The Simpsons fans are in disbelief after discovering the true origins of one of the cartoon’s famous jokes.
Ralph Wiggum sat on a school bus saying ‘I’m in danger’ became a viral meme not long after the episode aired.
The clip has resurfaced on social media to mark the moment’s ten year anniversary – but fans were left shocked by the truth behind the joke.
The meme is not actually from The Simpsons at all – but is technically from Family Guy.
Titled The Simpsons Guy, the episode was a crossover between the two shows and was the hour-long premiere of Family Guy’s thirteenth season. It was crucially not counted as a Simpsons episode.
On X, fans were surprised by the revelation, with @catgirlprostate said: ‘ITS NOT EVEN FROM THE SIMPSONS???? I can’t believe Ralph Wiggum I’m in danger was a Family Guy funny moment the whole time.’
Echoing their sentiment, @KeeperofSparks1 said: ‘I BINGED WATCHED THE ENTIRETY OF THE SIMPSONS AND ASSUMED IT WAS IN AN EPISODE NOT UP TO STREAM OR A SHORT! AND IT’S IN A FAMILY GUY EPISODE!?’
@AustinG46801622 exclaimed: ‘Literally just watched this crossover 2 days ago and saw this and my first thought was that they were doing a reference to a gag they did a long time ago, I had no idea this is the actual origin!’
@MariyaX99 also added: ‘Wait, all this time I thought it was from The Simpsons.. mind blown…’
In the episode, the Griffin family meets the Simpson family for the first time and decides to stay with them after the Griffin family car is stolen outside of Springfield.
As well as being highly memeable, The Simpsons has gained a reputation for accurately forecasting some huge moments in history, including Donald Trump’s presidency, the World Cup final and even the Titanic submersible tragedy last year.
More recently, it has predicted Kamala Harris’ presidential run 20 years before it happened and Australian breakdancer Raygun’s viral Olympic routine
However, The Simpsons sparked concern among fans over the past few days after season 36 kicked off with its ‘series final’ leading some to believe the show was coming to an end.
On X, though, @Chevistian explained: ‘If you need context the episode basically makes fun of how fans imagine the perfect finale to The Simpsons with Bart being the only one who isn’t falling for this.’
And @JoeSiegler wrote: ‘Wildly funny – laughed out loud multiple times. It also took a jab at AI generated stories. Watched it twice, actually. So many references to old bits from the series, long gone characters – LOVED IT!’
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