Simpsons enjoyers, come and join me in this circle of friendship and prepare to have your mind blown. There’s a secret easter egg in The Simpsons opening credits and it’s all to do with Maggie.
In the opening credits, there’s the scene where Maggie is accidentally put through the scanner at the grocery shop.
Now, in the OG opening credits the same number always pops up: $847.63.
It turns out, that number has a specific meaning which was resurfaced by Twitter account UberFacts.
US$847.63 was apparently the average cost of raising a baby for a month in 1989, the year The Simpsons started airing.
Lol, that doesn’t even cover one month of daycare
— Levi Beck (@levibeck723) July 6, 2022
https://twitter.com/KRsmiles_a_lot/status/1544459672505135104?s=20&t=w3jfxuLRRfG5fYnffOeWwg
I’ve truly spent my entire life assuming the number was a completely random choice.
This fun lil easter egg has apparently emerged before too. According to a 2019 Screenrant article, The Simpsons kept that $847.63 figure for a number of years.
But now, when Maggie is scanned she takes the price of Marge’s grocery haul from $243.26 to $486.52 — AKA doubling the price of the shop. I’m getting the sense here that The Simpsons writers wanted to make a point about how bloody expenny having kids is.
Maggie is the best Simpsons character so IMO, she’s worth it.
There’s also a “Treehouse of Horror” episode where the scanned number pops up as 666. Thematic! I’m a big fan.
TBH, this Maggie intel is my new favourite Simpsons fact since I discovered Homer’s hair and ear look like the initials “MG” to represent the show’s creator Matt Groening.
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And if you’re keen on more easter eggs it turns out the show is also full of incredibly clever maths references. I mean, I’m more of an English gal myself but I can appreciate the thought there.
Honestly though, I’d dread to see the numbers if The Simpsons tried to make Marge’s grocery haul accurately reflect the current cost of living.
Forget the price of Maggie. Come and talk to me again when there’s a Simpsons bit about the cost of an iceberg lettuce.
