The Simpsons couch gag is picturesque on this week’s episode “The Cad and the Hat.” The iconic sailboat painting that hangs above the couch is stolen by the Robot Chicken nerd.
The painting first appeared in the season 2 couch gag. Previously, a landscape painting hung in its place. Marge claimed she painted the sailboat for Homer in “Trouble With Trillions.” However, she later reads a plaque describing it as a scene from Moby Dick in the subsequent episode “Diatribe of a Mad Housewife”
Bart suggests it may have been stolen by another animated show. In fact, South Park admitted to stealing material in the episode “Simpsons Already Did It”. Naturally, that’s the first place Homer looks. He jumps off his own show and onto the set of South Park, The California Raisin Show and finally Robot Chicken.
Homer discovers the thief is a nerd collecting memorabilia. In a very meta scene, the nerd is on the computer watching the previous Robot Chicken couch gag from “The Fabulous Faker Boy.” Homer retrieves the missing artwork but Marge is unimpressed as Lisa has already replaced it with a much more sophisticated painting titled Girl with a Pearl Earring.
The Simpsons airs Sunday 8PM on Fox
