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 wwhen he hears the whistle, not relizing the rod he accidently took, their is a bald man behind him. It then goes to the Grocery store, where Marge is reading a magazine, and Maggie is passed throught the checkout, ending up in a shopping bag. Then it cuts again to the school, wear 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 lamppost 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.

Current
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. 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.