The Season 37 opener for The Simpsons is bringing it back to simpler times for TV dramas.
In the episode, titled “Thrifty Ways to Thieve Your Mother,” blue-haired matriarch Marge Simpson (voiced by Julie Kavner) pulls out her ’90s videotape collection and introduces daughter Lisa (Yeardley Smith) to teen drama Keagan’s Pond, a play on The WB’s Dawson’s Creek.
As they bond, Marge even pushes Lisa to try on her vintage clothes. But the mini dresses and crop tops from the Simpsons’ attic catapult Lisa into a troublesome social group of Euphoria-like fashionistas (one of which is voiced by Oh, Mary!‘s Cole Escola), who are obsessed with thrifting. “When they run out of clothes and the thrift stores prove, ironically, too expensive, they will go to desperate measures to get more retro fashions,” teases showrunner Matt Selman.
The episode’s idea, says Selman, came from writer Jessica Conrad, as did the many retro-inspired outfits viewers see. And yes, Selman admits that the concept is “a little bit of a Simpsons paradox,” given that the animated series premiered before the ’90s era they’re referencing as being Marge’s youth (in this particular episode, at least).
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The plot to the premiere isn’t dissimilar from an actual Dawson’s Creek plot, admits Selman. “Lisa bonds with her mom, then bonds with some new cool kids, and chooses the cool kids over her mom, and they have a fight,” he says. “[But] Lisa learns that her connection to her mother is, of course, the deepest of all.”
Before Lisa and Marge make up, however, Marge will go to a ’90s convention and meet the actor behind her teen heartthrob, Keegan. Unfortunately, a lot more than Marge’s clothes have changed since the ’90s.
Meanwhile, Homer (Dan Castellaneta) and nearly every man in Springfield become enamored with the violent Clincher, inspired by Prime Video’s Reacher. Could the actioner prepare Homer to save the day? Actually, maybe.
And what’s Bart (Nancy Cartwright) up to during all of this? Well, he’s cutting a rug with Milhouse’s mom, Luann Van Houten (Maggie Roswell). You’ll just have to watch to find out why!
The Simpsons, Season 37 Premiere, Sunday, Sept. 28, 8/7c, Fox