'The Simpsons' Gets An Extreme New Couch Gag In An Episode Connected To 'Playdate With Destiny' Short

In recent years, The Simpsons has really enjoyed coming up with wild new ways to pull off the couch gag that begins every episode of the series. The opening credits sequence has paid tribute to the likes of Adventure Time, Frozen, Rick and Morty, Futurama and even the entire history of The Simpsons itself. But this weekend, The Simpsons pays tribute to everyone who is stuck at home wishing life was back to normal by taking the animated family on a virtual extreme sports journey that has an animation style unlike anything the series has done before.

Watch The Simpsons extreme sports couch gag below, and find out how this weekend's episode connects to the new "Playdate with Destiny" animated short, which you can watch for free online this weekend, even if you don't have a Disney+ subscription.

As you can see, the animation style isn't quite so polished and has a dominant blue color scheme and angular style. There's also a funky, electronic take on the theme. But since this is The Simpsons couch gag we're dealing with, of course we end up back in the family's living room to see they're enjoying a little virtual reality to escape the real world.

You can catch The Simpsons extreme sports couch gag on the new episode this weekend, "The Incredible Lightness of Being a Baby." The episode will actually call back to the theatrically released animated short Playdate with Destiny, which recently became available to watch on Disney+. Not only does the episode focus on the redneck Cletus becoming a helium tycoon, but it also finds Marge reuniting with her toddler love interest from the aforementioned short film. Here's the synopsis:

"When Maggie reunites with baby Hudson from Playdate with Destiny, she won't let her play with her new baby crush because of his annoying mother, leading Maggie into a depressive spiral. Meanwhile, Cletus comes across quite a bit of money and becomes a helium tycoon, so Mr. Burns wants Homer to help him obtain it."

The good news is that even if you don't have a Disney+ subscription, you can catch up with Playdate with Destiny for free this weekend. The animated short will be made available on the Disney+ Twitter feed for 24 hours:

Anyone want seconds or thirds? This Sunday for 24 hours *only*, you can watch Maggie Simpson in "Playdate with Destiny" right here on @DisneyPlus Twitter. pic.twitter.com/42TwisdnT1

— Disney+ (@disneyplus) April 17, 2020

The animated short featured young Maggie falling for baby Hudson in a classic Hollywood romance kind of way. It plays out a lot like a silent film with a lot of clever spins on romantic movie tropes that make it a fun little story.

You can catch "The Incredible Lightness of Being a Baby" on Sunday, April 19 at 8:00 P.M. EST/7:00 P.M. CST.