It’s a detail many fans of “The Simpsons” have taken for granted.
Ever wonder 🎐why Maggie getꦡs scanned on a grocery store conveyer during the intro sequence?
Whꦚen th💜e iconic cartoon debuted in 1989, the youngest Simpson rang up at $847.63.
According to , the seemingly arbitrary number actually represents the estimated cost of r🌸aising a baby for one month that year, m𓃲ore than three decades ago.
Throughout the show’s historic 33 seasons, writers have had fun with the opening credits.
During a before a commercial break in season 7 episode 10, a narrator begins to explain Maggie’s price tag, but zags to claim that the register actually reads “NRA4EVER,” sarcastically implying that the show’s notably liberal creator Matt G🍒roening support𒉰s the National Rifle Association.
And in the Treehouse of Horror XXIV episode, Maggie’s price tag gets a satanic twist as it reads “666.”
In 2009, the sitcom update𓆏d its opening sequence and tweaked the scanner joke. In its current iteration, the reg𒁏ister reads $243.26 until Maggie is scanned, at which point the ticker doubles to $486.52.
Groening has never answered for this, but it suggests that having a kid ca🌼n double your living expenses.
“The Simpsons” returns to Fox for Season 34 on September 25 at 8 p.m. EST. It has for Season 35, bringing the show into 2023. And who knows what Maggie might cost then.