. A true Simpsons timeline might exist but since each reality is lived by a different Simpson there is no exist way of knowing the objective truth of how the events to place.

"A wizard did it, when ever there's something you don't understand, a wizard did it..." "bu-"

The Simpsons now goes around the loop, revisiting old themes/episodes for a re-do but with update pop-culture references.

My favourite theory about this is the one put forward by the XKCD guy: the Simpson family is under a wizard spell that keeps the family, especially the kids, from ageing, because that way Bart never turns 11 and never gets his Hogwarts (or I guess Ilvermony) letter.

One of my favorite Simpsons paradoxes comes from whether Futurama is fictional, or rather The Simpsons. Futurama has the garbage planet littered with Bart Simpson dolls, yet in The Simpsons, Matt Groening is the acclaimed Futurama creator. Of course, more recently, we have "Simpsorama" and the comic book crossover crisis to thank for meddling even more!

Another thing you left out is that some episodes are specifically set in certain years. For example, the episode where young Homer & Marge and baby Bart are living in an apartment before moving to their current house in the suburbs specifically says its in 1980. Also in another episode Homer is shown to be a teenager when the moon landing happened in 1969. Yet with the 90's episode that is all thrown out the window.

I have heard rumours that The Simpsons was meant to be originally set in the 1950's, but the producers changed it to the "present day", so that audiences could relate to it a lot more

This is a fascinating subject. The real world has changed a lot since the Simpsons began and this show will certainly never completely catch up. Thank you for doing this video. I think that the alternative timeline theory does make a lot of sense. They have done even more Christmas specials now which of course makes things even more complicated. I always enjoy your mystery discussions. Never know what surprise is going to come around that bend!

Maybe the Simpsons live in a realm where no one ages yet the influence of the outside world can still enter the realm. The only person who is affected by age is “Just Stamp The Ticket Man” because he looks older in Lisa Goes Gaga. The characters never move on to other grades because they forget the previous year, and think they’ve reached a new year. So, the realm was created in the first episode, “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire”. After this, we’re witnessing the aftermath of a WandaVision-like Hex in a provincial town that was broadcast on live television. The characters remember what happens before the realm was created, as we see in flashback episodes like Fland Canyon. In “So Its Come to This”, Homer falls into a coma and remembers all he’s seen in the realm, but never mentions it after this as he’s once again affected by the realm. That or I need more sleep.

Bart is the deity of Springfield, through his hundreds of detentions he has perfected eternal youth, and can open up a portal which takes him to any time, he can implant memories to anyone around him and is an omniscient and omnipotent being who lives outside of time, any stories we are told through this show called “The Simpsons” are simply this being’s thoughts bleeding into our own timeline.

Easy, Occam's Razor answer: the show was never intended to exceed more than a few seasons, due to its strange premise and controversial nature. Other similar shows released around the same time rarely survived past a 2nd season, hence the writers and creators of the Simpsons just created show after show -- myopically -- without any real forethought or intention of the series lasting for multiple decades. Probably at the end of the golden era, the writers just became self-aware of the show's longevity, and just continued making Christmas episodes with no regard for the flow of time. Here's a good comparison using another Fox sitcom that had several seasons: "That '70s' Show" was created just to be a goofy novelty show with no intention of being popular or having longevity, which is why episodes of the first season take place at random dates and years in the 1970s. There's an early episode where the main cast goes to see Star Wars in the theater (1977), and a subsequent episode involves a bicentennial celebration (1976 of course). Again, the writers didn't figure the show would catch on and survive for how long it ultimately did, and just stopped regarding linear continuity.

Maybe the Simpsons are robots similar to the ones in westworld, living the same year over and over for each set of visitors that come. What we see is a selection of stories that occur during different run throughs.

Maybe it's all just stories being told by an aging/senile Bart Simpson. Or it's just a cartoon.

Grandpa is 90 But fought in both world Wars

I just realized something: Lisa has dated Ralph, Milhouse, and Nelson. Let's take a look at their ages. Lisa and Ralph make sense. Milhouse is in the fourth grade. Milhouse and Lisa are two grades apart. In the episode with the bus in the river, Nelson had gotten held back twice, which means he SHOULD be in the sixth grade. A sixth grader dating a second grader. Weird pairings going on here.

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Theory: the Simpsons are just memories from the Simpsons family past, that are being retold by them. The reason certain things don’t make sense is because sometimes memories are patchy. Their age is another instance of this patchy memory. The ‘mistakes’ in the timeline are the memories being retold wrong.

This is a fantastic look into the problems of "divergent timelines" as an explanation for continuity issues in a long running TV series

I'm so high thanks for uploading this

I maintain the loop starts on Halloween. Treehouse of Horror could be the time in which the universe suddenly does hiccups and backflips, needing to reset afterwards. The escalation of the insanity of what's depicted in Treehouse of Horror could be explained as the universe is becoming more fragile with each reset--and this is why elements that should only be confined to it start to seep more into the actual episodes themselves (hence, as mentioned in the video, jockey elves--and all that sort of stuff). The first Treehouse of Horror stuff even started out as more structured, just starting out as spooky stories the kids told themselves in the treehouse, the basis for the reset being only where reality begins cracking in the imagination. However, the next one is presented as more of a play of sorts, with Marge coming from behind a curtain to warn about the horror, but this one is moving a little beyond the imagination, but still seen as fictional in the universe. Once the framing device was dropped however, is when the events started to affect the "real" world itself. It's an event that is growing larger and like somebody mentioned is probably Professor Frink's fault. Glavin.Yeah, this video is 2 years old, but I still wanted to posit this. Maybe somebody will read it and enjoy the ridiculous postulation.

The multiverse theory makes sense, especially when you consider that one of the couch gags included Rick and Morty, who's plot heavily revolves around the multiverse. It would explain multiple past and futures, while some things stay the same. It could also make the treehouse of horror episodes cannon, since they would just exist in a separate universe than the more regular Simpsons.

In the words of Lisa, "cartoons don't have to be 100% accurate".

I forgot about that toaster, that clears a lot up

The three graduation episodes aren't actually contradictory. 'Bart Gets an F' clearly happens in late winter or early spring, as there is snow present. It's even a plot point. 'Kamp Krusty' shows Bart's last day in the fourth grade as well as the six weeks the kids spend at the camp during summer. 'Summer of 4 Ft. 2' shows Lisa's last day of second grade, and could take place during 'Kamp Krusty'. The parts when the family goes to the Flanders' summer house could easily be set later in the summer, perhaps after the kids has been to Kamp Krusty. Lisa's identity insecurities would probably still exist even after her visit to the camp. Otherwise, I really enjoyed these videos. I find the Simpsons timeline to be interesting too, and it really bothers me that they screwed up with the Christmas episodes. The whole concept of a floating timeline bothers me.

that hypothetical about bart not batting an eye about graduating 4th grade 3 times just made me laugh hysterically and then have a mini existential crisis

When you brought up "Grandpa vs Sexual Inadequacy" I thought you were going to bring up something that I noticed, but I guess not. Anyway, at the end of that episode, Grandpa and Homer simultaneously burn down the farm Homer grew up in. However, in "E-I-E-I-(Annoyed grunt)" the Simpsons move there after Homer pussies out of his duel with the Southern gentleman. Come to think of it, there was also that episode where Homer finds out his middle name, and I think that took place there too. Anyway, that's just another contradiction to throw into the pile.

One really awkward part about trying to put every episode into a single continuity, squeezing them all into a single year, is that Gil would be living at the Simpsons' house during nearly every episode...

For those who tl;dw The Simpson's timeline is fucked.

I´m gonna go with Cracked´s answer and say they live in the Matrix

*Trying to figure out the Simpsons continuity* Universe: ight imma head out

the whole show is about Homer in a coma from one of his 1st season head hits

My idea is that they are ageless in the present, that they keep going through time, and are aware of it, as in when in the Family Guy crossover, Stewie asks Bart how long Nelson has been bullying him, and he says '24 years' or something. It's just that the characters are the same age, but still learn and change in some ways. The plot is to me that the Simpsons characters are personalities living through the lifespan of the shows, and other events they reference are relative to when they are referenced. They have referred to 2010 as the far future, but they were still airing in 2010, and they still are to this day. It's how Maggie can have been born in both 1988 and 2016. The future of 2010 is just from a fortune teller. There is no way to vouch for it being canon. 'That '90s Show' is a retelling of the past from a future reference point. Every year, the show is about a lower-middle class family in America in the current year. How they'll react and interact to and with the world around them. There is also another layer, where these personal permanent changes occur. It's as if the characters are ageless and playing the roles of themselves every year, acting out whatever story it is this time. This also explains all fourth wall breaks. The Simpsons isn't just a show to us. It's a show to them. There is an episode where they talk about what it's like to film The Simpsons. I think this will be revealed at the end of the series, in a rather clever way.

This was awesome to watch. Thank you so much for taking the time to publish these observations. I enjoyed this. You are super smart.

The music selection in these videos is impeccable. The music is really doing work in making these videos super engaging.

I'd say it's a selectively resetting timeline. The chronological year moves forward by one, but the relative ages and personalities of the characters stay the same, they just reset. If new characters are introduced, they enter the loop. If old characters die, they're not back for the next run. The characters retain a vague-ish knowledge of prior events, but aren't aware that the loop keeps resetting.

As Lucy Lawless explained in one Halloween episode: It's always the wizard.

This is very well thought out, and presented excellently. Furthermore, this adds a tremendous amount of 'entertainment value' to The Simpsons. Looking forward to the future timeline episode!!! There have been a lot of those in-the-future episodes...

What a lovely episode on an issue I gave up on ages ago... So neat to see someone tackle it in a serious fashion ^_^

Chronitons. The answer is always chronitons

DAMNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN i have to say, KZfaq is littered with people who all do the same damn thing, but this , this is the kind of work that makes youtube great. you a true youtuber dude

Obviously they're in a time cube, living four simultaneous years in four corners of the same reality and four sides on all four corners. The writers are well researched.

I love how much thought, effort and time was put into taking this seriously and trying to providing a complex convoluted answer. The simple answer however is the writers either ignore or acknowledge the passing of time when it suits them and the story they want to tell that episode. The advantage of a cartoon is that they have the freedom to do this.

I like how they brought back Mike Scioscia and referred back to his previous episode where he got radiation poisoning while working at the power plant. :D

Maybe this show and Family Guy, since they have crossed over, are all in the Futurama multiverse(s). Bender is currently sitting in their basement.

Okay, I've got an idea: The series begins with the original Christmas skit, Then the timeline splits off into three seperate timelines for when Bart graduates 4th grade, And they reconverge anywhere between those episodes and next Christmas, with any appropriate episodes in between.

Great vid! Thanks for adding the music selection at the end man.

The comic book buy also got a girlfriend who appears every few episodes when he is in a public area making a funny remark or just being there.

I think the Simpsons timeline works the same as what Roland Deschain goes through in The Dark Tower. Time flows forward at a pace more or less consistent with the real world until some undefined event takes place that resets the world to a previous set starting point. With each "loop" the characters may or may not remember the events of previous loops but certain things happen that stick and stay the same on all future loops, such as Maude Flanders being dead. Things like the repeated appearances of Sideshow Bob can be explained by the initial episode Krusty Gets Busted being the same on each loop and subsequent stories being a "part two" to that one episode on different loops (unless there's an episode I'm forgetting that references them all of course). The most likely explanation for why the infinite loop is occurring probably has something to do with Professor Frink and one of his experiments that went wrong and thus the loop is probably contained to Springfield and the fictional state of North Takoma that the town is in.

These videos are the best, thank you for making them!

great video Jim! super interesting and must've taken so much work

And you still haven't addressed how Mr. Burns, in just a few seasons, went from being only 81 to being 104, or how Moleman has allegedly gone from being a very poorly aged 31 year old to actually being in his 80s several seasons later. All the while, Homer has only aged about four years through the entire span of the show. I would like to see your take on Mr. Burns and Moleman.

It's aaaall alternative universes, Morty!

“I’ve never met Bart Simpson before. He’s a CARTOON CHARACTER.” - The Real Jims

Always exciting when you upload a video! Keep it up!

When you talked about asking Bart about his memories, that made me think of something: maybe The Simpsons is what Lisa and Bart remember about their childhoods. All the stuff happens in different years, but when they think back to it, they think "yeah, I was about 10" or "yeah, I was about 8". What if the cartoonier parts of the show are them remembering how they experienced things as children? You could even explain their clothes almost never changing this way. Maybe the family were wearing those clothes in their only surviving family photos, and so that's what they remember?

One thing I’ve always wondered: Did Nelson age slightly throughout the show?

I feel that the contradictory episodes are like an adult recollecting his childhood. It’s become more hazy as he grows older, and multiple years have merged together into a joyous mess that was their childhood. The years have become indistinct enough that it may have well happened all in the same year.

Always thought of it like Groundhog Day, but they're slowly trying to build their "perfect" time-line, hence why some changes stick and others don't. Eventually everything that was supposed to happen will and the time-line will finally be allowed to continue.

Weren't there like 6 episodes about how Homer and Marge met/got married?

The way I read it, every year resets the ages and the situations. They're spanning decades of time, but don't notice they're re-doing the same year of life. (Which is why I wish some character's outfits would have changed with the time - the fact that everyone looks like they're from 1989 but are meant to be in modern times creates weirdness to me)

I love how the Simpsons acknowledges that it is a cartoon and continuity doesn't matter. Homer even went to the real world in one episode and in the game they find out they are fictional. It means that they don't have to worry about timelines and can just focus on the comedy. Such a brilliant show

This video was so great! I love The Simpsons, and I love how you thought this idea out! Very well done theory!

Does Marge Simpson is gay?

3:01 Well, how do you know that the dog in 'Marge be not proud' is Santa's Little Helper? 'Homer's Barbershop Quartet' shows that the family definitely had a dog before getting Santa. The dog in 'Homer's Barbershop Quartet' also closely resembles Santa.

This was a really interesting video, it's a good look at how mad the story of The Simpsons really is and has some fun theories to think about. I think for casuals like myself, we tend to forget previous episodes so we never think they'd ever actually follow a logical storyline. But I remember noticing in a few episodes, sometimes when a character would look out the kitchen window, you'll see Springfield Penitentiary in one episode, then in a different episode you'll see the graveyard but then Krusty Burger another episode. Then I read somewhere that the writers/producers would change the location of buildings to suit the convenience of the story and/or for comedic effect. So since then I've just accepted that and learned to simply enjoy the show and not think about it logically. But the theories in your video are definitely fun to think about, would be nice to have a nice loop to the beginning when the show inevitably ends.

Great stuff as always!