The numbers behind The Simpsons are pretty impressive - 627 episodes over 29 seasons in nearly 30 years; making it the longest running American sitcom and animated show of all time (sorry Family Guy and South Park).
In those three decades, America's most loved animated family has been through a lot: Homer has changed jobs more than 200 times, friends have been killed off (RIP Maude Flanders) and there have been some shocking revelations about some of the character's pasts.
But after all that, the family has remained the same - and that has one person annoyed. While all the characters haven't changed, Brian Fink has focused solely on Maggie, questioning why the hell she's still a baby.
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Let that sink in: A baby that first took to our screens 28 years ago is still a baby in 2017. Remarkable.
Mr Fink tweeted: "Umm I'm confused. This is the first time I'm watching @TheSimpsons in forever.... how is Maggie still a baby with a pacifier? Shouldn't she be in college by now?!?"
Tweets like this would probably get overlooked by animated juggernauts like The Simpsons, however, surprisingly, they replied to him.
"That's the magic of #TheSimpsons," was the reply from the show's official account.
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At least they came back to him, right?
In reality, Maggie would be about 28 or 29 - which is way too old to have only said a few words in her life (that we know of) as well as sucking on a pacifier or crawling around on the floor. That's not the point though is it? Bart and Lisa would be in their late 30s, and Marge and Homer would be nearing retirement age (although given Homer's diet and lifestyle, I dread to think where he'd actually be).
Brian's initial tweet has been liked and retweeted more than a thousand times, with other users throwing in their opinions on the matter.
One person thought Maggie was hogging the limelight and asked this pertinent question: "While everyone's worrying about The Simpsons kids not growing up, no one's realizing Marge and Homer are still married and not divorced. How is Marge still sane? After all these years of dysfunctional husband and questionable kids."
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Ouch.
To be honest, the episode where Bart sees into his future where Lisa is the US President (following Donald Trump's Administration) and he is a middle-aged dropout was fun for one segment, but that could make for depressing viewing if that's what viewers got to see every time they tuned in.
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Without getting too deep into the concept of willing suspension of disbelief, if you are having your mind blown by the fact that a fictional cartoon baby, or any character for that matter, doesn't age conventionally, but are willing to accept a show that has aliens, talking foxes that sound like Johnny Cash, and a man who is always dressed up as a bumblebee, maybe just stick to Newsnight.
Words: Tom Wood
Topics: Animation, Entertainment, TV and Film, the simpsons, Interesting
