There’s a reason that “The Simpsons did it” is a world-class meme: During the show’s seemingly eternal lifespan, it has touched on just about every topic possible, without ever falling out of touch with current events, pop culture, or advancements in technology. Earlier in the show’s current season (its 28th, amazingly), it even addressed virtual reality:
It turns out that bit actually served as a bit of a teaser for the couch gag for the show’s upcoming 600th episode (and the 26th iteration of Treehouse of Horror). To celebrate the milestone, The Simpsons teamed up with Google and its virtual reality team to produce a VR couch gag viewable on Google Cardboard.
“Planet of the Couches” is a sofa-inspired spin on Planet of the Apes, in which the Simpson family is trapped on a couch-led planet and taken prisoner before being rescued by their signature orange couch. As is inherent in VR, the experience is panoramic and allows the viewer to look around at the entire environment in 360 degrees, but there are also scenes or events in the couch gag that only happen when triggered by the viewer looking at them, like feedback from Comic Book Guy or some quick dialogue from Futurama’s Hedonismbot.
If your device is up to snuff, head here and get the full experience. But if you’re unable to explore the VR experience on your phone, check out the couch gag for yourself below. Granted, this variant is a not-actually-VR version of the video that you can’t control. Still funny, though!
Featured Image: Fox/Google Inc.
