Does Bart Simpson know what a VCR is?
 

The Simpsons have been going on since the 90s, the VCR heavy era and they operate on some sort of sliding timeline where the characters have internet and smartphones now, despite not really aging. Some episodes retcon Homer and Marge to having met in the 90s instead of the 60s or 70s and whatnot.

Since nowadays a lot of people like to make jokes about the younger generation not knowing what technology from our day is, have they ever made a joke about Bart or someone seeing a VHS tape or a cassette tape and saying 'what the hell are those?'

I remember an episode of Garfield had the entire running gag be about nobody knowing what a record was, which felt weird to me since I don't think, at the time, it's been that long since records stopped being a thing. The TMNT CBS had a similar joke where Michelangelo thought a record was a really burnt puzza where just a few years back the turtles had a record player in their first live action movie.

I don’t know and don’t want to know.

Fair question though.

Farewell, Lotus Blossom
 

Do you mean Farewell, Lotus Blossom?

Simpsons don't take their sliding timeline too seriously so I'm guessing they could have one episode where he doesn't know what it is only to have him use one 4 seasons later. Sadly the only people who would know and watch modern simpsons only seem to appear in simpsons threads when you're bashing the show but not when you want questions over modern simpsons.

True and you're right. There's no real consistency so Bart can recognize a VCR in one ep and not the next, even if it's a post-2000 episode.

Idk, the thought just occurred to me today. Honestly for me it's still weird seeing them use smart phones and laptops.

From last season. 3:05

Thanks. Also wow.... It just seems so weird to suddenly see Bart and Lisa act as if they're watching some ancient thing when they used to have that all the time. I guess it was only a matter of time but I was curious if they ever did it.

Funny enough shows like Family Matters and whatnot were playing while the Simpsons were on the air. What has Tracy Ulman been doing nowadays?

Ya it doesn’t make sense but they never age either. A lot of shows do that so I don’t think it’s a problem to use era humor. There’s other things that contradict past stuff but it’s not a big deal imo.

Honestly I enjoy when shows pokes fun at themselves. This wasn’t poking fun at itself exactly but I like that they often acknowledge how it’s been on so long.

It's kind of like comics. If Bruce Wayne was listening to a tape deck in a comic from the 80s, yet the story itself only takes place "5 years ago" in continuity... we have to look at it with a revisionist slant. i.e., that was an iPod, or something.

For me it's just weirder just to see Bart using a smartphone like that more than the VCR segment which I actually don't think it's that bad since none of them over react, hell if that is from last season it's weird that they mention DVDs, now that is a relic from the 90s that has managed to hang on somehow. The original simpsons tv is so iconic that this widescreen flat panel one looks so odd and why does the remote control have a wire? Was that ever a thing? :lol:

Bigger continuity issues are stuff like homer/marge meeting becoming a couple in the 90s. But I think a few seasons after that they just sort of ignored that so even though it's a sliding timeline there is no real consistency. Unlike superheroes it does feel weirder with the Simpsons because they really are a product of their time.

This "dvd/film reel" is from season 12 so 2001 it didn't feel weird to make this joke.


Only 4 seasons/years before they were still using VHS:

Looking for clips I couldn't find many of the simpsons using vhs either so VCRs weren't really used much in the show either back in the day.

And let's not forget that episode where Homer and Marge don't know what the internet is. I think Flanders is the one who tells Homer about it in the first place.

That must have been 1940-1950 or something. Not 1989.

I guess the Simpsons answered my own question. There was an episode a while back where the internet went down or something so Homer brought out a VCR and a box of old tapes and Bart and Lisa didn't know what they were.

It was so strange seeing that considering Bart and Lisa grew up on VHS tapes and such.

Who even cares about the Simpsons anymore? They stopped being funny years ago. I still can’t get the image of modern Homer injecting himself in the arm with pizza sauce outta my head. :ohwell:

Floating timelines are weird. I guess the easiest explanation is that the Bart Simpson we knew from the 80's/90's isn't really the same iteration of the character who shows up now. I know you're not really supposed to think too hard about how they can celebrate Christmas three dozen times and still be kids, but the question does naturally pop up.

Here's a video about how it might work:

It gets messier when you factor in the Sideshow Bob episodes. Those are the only episodes that kinda have a canon to them, and his first villainous appearance was still back in the 90's.

Everything else is kind of a 'handwave' when it comes to multiple Christmases and holidays.

I do like that one episode where Bart and Lisa freak out about how their heads are designed, like where you can't tell exactly where their head ends and their hair begins. "What are we?"

The Simpsons characters not aging wouldn't be much of a problem if the show was more detached from reality and didn't try to talk about current fads and invite over celebrities who are currently hot.

Calvin never aged in Calvin & Hobbes, and there's nothing contradicting in it since the comic strip didn't talk about current events.

Garfield does age, but not physically. He's like 40+ years old at this point, which would be some kind of record for a cat. Jon does not seem to age, however. At least not physically either. He still seems to be a man in his 30s.

Thr Turtles also never age in their cartoons, do they? But again, their cartoons have never been about current events, so it's easy to overlook that.

Perhaps Thr Simpsons should have started aging Bart and Lisa several years ago, who knows.

I mean, the Turtles were kind of a product of their time. That's why it was kinda weird seeing them use smartphones and whatnot in the 2012 show at first. Took a while to get used to them using modern technology, even though ironically, they'd still watch VHS shows in later seasons.