The Simpsons: Watch One Of The Show's Most Elaborate, Unique Couch Gags Ever

Say what you will about the quality level of The Simpsons these days, but the opening couch gags continue to impress. The opening sequence for this Sunday's episode of The Simpsons has now been posted online, and it's one of the more elaborate and unique couch gags ever for the show.

Animated by Michal Socha, who also made an incredible 2014 couch gag for The Simpsons, this new one features creative, more abstract interpretations of The Simpsons family as action heroes known as The Extremesons. Homer is a skydiver, Bart is a daring snowboarder, and Marge is a surfer using a GoPro to document her skills. Lisa is shown snorkeling through a cave and encountering a giant whale, while Maggie becomes a stunt performer of her own on her tricycle.

But what's really going on here? Be sure to watch through until the end to see the surprise.

The Simpsons producer Al Jean said the Extremesons are "a family for our times," which is presumably a reference to how millions of people are stuck in their homes and looking for an escape right now. It's not clear if Socha purposefully designed this couch gag as a response to the COVID-19 lockdowns, and presumably work would have begun many months ago on a sketch as elaborate as this.

This Sunday's episode of The Simpsons, which is episode 18 of Season 31, will focus on Maggie and another baby, Hudson, who was introduced in the new short Playdate with Destiny.

You can re-watch Socha's earlier Simpsons couch gag below, from episode 19 of Season 25 back in 2014.