Here's How Old the Simpsons Would Be If They Actually Aged

The Simpsons is far and away the most dependable show on television. You can turn on any episode from any season—be it the first or the 29th—and you'll always see the same exact characters you grew up with: Homer and Marge are perpetually in their late thirties, while Lisa and Bart have been attending Springfield Elementary since George H.W. Bush was in office.

But how old would the Simpson family be if they actually aged like the rest of us? As Laughing Squid reported, cartoonist Randall Munroe figured it out, and the results will probably make you take stock of your own mortality a bit. In real life, if Homer and Marge aged at the same rate as the rest of us, they would be in their mid-60s today, if we estimate that they are about 36 years old on the show. Bart and Lisa, on the other hand, would be 39 and 36, respectively. They’d basically be as old in real life as their parents are on the show. Meanwhile, Maggie would be nearing 30, despite still sucking on that pacifier. Which means that if you were around Bart or Lisa’s age when the show began in 1989, you probably relate more to Homer and Marge these days, as you're about the same age as they have been since the series premiered.

This is all by design, though, as series creator Matt Groening always imagined the show as having a “rubber band reality,” where continuity and consistency take a backseat to whatever stories the writers could come up with. That’s why a 1995 episode could jump into the future and show Lisa getting married in 2010. And when 2010 actually came and went, she was in her 21st year in second grade. It’s all in an effort to be timeless, Groening explained. And after nearly 30 years on the air, don't expect the laws of nature to show up in Springfield anytime soon.

[h/t/ Laughing Squid]