While The Simpsons season 34 attempted to break the fourth wall with a reference to a largely forgotten previous episode, the long-running animated comedy made a rookie mistake in the process. The Simpsons is no stranger to self-referential comedy. From its inception, the series poked fun at family sitcom tropes and, at its most ambitious, The Simpsons satirized the conventions of television itself with ambitious, fourth-wall-breaking jokes. However, while the experimental impulse behind these jokes is to be commended, that doesn’t mean they all work.
While The Simpsons Season 34 successfully parodied its own decline with an episode about the titular family becoming dispassionately exhausted as they gained fame. This clever outing was soon followed by a meta-joke that fell flat. To be fair The Simpsons season 34, episode 13, ‘The Many Saints of Springfield’, the joke featured in the episode was clever. The only problem is that the reference to a behind-the-scenes detail was wrong, and the writers of The Simpsons did not appear to detect this error before the episode was broadcast.
The Simpsons referenced a non-existent episode
There is no Simpsons episode “CADF12”
In “The Many Saints of Springfield”, Flanders reminded Marge that he was once Bart’s substitute teacher and stated that the mnemonic “CADF12” was all Marge needed to remember her brief stint on the job. Although The Simpsons season 34 switched the roles of Bart and Lisa when Bart collaborated with Skinner, Ned recalled that Marge’s son was still a demon during his time as a teacher. “CADF12” was supposed to represent Bart’s grades and days he missed, but the repeated phrase was clearly a reference to the relevant episode’s real-life production code. The problem is that that episode The Simpsons does not exist.
No episodes of The Simpsons loads production code”CADF12.” There is, however, a release with the code XABF12. The Simpsons Season 29, Episode 19, “Left Behind,” is the episode in which Ned works as Bart’s teacher and, not coincidentally, XABF12 is the production code for that episode. Although previous mistakes almost killed The SimpsonsThis misstep is unlikely to result in any dramatic consequences. However, it’s funny that The Simpsons draws attention to the code, but the code itself loses meaning thanks to an altered letter.
Was This Simpsons Season 34 Mistake Intentional?
The writers purposefully referenced a non-existent episode
It turns out that the creators of The Simpsons added this error to the show intentionally. Getting real-life production code wrong would be an easy way to fool longtime viewers, but the real explanation for the joke is much more mundane. As noted by episode writer Al Jean in a tweet, Ned’s comment needed to start with grades to make sense, and even Bart couldn’t get an “X” in school.
While The Simpsons Season 34 constantly breaks its own rules, often in service of a surprising twist or clever joke. This time, however, The Simpsons season 34 narrowly missed a real-life reference thanks to the show’s relative fidelity to reality. Strangely, the joke might have been even funnier if Ned had used the proper XABF12 code. Not only would the Easter egg make more sense, but it would also raise the question of what Bart Simpson actually did to deserve an X rating.
The Simpsons has made other mistakes in the past
The “CADF12” error may be deliberate, but there are also genuine continuity lapses
The Simpsons season 34 may have made a deliberate mistake for some meta-humor in referencing the non-existent episode “CADF12”, but there have been similar mistakes throughout the series that were completely accidental. Of course, the continuity is incredibly loose in The Simpsons, and the show even referenced it as part of several jokes. Considering how long it’s been on the air, it’s no surprise that the timeline constantly changes to account for the years that have passed, as can be seen in the story of Marge and Homer’s first meeting being repositioned several times to later decades.
However, errors The Simpsons These are not these inevitable continuity changes, but genuine, inexplicable errors that have little or no explanation. These are more notable in earlier seasons, but the show still occasionally has errors. A prime example of these easily avoidable mistakes is which class certain students at Springfield Elementary actually belong to, with several minor characters appearing in Bart and Lisa’s classes at various points.
Ralph Wiggum, for example, is in second grade with Lisa, much to the frustration of his teacher, Miss. Hoover. However, there are several occasions when Ralph can be seen in Bart’s class in previous seasons. There was never an explanation for this either, and It simply seems to be a case of the animators mistakenly using Ralph as a background character.
The same can be said for twins Sherri and Terri. Sherri and Terri are in fourth grade with Bart. However, in the season 13 episode “Little Girl in the Big Ten”, the pair are competing alongside Lisa in a gymnastics competition. It is never explained why Sherri and Terri are attending a second grade classand there seems to be no justification for this other than the writers ignoring an established part of the show’s continuity.
Another final example of a notable error concerns Bart’s murderous nemesis, Sideshow Bob. Sideshow Bob was featured in The Simpsons season 1, and was arrested at the end of its premiere. It wasn’t until the Season 3 episode “Black Widower” that Bob came out from behind bars (although, as always, it wasn’t long before he was re-incarcerated).
However, he can also be seen singing Christmas carols with a group of Springfield residents in Season 2’s “Bart Gets An F”. As well as Ralph occasionally appearing in Bart’s class, this is a clear example of animators in The Simpsons making an avoidable mistake and using an established character to fill the background space.