Simpsons fan uses audio processing to unearth lost 31-year-old joke

Moment was buried in the 1992 episode ‘The Otto Show’

A tech-savvy fan of The Simpsons has used digital processing to unearth a joke that has gone unheard for 33 years.

The joke in question comes in the classic season three episode “The Otto Show”, but had previously been inaudable.

In the episode, Marge is seen warning Bart over the volume of a rock concert he is attending, remarking: “I hope the Spinal Taps don’t play too loud.”

Homer then responds: “Oh Marge, I went to thousands of heavy metal concerts, and it never hurt me.”

The next shot shows Marge replying from Homer’s perspective, in which her voice is entirely drowned out by the sound of tinitus.

On the DVD commentary for the episode, the show’s creators had remarked that Marge was in fact saying some “pretty funny” dialogue, which “took a long time to write” but was then “mixed down so nobody could hear it”.

Twitter user @Ewzzy shared a modified version of the clip, in which the audio had been digitally adjusted to make Marge’s lines finally audible.

In response to Homer’s comment, Marge in fact says: “Well alright, but make sure they don’t pick up any of the band’s attitudes toward women... liquor, religion, politics... really anything.”

You can watch the edited clip here:

While The Simpsons is currently airing its 34th season, the long-running cartoon is still most fondly remembered for its “golden era” in the 1990s.

Earlier this year, the series brought back a notorious character from its first season – more than three decades after he first appeared.

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However, some fans complained that the new appearance opened up a plot hole in the show’s canon.

Earlier this year, former Simpsons writer and showrunner Josh Weinstein explained the reason for a mistake that had crept into an early season episode.