Xennial humor and The Simpsons. Name a more iconic duo

Posted by thisismynewnewacct@reddit | Xennials | View on Reddit | 78 comments

I was telling my wife about /r/SimpsonsShitposting and she asked if people my age would be into it or if it was a younger thing. I told her I believed it to mostly be people around my age. I have no way of proving that, but I have noticed that any time a Simpsons reference COULD be made, it IS made in the comments at /r/Xennials. That got me thinking. This show debuted when we were in our late single-digits or early pre-teens, when our minds were sponges. I feel like because of how often it was on tv in reruns (I know in my market there were four episodes on each day in syndication) and how much it dominated popular culture in the early to mid 90s, this show is firmly entrenched in the Xennial sense of humor. Not to mention all of the cultural references and touchpoints it taught us. Is there any other show or movie you can think of that is so completely intertwined with our micro generation?

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78 Comments

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Medellia23@reddit

All my jokes are still Simpsons references.

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noonesaidityet@reddit

As far as my Reddit habits go, the r/xennial and r/simpsons are basically the same place.

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jimicus@reddit

We were kids when The Simpsons was still funny.

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Baby_Button_Eyes@reddit

I could define my entire existence living my life in the Xennial generation with this quote, “It was the best of times…. it was… the BLURST of times!? You stupid monkey!”

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amphibjon@reddit

Lisa needs braces.

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kurt667@reddit

And then you learn that in real life the dental Pam does not actually cover braces…. lol

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Bakingsquared80@reddit

Dental plan!

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Traditional_Wasabi_7@reddit

Lisa needs braces!

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amphibjon@reddit

Dental plan!

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phaeolus97@reddit

Bullseye!

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DerbGentler@reddit

I watched *The Simpsons* from the very first episode on. (I was 12 when it aired first.) But what I excessively quote is *Futurama*. For the record; When I talk about *The Simpsons*, then I talk about the first eight seasons. When I talk about *Futurama*, I talk about the Fox era (plus the films).

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truffles76@reddit

How many monkey butlers will there be?

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thisismynewnewacct@reddit (OP)

Listen, at the very least, we’ll have a purple monkey dishwasher.

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Jonestown_Juice@reddit

I think Kids in the Hall and Mystery Science Theater 3000 had a significant influence on my sense of humor too. But it's mostly The Simpsons.

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dishwasher_mayhem@reddit

MST3K, Letterman, Conan, and The Zucker Brothers shaped my humor.

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BlueSnaggleTooth359@reddit

I think the two you mention are more Xennial peaking, especially Kids In The Hall (which is not well known among OG Gen X I don't think). The Simpsons is at least as much OG Gen X though.

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ChromeDestiny@reddit

Same here, Duckman, Mr. Show, George Carlin and Monty Python made a big mark on me in my teens too.

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-bobsnotmyuncle-@reddit

"The hard part about mass murder isn't the murder. It's the mass" Kids in the hall had a huge influence on my particular brand of nonsense.

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Secret_Bees@reddit

Same. I think there's a kind of non-linear association that is at the core of that particular brand of humor that deeply resonates with me.

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InterestingTry5190@reddit

I live in a high rise and will always say to myself ‘I’m crushing you’ when I look at the people down on the street.

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anananon3@reddit

Slap some Space Ghost and SNL in there and it’s my core

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Svenderhof@reddit

No, sir, that's paper.

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denim_skirt@reddit

Yeah KITH made me who I am lol. I say "no one must know my terrible secret" so often i don't even know if it counts as a reference any more

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thisismynewnewacct@reddit (OP)

I loved KITH, but never could get in to MST3K

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TheEschatonSucks@reddit

Other way for me

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5ubatomix@reddit

“I’m a Q-Tip what are you!?!”

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Risikio@reddit

Honestly? And hear me out... VERY EARLY Family Guy. Roughly Seasons 1-4. The shit that was legitimately original and funny enough to get fans to inundate FOX with demands to bring it back after cancellation. Ultimately that was a mistake and just caused Seth McFarlane to believe his shit couldn't stink so quality plummeted but the reason it came back to life was the Xennials wanted it back.

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EmberDione@reddit

I didn't watch the Simpsons. In 2021 I finally watched the first 10 seasons just for my husband so he could make the jokes from it. XD

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weedtrek@reddit

I assume xennials were more Beavis and Butthead.

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BlueSnaggleTooth359@reddit

Simpsons seemed at least as much OG X as Xennial. Beavis seemed very Xennial though, vastly more Xennial than OG X.

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BlueSnaggleTooth359@reddit

I feel like The Simpsons though is at least as strong among pre-Xen X.

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GM_Nate@reddit

i've noticed that Simpsons quotes are pretty common on Reddit threads in general

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Illustrious-Lead-960@reddit

Maybe Seinfeld.

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Bakingsquared80@reddit

You’re a raging antidentite!

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IAm5toned@reddit

#I didn't do it 🤷🏻‍♂️

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gofixmeaplate@reddit

Don’t forget South Park, Martin, the Jamie Foxx show, the way and Brothers, sifl & olly and the state!

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analogthought@reddit

Real World id say. It was one of the first reasons I decided I wanted to live in NYC one day. It was like getting to hang out with your cool older siblings without being kicked out of the room.

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_shaftpunk@reddit

There is a relevant Simpsons reference for damn near every situation too.

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Frosty_Cloud_2888@reddit

Dude are you being serious or are you being sarcastic? Dude I don’t even know any more.

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Noisechild@reddit

The State

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Beekeeper_Dan@reddit

I used to call us ‘the Simspons Generation’ before I learned xennial was a thing, so I very much concur.

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Easy_Independent_313@reddit

"You Can't Say That on Television" is a show ONLY other Xennials seem to know about. Even my Gen x bf has only the vaguest of recollections of it.

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misterlakatos@reddit

Such a strange show. I watched it a lot as a kid. Barf's horrified me and was probably one of the main reasons why I rarely ate meat as a little kid.

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Easy_Independent_313@reddit

I watched every episode. It was must see TV for me and it really was weird. Gave me a bit of that Canadian humor. Weird show though.

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misterlakatos@reddit

Haha yeah super weird. It was really fitting with that time period. Nickelodeon in the late '80s/early '90s was a different world. I doubt many people remember "Special Delivery" and all the random shorts that aired on there.

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Searchlights@reddit

Surely you can't put a price on your family's safety

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thisismynewnewacct@reddit (OP)

That’s what you’d think, but here we are

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Bakingsquared80@reddit

![gif](giphy|h7MJWcymf6o7xIosDC) There is no show like the Simpsons. I quote from it to an embarrassing degree

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denim_skirt@reddit

When I was in my early twenties we would have whole conversations that were just exchanges of Simpsons quotes without a single original word lol. We literally called a moratorium on Simpsons quotes for a few months at one point

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thisismynewnewacct@reddit (OP)

Same. It’s that meme of the brain where like 95% is a single section labeled “The Simpsons quotes” and the remaining 5% is “everything else”

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Bakingsquared80@reddit

Part of my brain is taken up by a crayon

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nodogsallowed23@reddit

My husband watched a bit growing up, but nothing near how much I did. I didn’t realize this. It turns out he just thought I was weirdly hilarious and didn’t know I was constantly quoting the Simpsons. I thought he was getting all of my references. We’re watching it from the beginning so he can see it all. Watching Mr Sparkle together, we were crying laughing because he never knew what the hell I was talking about every time I quoted it, or why I called the dog fish bulb all the time.

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el_barto10@reddit

This makes me think of me and my husband. We’ve been together for almost 18 yrs and only in the last year realized we’ve been talking about two different versions of the Where in the World is Carmen San Diego tv show this entire time. I didn’t even know there was a cartoon version.

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Disastrous-Bee-1557@reddit

The Simpsons imparted some of the great knowledge of our day. Such as that money can be exchanged for goods and services.

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orthomonas@reddit

And that potassium benzoate is bad.

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Snackatomi_Plaza@reddit

The Simpsons taught me that Mono = one and Rail = Rail.

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Bakingsquared80@reddit

Lenny = White Karl = Black

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ChefAtRandom@reddit

I'm 39 and I have a good friend who is 63. Half of our conversations are just Simpsons quotes.

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fivenightrental@reddit

I'm probably an outlier, but I've never really watched it.

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BlackieDad@reddit

I’ve learned way more breaking world news via simpsonsshitposting than I’m comfortable admitting

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mybadalternate@reddit

Whoever gets the first famous-person-in-the-clouds above Homer when *youknowwho* finally kicks it is going to be a legend.

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BEniceBAGECKA@reddit

When Dan dies do we do homer looking up at homer?

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thisismynewnewacct@reddit (OP)

Oof same

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Maanzacorian@reddit

The Simpsons and Beavis and Butthead are responsible for the formation of my comedic foundation. I wrote lyrics to an anti-god death metal song in 2004, and just before the break down, I say "god has no place within these walls" and the breakdown would hit at "walls". It's wild watching it with my kids because there's so much referenced that they will never understand. Cameos of people like Bette Midler or Mickey Rooney mean absolutely nothing to them, and there really isn't a good way for me to explain them.

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thisismynewnewacct@reddit (OP)

Oh man, I want to hear that song 🤣

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Maanzacorian@reddit

I'm trying to find it, I don't even know if it's online. This is another project I did. The name comes from a Krusty Burger special, and the album title is something Homer says to Patty and Selma, I forget which episode though: [https://whatchamacarcass.bandcamp.com/album/grinding-the-ugly-off-of-your-face](https://whatchamacarcass.bandcamp.com/album/grinding-the-ugly-off-of-your-face)

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Unit_79@reddit

Did OP just call me a sponge? I’LL SHOW HIM A SPONGE!!!!

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WhisperINTJ@reddit

A little more niche, but *Red Dwarf* was a big one for a lot of us, especially if you were a bit less US-centric, or a bit more nerdy. 🤓 😁 First aired on BBC2 1988 to 1999.

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Traditional_Wasabi_7@reddit

“Smeghead” will always be a go-to insult.

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LusciousofBorg@reddit

My brain thinks in Simpsons humor at this point. My husband and I reference it all the time.

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misterlakatos@reddit

I tend to agree. I will say that the classic SNL/SCTV stars whose film careers took off in the 1980s had a huge impact on all of us as well, especially since the vast majority of our parents watched films starring Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, Chevy Chase, Rick Moranis, Bill Murray, Steven Martin, etc. My earliest memories involve comedies featuring all those stars. I also have to give props to the major SNL players from 1986-94.

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thisismynewnewacct@reddit (OP)

I recall watching the Cosby Show, but I feel like it had the same sense of humor as a lot of other sitcoms, whereas The Simpsons was very unique in its humor