What I’ve always loved about The Simpsons is how on target they are about everything, including what’s going on in pop culture.
So with Game of Thrones a very popular show these days, of course The Simpsons are going to goof on it, and they rearranged their opening credits sequence to do just that, complete with three eyed crows created by radiation flying over the power plant.
This got a lot of attention on the geek sites, as well as the mainstream press. As John Kubicek wrote for Buddytv.com, “There are two ways to know that you’ve made it in pop culture. One is to be parodied on Saturday Night Live, and the other is to be parodied or referenced on The Simpsons.” (Don’t forget the third way to know you made it, Howard Stern’s making fun of you on his show).
Not to mention The Simpsons really went out of their way to goof on Thrones, by re-arranging the whole opening segment with new music. Of course, there was the couch gag, although apparently no Bart endlessly writing on the chalkboard gag, though we do see him in armor on a skateboard, and The Couch was one of the lands you could travel to, as well as Burns Landing. You also get to see Homer wearing armor in his hammock with an old fashioned stein of Duff beer.
As the L.A. Times pointed out, “The opening sequence of HBO’s Games of Thrones is reminiscent of The Simpsons in that it airs with slight variations in every episode. The locations used in that episode are included in the sequence,” and of course, the Sipmsons would always have a different sax part from Lisa, Bart writing something new on the chalkboard, and a different couch gag every week.
Bringing the Simpsons and Game of Thrones together is definitely one of those geek nirvana moments and Tv.ign.com headlined their report, “The Simpsons Game of Thrones Pardoy Rules All,.” “Ah, The Simpsons,” wrote Eric Goldman. “Always there for us with clever / loving parody of something we love.”
