Opening sequence

The Opening is what starts the episodes of the Simpsons. It has varied other years.

Season 1

The season 1 opening started with THE SIMPSONS materilizing on a blue screen. Then it flys over the Power Plant and Tire Yard, towards Downtown, passing Painless Dentistrys, towards the school (purple) and see Bart writing out the Chalkboard gag. He hears the bell and leaves, skating past some trees and a field. Then it cuts to the Power Plant, where Homer is leaving when he hears the whistle, not realising the rod he accidently took, there is a bald man behind him. It then goes to the Grocery store, where Marge is reading a magazine, and Maggie is passed through the checkout, ending up in a shopping bag. Then it cuts again to the school, where the band are practising, Lisa plays a sax solo as she leaves. Homer throws the rod out of the car, it bounces near Moe's. Bart comes by on skateboard and he grabs the lamp post to help him make the corner. He skates past a pet store, and a TV store with many Krustys which he turns and faces. In passing, he grabs the bus stop sign and takes it with him. On a passing bus, a sign says "Can't get enough of that wonderful Duff." The people waiting take off and chase the bus as Marge and Maggie round the corner. Marge and Maggie round the corner in a red sedan. Close up of Maggie steering. Far shot of another tight curve , which they make. Low shot of car approaching... Close up of Maggie steering again. Low shot of car approaching... They make another turn. Maggie looks at Marge, then looks back at the road. They look at each other, then honk the horn. Lisa wobbling back and forth on her bike, with a large stack of books in the bike basket and a guitar-shaped instrument case behind her. She hits a bump, and all the books fly into the air. She makes a turn down the street. She jumps off her bike in the driveway, grabbing her books and instrument case. The bike moves into the garage, the door already opening for Homer's car, as Lisa runs to the door. Homer's car comes from left to right, makes the turn into the driveway and stops. From the right, Bart one-hops his skateboard across Homer's car. Homer gets out just in time to see Marge's car. He screams a short scream, and runs into the garage as her car pulls in behind. Looking over his shoulder frightened, he opens the door. Couch gag.

Season 2-20

The sequence opens with the show's title zooming in on the camera while moving forwards through cumulus clouds. It continues to zoom in on the town and then through a window of Springfield Elementary, where we see Bart writing lines on the class chalkboard, as a punishment. When the school bell rings, Bart leaves in a hurry and the camera pans to show him flying down the steps on his skateboard. The next shot shows Homer leaving the power plant, with a small uranium bar stuck on his back. Mr. Burns and Smithers are seen in the background looking at a layout plan when the end-of-shift whistle blows. Burns puts his watch up to his ear and shakes it, as if he believes it has stopped. During the first season opening sequence, instead of Mr. Burns and Smithers, an unknown employee is seen eating a sandwich with tongs.

The next shot shows Marge and Maggie checking out at a supermarket. Maggie is inadvertently scanned along with the groceries. The cashier rings her up at as $847.63 and Maggie is mistakenly packaged. Marge wonders where Maggie is. She pops out of one of the shopping bags, and Marge sighs in relief. Lisa is shown next. She is told to leave a band rehearsal due to her non-conforming playing, and does so while playing her baritone saxophone. The family is shown on their way to their house at 742 Evergreen Terrace. The members of the family weave dangerously through traffic and in between fellow Springfield citizens—first Homer, who discards the stuck uranium bar from his back by throwing it on the street, then Bart, who weaves through the sidewalks of downtown, passing Helen Lovejoy, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon walking his dog, Moe Szyslak, Barney Gumble, Jacques Brunswick, Bleeding Gums Murphy and Clancy Wiggum. Marge's car is shown wading through the traffic with tires screeching, then the camera cuts to Maggie holding a steering wheel, making it appear that Maggie is driving, the camera then zooms out revealing the wheel to be just a toy for her, as the camera then pans out to show Marge driving. The camera very quickly pans over a static landscape shot of various Springfield locales and a mix of both familiar and relatively unknown characters.

The Simpsons all arrive home at the same time. Homer arrives first, parking his car before the garage, while Bart lands on the car roof with his skateboard. As Homer steps out of the car, he quickly dodges Lisa zooming by on her bike and says, "D'oh!", and then screams as he sees Marge's car coming towards him. The scene shifts to Marge's sight, inside the car, showing Homer running away from her until he goes in through the door. Upon entering their house, they speed towards the living room couch.

Season 20, starting with Take My Life, Please

The sequence opens with the show's title zooming in on the camera while moving forwards through cumulus clouds. A crow with three eyes passes by as the chorus sing the title. It continues to zoom in on the town where Jimbo Jones and Kearney Zzyzwicz saw off the head of the Jebediah Springfield statue. The head then falls off on Ralph Wiggum, where he was eating an ice cream. Panning behind Ralph, the camera passes by a Lard Lad Donut Statue on the left and a Billboard Gag, that changes every episode, on the right. The scene continues to zoom in through a window of Springfield Elementary, where Bart is writing lines on the class chalkboard, as a punishment. The bell rings and Bart zooms out of the school, onto his skateboard, and lands into a pile of leaves Groundskeeper Willie just finished raked up. As Bart jumps off the pile, Barney Gumble is revealed under the pile and belches. The next scene shows Homer getting ready to head back home with a uranium bar stuck on his back. In the background, Lenny Leonard and Carl Carlson were putting up the number three on a sign that says 'Days Without An Accident.' However, they fall off the ladder as they hear the whistle for the end of the shift.

The next shot shows Marge and Maggie, with Selma Bouvier and Patty Bouvier, checking out with the groceries. The items on the conveyor belt include Tomacco juice and Mr. Sparkle power clean detergent (labeled in katakana). When a box of Krusty-O's is scanned, the total amount on the register changes from $236.60 to $243.26, which means the price of the cereal is $6.66. Maggie is inadvertently scanned too, which doubles the register total to $486.52, and she is mistakenly packaged with the groceries. Marge wonders where Maggie is. She pops out of one of the shopping bags, and sees Baby Gerald and shakes her fist at him as Gerald does the same. Lisa is shown next. She is told to leave a band rehearsal due to her non-conforming playing, and does so while playing her baritone saxophone. The family is shown on their way to their house at 742 Evergreen Terrace. The members of the family weave dangerously through traffic and in between fellow Springfield citizens—first Homer, who discards the stuck uranium bar from his back by throwing it, which lands on Otto Mann. Otto, not knowing what it is, eats it. Bart skateboards pass him and passes by Sideshow Bob, who tries to kill Bart, Helen Lovejoy, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon and his eight children, Moe Szyslak, Comic Book Guy, Disco Stu, the Crazy Cat Lady, the Rich Texan and once again, Clancy Wiggum. Hans Moleman peeks out the manhole in the street, but Marge's car slams it shut as it passes by. Marge's car is shown wading through the traffic with tires screeching, then the camera cuts to Maggie holding a steering wheel, making it appear that Maggie is driving, the camera then zooms out revealing the wheel to be just a toy for her, as the camera then pans out to show Marge driving. As they both honk their respective horns, Abraham Simpson wakes up and loses his false teeth as he was sitting right next to them in the car. The camera very quickly pans over the same static landscape shot of various Springfield locales and a mix of both familiar and relatively unknown characters like the last opening, but this time it includes a lot more characters, even God and the Devil.

The Simpsons all arrive home at the same time. Homer arrives first, parking his car before the garage, while Bart lands on the car roof with his skateboard. As Homer steps out of the car, he quickly dodges Lisa zooming by on her bike and says, D'oh!, but was too late to avoid Marge's car. The scene shifts to Marge's sight, inside the car, showing Homer being shoved through the wall by the car. Upon entering their house, they speed towards the living room couch. As the theme song ends, the television showing the opening credits falls off as if it was hanged on the wall.