10 Ways The Simpsons Changed The World
9. The Simpsons Inadvertently Produced Some Of The Most Timeless Memes
On April 14th 1996, the season seven episode 22 Short Films About Springfield aired for the first time. It gave us the infamous "steamed hams" skit, amongst many other classics, and was one of the sharpest, funniest and oddest bits of writing the show ever delivered.
20 years later, it went viral all over again.
Yes, prompted by very little other than the collective consciousness of this classic Simpsons moment, "steamed hams" found itself becoming one of the most searched memes of 2016 - remixed and reworked countless times. Today it's still common to see it out in the wilds of social media in some form.
Along with many, many great bits; "that's it, back to Winnipeg", "the goggles do nothing", "stupid sexy Flanders" and so on ad nauseam. Simpsons memes get crossed over into other Simpsons memes and, of course, with everything else entirely.
Today it's still impossible to scroll through social media for too long without seeing some kind of Simpsons reference, even if the public opinion of the show may have never been lower. Because of the immediacy of the show's best jokes, and how memorable they are, they've withstood the test of time and change of medium.
Who could've predicted that a simple shot of Homer moving backwards into a hedgerow would be shared thousands of times every week online by people all over the globe?