‘The Simpsons’ Confirms That Marge Is Still Thirsty for This Beatle

The 36th season of The Simpsons began with a fourth wall-breaking faux series finale that featured a number of callbacks to characters and plot points that haven’t been a part of the show since back when Homer’s unhinged neighbor was running the country.

Well, the season just ended with another unconventional episode that also referenced one of the show’s earliest characters. It just so happens that this character is a real life music legend.

Much of the season finale, “Estranger Things,” takes place in a future version of Springfield, in which Lisa is a celebrated entrepreneur, Bart is running a makeshift old folks home and Marge, sadly, has ed away. 

While that might sound like a depressing turn of events, in the final moments of the episode, we see Marge looking down on her family from the clouds above. She’s proud that Bart and Lisa, despite their differences, have reconciled. Then, randomly, Ringo Starr shows up to escort Marge to a heavenly party where there may or may not be a shrimp tower. 

“I’m just so glad we’re allowed to marry different people in heaven,” Marge declares before making out with the Beatles drummer.

This is, of course, building on a joke from Season Two’s “Brush with Greatness.” We learn that Marge gave up on pursuing art because she never received a response from Ringo Starr after sending him a painting when she was younger. It turns out that the musician featured prominently in several of her paintings, including one that depicted the two of them tying the knot.

Ringo eventually gets back to Marge after decades of working through copious amounts of fan letters, even offering some encouraging words about the painting.

Ringo was the first Beatle to appear on The Simpsons, paving the way for George Harrison to guest star in Season Five, and Paul McCartney to show up in Season Seven, along with his recipe for lentil soup.

Obviously, Marge’s romantic interest in Ringo doesn’t make a whole lot of sense in The Simpsons’ revised timeline. Originally, Marge was a teenager in the 1970s, not that long after the Beatles broke up. But in the show’s current continuity, when Marge was in high school, Ringo was less of a teen heartthrob and more of a “that guy who was on Shining Time Station 10 years ago.”

Still, it’s a fun nod to a classic episode that will no doubt prompt a lot of people to Google “Is Ringo Starr still alive?”