Miss Piggy and Kermit may still be broken up, but it turns out all is still well for TV’s longest married couple: Marge and Homer Simpson.
For several weeks, Fox has been teasing the demise of the Simpson marriage, and new love interests for both Homer and Marge. But all is well. Sunday’s “The Simpsons” premiere revealed those breakup rumors were all a dream. Well, a dream within a dream. Well, several dreams within several dreams. Call it dream sequence, Simpsons style.
“A therapist thought the best way for your dad and me to work on our relationship is to give up on it,” Marge tells the kids as the sequence kicks into gear. Homer moves out and takes up residence at his desk at the nuclear plant.
But it’s hard out here for a wimp. Homer misses his home, his life, his couch, and his wife. The young, hip girlfriend who scoops him up doesn’t help, either—she’s a lot of work.
Then everyone wakes up.
An Enduring Relationship
The bottom line is that Marge and Homer are sticking it out. That’s a good thing for the fictional yellow characters and the people who watch them. Marge and Homer are a fact, a reality of the universe, an equation of 1+1=2, unchangeable.
For kids, be they fictional rascal Bart or real-life rascals, parents’ marriages are like walls to the house. You don’t notice them when they’re standing, but when they come crashing down, you sure notice the wreckage.
Marge and Homer are like that. Sure as the tide—no, sure as sprinkles on a donut.
Over 27 seasons, Marge and Homer have d’oh’d and mmmMMMmmmm’d their way through children, Mr. Burns’ nefarious ways, alien invasions, moving to Globex corporation, and enduring Ned Flanders. Homer screws up, drools in his hammock, chases food. Marge presses emotion deep, deep down and forgives. They have a good thing going.
All You Need Is Loyalty
“You always know Homer and Marge are getting back together. We’ll never break them up. Nobody ever wants to see that couple split for real on ‘The Simpsons.’ But we thought by this method, we could really explore what it would be like for Marge to go back to her maiden name and date someone else,” Simpsons showrunner Al Jean told The Hollywood Reporter.
As much a schlub as Homer is, he never gives up hope. One day, maybe he will be the man Marge deserves. One day, maybe he will win an approving smile instead of a worried groan. If only he didn’t like Duff beer so much.
But until that day, they love each other. Always, in all things, through all things. Maybe that is all they need. Maybe it’s all any of us need.
What a relief.
