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Friday 04 March 2016

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'The Simpsons' opening sequence changes

Bart Simpson still rampages through town on a skateboard, Lisa still goes wild on sax and Homer still takes his work home with him with a stick of uranium stuck down his back.

But much else has changed in arguably the best known opening sequence on television after, breaking one of the medium's grand traditions, the creators of The Simpsons decided to tinker with the show's main title for the first time in 18 years.

The series, hailed as the longest-running comedy on television, is famous for the dedication of its fans and its ability to provide new surprises with each viewing of an episode.

Now, The Simpsons team have given their millions of followers something new to pore over.

The essential setpieces of the famous family finishing their working day are still there – Bart writing lines at school before taking off on his board, Homer at work at the nuclear power plant, Marge doing the shopping and driving home, and Lisa at band practice.

However, there are scores of minor differences which are already being eagerly logged by the Simpsons faithful.

Here are some of them:

In the very first scene, a three-eyed crow flies past, where previously we only heard the bird.

In Springfield Town Square, two of the local bad boys are sawing the head off the statue of Jebediah Springfield, the town's founding father.

In the classroom, Bart is still writing on a blackboard but this time there is a framed photo of Homer as an astronaut on the wall.

When Bart flies off the school steps on his skateboard, he now lands on a pile of leaves covering Barney, the local drunk.

Over at the notoriously unsafe power plant where Homer works, he still knocks off for the day with a stick of uranium down his back.

Mr Burns, the plant's owner, and his sidekick, Smithers, are no longer in the background and, instead, two of Homer's colleagues are now adding a day to the "no accident" count.

Homer still throws the uranium out of his car window – this time, Otto, the dopey school bus driver, swallows it.

Marge is again at the supermarket but this time her sisters, Patty and Selma, are buying a trolley full of cigarettes. When the baby, Maggie, is scanned, her price has now doubled from $243.26 to $486.52 (Matt Groening, the Simpsons creator said he based the original figure on the monthly cost of raising the average American child).

Also new, Maggie shakes her fist at her sinister, mono-browed baby rival, Gerald.

Back at school, Lisa is still playing her saxophone but the school band's members have changed and two are now playing computer games rather than flutes.

Much is new to the eagle eye as Bart skateboards past Springfield's shops. Sideshow Bob lunges at him with a machete and Apu, the Asian convenience store owner, is now out with his eight children rather than with his dog.

Bart skates across the street and Hans Moleman now lifts a manhole cover and peeps out. Marge drives over the cover, forcing him back down.

Maggie is still pretending to drive the car next to her mother but this time Grampa is also with them.

When Marge and Maggie sound their horns, he wakes up with a shock and his false teeth fall out.

As the camera flashes across Springfield, more than a dozen characters who used to be in the background, including Grampa and Ned Flanders, are gone.

They are replaced by a far bigger crowd that includes Mayor Quimby, Mr Burns and Smithers, Sideshow Mel, head teacher Smithers and – floating in the distance – God and the Devil shaking their fists at each other.

In the Simpsons' drive, Homer used to be chased into their living room by Marge's car. Now she hits him, sending him flying through a door.

Apart from Bart's blackboard writing, the other key variation in old episodes was in the grand finale – the couch gag – as the family all gathered on a sofa to watch television.

It's too early to say what will happen with the couch gag but in the first HD episode it drags on and on as they chase it across America.

And, of course, they are now watching a widescreen HD television, which – naturally – falls off the wall and smashes.

Sharp-eyed Simpson fans have already spotted a continuity mistake in the new sequence. Shortly after being decapitated, Jebediah Springfield's statue can be seen intact in a later shot.

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