‘The Simpsons’ couch gag shows what happens to Homer after being hit by car as R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe makes cameo

The Simpsons have shown what happened to Homer after Marge hit him with her car in the opening credits, while Michael Stipe has made a return to the show.

The iconic show has been celebrating a milestone this week with the airing of its 800th episode on Sunday night (February 15) as part of a double-header to bring the 37th season to a close.

To mark it, the familiar couch gag at the end of the opening credits finally revealed the aftermath of what has happened in all 800 episodes to date – with Marge ramming her car into Homer in the garage as they all rush home at the same time and bound onto the sofa in front of the TV.

In the clip, which you can watch below, Homer limps into the living room, bloody and bruised after being propelled through a wooden door, complaining to his family: “How are you just sitting there?! Your mom hit me with her car! She smashed me through a solid oak door, how could you not see me in the garage? I was running away and screaming in terror!”

‘THE SIMPSONS’ has released a couch gag that finally shows the aftermath of Marge hitting Homer with her car in the intro.

“How are you just sitting there? Your mom just hit me with her car!” pic.twitter.com/o9KwbMBe7W

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) February 16, 2026

As he falls to his knees, he exclaims: “There’s wood everywhere in me! And why was Maggie in the front seat?”

In the season finale, Stipe also made an appearance, a follow-up to R.E.M.’s famous cameo in the 2001 episode ‘Homer The Moe’, in which the band played in Homer’s makeshift garage bar.

In the new episode, Homer goes into business with Milhouse Van Houten’s dad Kirk, selling ‘crumbless’ crackers, and Stipe makes a return, singing to a depressed Kirk a parody of ‘Everybody Hurts’, which has been re-tooled as ‘Everyone Kirks’.

everybody Kirks, crumb-times.

thanks for watching #TheSimpsons tonight on #FOX! stream tomorrow on @hulu. pic.twitter.com/dWukLkyFJu

— Animation Domination (@AniDom) February 16, 2026

“Don’t let yourself choke, just because your mouth is dry,” Stipe sings. “Everybody Kirks, crumb times”.

Elsewhere, it has been announced that a sequel to The Simpsons Movie is coming to cinemas in 2027, 20 years after the last big screen outing for the family.

“Woohoo! The Simpsons are coming to theaters with an all-new movie on July 23, 2027!” 20th Century Studios wrote in September. The post showed a yellow hand grasping a pink donut with ‘2’ sprinkles, alongside a tagline: “Homer’s coming back for seconds”.

Nancy Cartwright, meanwhile, recently reassured fans of the show that she would not be replaced by AI when she retires.

As for Stipe, he has been clarifying lyrics to ‘It’s The End Of The World As We Know It’ on Bluesky in recent months, with many fans surprised by some of the revelations.

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