I would like to take this opportunity to dissect one of the greatest joke writing in modern TV history (and thereby ruining it)

Homer Simpson (to a car full of completely disinterested kids): “Now, Grand Funk Railroad paved the way for Jefferson Airplane which cleared the way for Jefferson Starship.”

The first layer of the joke is Homer being a typical uncool dad, talking about bands that were cool when he was growing up to kids who really didn’t care. It’s relatable, and in line with Homer not being cool. Most people can relate to this, it works on a surface level as a joke for the plot.

The second layer of the joke is that what he said doesn’t make any sense, Jefferson Airplane predates Grand Funk Railroad by 4 years. It’s in line with Homer being stupid and/or misremembering key facts while he’s confidently lecturing kids about something seemingly important to him. The second layer of the joke for people who know about classic rock history.

The third layer of the joke is that he’s talking about the band names: Railroad > Airplane > Starship. He was never talking about the music of the bands he was listing to disinterested kids, he was talking about the modes of transport in the band names. The third layer of the joke is probably missed by most people upon first viewing even if they caught the second layer of Homer stating something wrong as a fact to children he was trying to educate.

All this in less than 10 seconds. The line works for the scene, helps progress the plot, is in character both for Homer’s intelligence/misplaced confidence as well as feeling uncool and dated. This isn’t even the funniest thing golden age Simpsons pumped out nor the best episode overall.

God what a great TV show.