The Simpsons’ opening features a gag where Maggie gets scanned in the grocery store, but what does the cash register say when Maggie is scanned? As well as the ever-changing running gags (the couch and the blackboard) in the iconic opening, viewers see Homer misplace a piece of radioactive material, Maggie appearing to drive a car and Bart landing his skateboard on Homer’s parked car. Another excellent visual gag comes when Marge doesn’t notice Maggie sitting among her groceries, and the youngest Simpson gets scanned through the register, only to pop up unharmed from a paper bag.
However, Maggie being put through the cash register isn’t the only point of interest in this scene, as the price screen quickly flashes up a subtle Simpsons Easter egg. In classic seasons of The Simpsons, the register flashes up with “847.63” when Maggie passes through, and this is an in-joke aimed toward the economists among the show’s audience. Creator Matt Groening has previously confirmed that when The Simpsons first aired in 1989, $847.63 was the average monthly cost of raising a child in the U.S. The Simpsons was turning its keen satirical eye to the enormous expense of raising children in modern society.
Maggie’s Cash Register Price Was A Satirical Flourish
As of 2009, The Simpsons began using an updated intro sequence. This version has the cash register set at “243.26,” which changes to “486.52” when Maggie is added to the total – doubling the price. While Groening has yet to elaborate on this change, it’s perhaps logical to assume that the intention was to make the original gag more relevant to the present day. The wonders of inflation mean that child-raising has become considerably more expensive since 1989 and, therefore, the joke no longer worked in its intended context.
While The Simpsons’ opening credits could’ve changed the cash register display with an updated figure, this too would’ve been outdated before long. The decision to simply show Marge’s total doubling might’ve been made to signify that kids cost a lot, but without committing to a specific number. In a one-off variation of the cash register joke, “Treehouse of Horror XXIV,” directed by Guillermo del Toro, gives Maggie’s cost a temporary satanic update. In the episode opening, Stephen King joins Bart for the blackboard gag, Groundskeeper Willie is redesigned as Hellboy and Maggie’s price reads “666” to fit with the Halloween fun.
The Simpsons’ “138th Episode Spectacular” also contains a fun parody of the Simpsons’ Maggie cash register joke. Before the episode’s commercials, an announcer asks a “trivia question” to the audience: “In the opening credits, what does the cash register say when Maggie is scanned?” When the show returns, instead of giving the real answer, the announcer claims the screen says “NRA4EVA” and jokes about The Simpsons being right-wing, parodying the show’s true liberal leanings. Over the years, many have fallen for this gag and believe it to be true.
Why The Simpsons Maggie Cash Register Scene Is So Iconic
The Maggie cash register gag hidden in The Simpsons‘ opening credits is not just a funny or all-too-real moment, it’s also a testament to how much attention to detail the show’s creators paid when making it. The Simpsons’ references and blink-and-you’ll-miss-it gags are not only hilarious but very clearly indicative of a project that’s being made out of love, and the fact that this extends even to the title sequence shows just how thorough The Simpsons is when providing its iconic brand of satire and humor. Maggie’s grocery store check-out moment might be just one small example of this, but it still supports the notion of just how well The Simpsons holds up as a landmark of adult animated comedy.
The Maggie Cash Register Is Far From The Simpsons’ Only Easter Egg
The Simpsons‘ opening has refreshed itself with new jokes over the years, and this includes the reading on the cash register when Maggie is scanned. However, The Simpsons’ entire run is littered with fun Easter eggs that will take multiple rewatches before fans first see them. The animated series often secretly references Futurama with posters in bedrooms and characters wearing Futurama t-shirts. Two characters in the series secretly have five fingers instead of the Simpsons‘ trademark four fingers too; God and Jesus. It’s smaller jokes like these that helped make The Simpsons the juggernaut of animation it became.
