The following contains spoilers for The Simpsons Season 36, now streaming on Huluret-cons usually fit well into the framework of the show (even if they do raise questions about the canon status of certain older episodes).

Season 36 made a lot of these kinds of changes, updating lots of elements about Springfield's history and how the Simpsons family fit into it. Some of these changes impact the origins of characters like Maggie and Fat Tony, while others pose potential answers to long-running questions — like how Homer has never been fired from the Nuclear Power Plant. Here are the biggest changes to the history of Springfield that occur across season 36 of The Simpsons.

10 Sideshow Bob's New Wife Ignores His Old One

Tasha Debuts In "The Yellow Lotus" As Bob's New Spouse, Ignoring sca

Sideshow Bob has a new wife in "The Yellow Lotus," which is a departure from the character's previous appearances in the show. In "The Yellow Lotus," the Simpsons encounter Bob while he's on vacation with his new bride, Tasha. The family initially fears that Bob intends to kill Tasha, but it turns out that Bob genuinely cares for her — a revelation that only comes at the end of the episode when Tasha reveals she's mentally unwell and pushes him off the side of a cliff.

It's a funny Sideshow Bob gag but it also ignores Bob's two previously established love interests, the Italian sca from season 16 and the kindly Cassandra from season 31. Bob even had a child with sca, with the pair teaming up with the rest of Bob's family to kill Bart in season 21's "Funeral for a Fiend." Season 36 makes more reference to Bob's brief marriage to Selma in season 3's "Black Widower" than to sca, suggesting she will not be as important to the history of the character.

9 Nick Callahan Looks Different And Has A Different Job

Nick Returns After Multiple Decades As Almost A New Character In "The Yellow Lotus"

Played by Hank Azaria in both appearances, Nick Callahan was introduced as a minor character in the Marge-centric storyline from season 9's "Realty Bites." A successful realtor at their office, Nick came across as a forgettable inhabitant of Springfield before returning in "The Yellow Lotus." However, the character is almost entirely different in his new form. Ret-conned into a con-man who used a timeshare pitch to scam Homer and Marge early in their marriage, Nick is a minor antagonist in the episode who preys on Homer's ineptitude.

Nick even doubles down on his new negative personality...

Despite being confronted by Homer and Marge, he is unrepentant for his actions. Nick even doubles down on his new negative personality and retcons him into a more aggressively bad person. This is likely because Nick is killed when an otter in the water is driven into a frenzy by Bernice Hibbert's medical drugs, allowing the episode to kill off someone in their The White Lotus parody.

8 Abe Simpson Was A Private Investigator

Abe Simpson's New Backstory In "Shoddy Heat" Changes His Place In The Timeline

The sliding time scale of The Simpsons was repeatedly modified during the course of season 36, especially when it came to Abe Simpson. While earlier seasons of the show have depicted him as a soldier, a farmer, and an aspiring musician, Abe is recast in "Shoddy Heat" as a private investigator in the 1980s. While many core elements of this concept align with the character's history (such as his work as a single father and his secret connection to Mr. Burns), it does change some big things about Abe's past.

This change places Abe in his prime in the 1980s, a period when the original The Simpsons shorts were airing on The Carol Burnett Show. The sliding time scale has always been at play in The Simpsons, with season 36's "Bart's Birthday" drawing attention directly to how it impacts the continuity of the show. This new Abe story still remains true to the character, however, showcasing the sacrifices Abe was willing to make for the sake of his son by halting his investigation into Burns if the billionaire promises to always give Homer a job.

7 Abe & Agnes Had A Romance In The 1980s

"Shoddy Heat" Made Agnes Into A Noir Villain

One of the other big reveals of "Shoddy Heat" is the discovery that Abe had a short-lived love affair with Agnes Skinner. The central mystery of "Shoddy Heat" leads to many flashbacks to Abe's previous work as an investigator, including a case where Agnes approached him and his partner about investigating Mr. Burns. Agnes slept with Abe during this period while also enjoying a relationship with Burns. By the end of the episode, it's revealed that Agnes had been conspiring to turn the men against each other so she could get Burns killed and then inherit his fortune.

It's an interesting expansion of the universe that does feel like a natural update to the dynamic Abe has always had with Burns. The pair have been portrayed as rivals and enemies since the Golden Age of The Simpsons, even competing over a woman's affections in season 5's "Lady Bouvier's Lover." It's also a fun expansion of Agnes, who has been implied in multiple flashbacks to have had a more exciting life before she became one of Springfield's most frequent voices of crotchety criticism.

6 Maggie's Conception Is Changed

Season 36's "Women In Shorts" Changes The Details Surrounding Maggie's Conception

An anthology episode depicting the random adventures of various women across Springfield, "Women in Shorts" ends with a gag about Homer and Marge watching TV and, after Marge its she finds Jake from State Farm attractive, head upstairs. The gag is that this is the night Maggie is conceived, treating the normal night as the origin story for the character. This does ret-con one of the more emotionally resonant episodes of the Golden Age of the show.

Season 8's "And Maggie Makes Three" was an extended flashback storyline focusing on Homer leaving the Nuclear Power Plant for his dream job, only to return when he finds out he needs to earn enough money to a family of five instead of four. That episode had a more romantic date night for Homer and Marge that ended in the conception of Maggie. This flies in the face of the comically casual circumstances presented in "Women in Shorts."

5 Flanders Bought The Simpsons Couch

"The Flandhsees of Innersimpson" Tweaks A Golden Age Meeting Between Homer And Flanders

"The Flandhsees of Innersimpson" focuses on a feud between Homer and Flanders that gradually reveals the extent of Ned's frustrations with Homer and just how much Homer has "borrowed" from his neighbor over the years. This is even revealed to include the Simpsons' iconic couch, which Flanders claims was the first thing that Homer ever borrowed. This isn't exactly true in the established canon of the show, but it does reference the first meeting of the two men.

Flanders and Homer's friendship has been a frequent focus point of The Simpsons, with "The Flandhsees of Innersimpson" being among the dozens of episodes focused on their dynamic.

In season 4's "Lisa's First Word," the family moves into their iconic home ahead of the birth of Lisa. When Flanders comes over to introduce himself, Homer asks to borrow his newly built TV tray and never returns in. In both cases, it establishes that Homer and Ned's dynamic was set in stone from the day they met (although other episodes have revealed that met before this), leading to the central conflict of "The Flandhsees of Innersimpson" when Flanders' frustrations boil over.

4 Abe Simpson Was A Child During World War II

"Abe League Of Their Moe" Removes Abe's History As A Soldier

While The Simpsons making Abe a single father in the 1980s was a big change to the character, it makes sense given the sliding time-scale and Homer's relative age in the "present-day" of the long-running animated show. This also set up further tweaks to Abe's backstory, such as the revelation in "Abe League of their Moe" that Abe was actually a child during the events of World War II. This is a major departure for the character's history, as Abe was previously depicted as a soldier in that conflict.

Season 7's "Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in 'The Curse of the Flying Hellfish'" revealed that Abe had led a squad of soldiers during the conflict into the European theater, with people like Monty Burns and the fathers of Chief Wiggum, Barney Gumble, and Principal Skinner among the soldiers under his command. This has now been rendered moot by the recent developments, although a Simpson was still portrayed as being present during World War II, as seen in Marge's tale of her grandmother from that era in season 30's "My Way or the Highway to Heaven."

3 Fat Tony Actually Gets An Origin Story

"Stew Lies" Gives Fat Tony A More Fleshed-Out Backstory And A New Rival

Fat Tony has been a fixture of The Simpsons since season 3, but "Stew Lies" actually gave the character an established backstory that he never had before. Previously, the character had been depicted as having grown up within a powerful crime family, with cousins like Fit Tony also working in the criminal underworld (although the existence of Fit Tony seems to have been more or less forgotten by The Simpsons). "Stew Lies" reveals that as part of a peace deal with a rival mafia, Tony was primarily raised by his father's rival.

This might explain why [Fat Tony's] son Michael has not been seen in several seasons. ​​​​​​

This gave Tony his appreciation for food, as the criminal was also an expert chef. It's an interesting way to humanize the backstory of Fat Tony, who has otherwise remained one of the few genuinely dangerous ing characters in The Simpsons. This ret-con also established that Tony has followed in his father's footsteps by trading sons with his rival, which might explain why his son Michael has not been seen in several seasons. ​​​​​​

2 Itchy & Scratchy Is Specifically How Bart And Lisa Bonded

Itchy & Scratchy Was The Key to Bonding Bart And Lisa Together In "Estranger Things"

"Estranger Things" expands on Bart and Lisa's love for Itchy & Scratchy, the in-universe cartoon that's been a part of The Simpsons since the earliest seasons of the show. Previous episodes had implied that Bart had picked up his fandom for Krusty the Clown and Itchy & Scratchy from watching TV with Homer (as seen in "Lisa's First Word"), but "Estranger Things" makes it clear that a young Bart and Lisa discovered the show together. This became a foundational part of their relationship, and their growing disinterest in the cartoon pushes them apart.

It's an interesting idea, and it gives Itchy & Scratchy a more important emotional purpose in The Simpsons. However, previous seasons of The Simpsons have put emphasis on Itchy & Scratchy as a pop-culture institution in Springfield that expands far beyond the family. It also raises questions about the evolution of Krusty's TV persona, as his backstory has also been tweaked in previous seasons to reflect the sliding time-scale, with previous episodes hinting that Bart and Lisa always grew up with those shows and characters instead of discovering them together.

1 Marge Dies Before Homer In The Simpsons' Latest Future

The Simpsons' Introduces Their Saddest Future Yet

There have been several flashforward episodes of The Simpsons over the years, depicting the potential futures awaiting Bart, Lisa, and the rest of Springfield when they grow up. In many of these episodes, Homer and Marge are shown to successfully live happily into old age. However, "Estranger Things" presents a timeline where, after the children are fully grown, Marge es away for an undisclosed reason. This leaves Homer to be taken care of by Bart, who turns the family home into a secret retirement facility for some of the men of Springfield.

All these changes work because of the flexible continuity of The Simpsons, but it is worth comparing them to how the timeline was previously depicted.

This contradicts many other visions of the future in Springfield, notably the ones where Lisa and Bart both have children of their own. Marge dying before Homer specifically flies in the face of the flash-forward seen in season 35's "It's A Blunderful Life." That episode revealed that 60 years in the future, Homer es away and leaves Marge as a Great-Grandmother for the larger Simpsons family. All these changes work because of the flexible continuity of The Simpsons, but it is worth comparing them to how the timeline was previously depicted.