‘Simpsons’ pays homage to ‘Game of Thrones’

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‘The Simpsons’ revised its opening credits on Sunday in honor of HBO’s returning fantasy epic ‘Game of Thrones.’

In the new opening sequence, shown before the episode ‘Exit Through the Kwik-E-Mart,’ familiar Springfield locations such as Moe’s and the Kwik-E-Mart are given the clockwork rising from the ground look and feel of the HBO series’ opening sequence.

And other locations get a special Westeros treatment, with Mr. Burns’ house renamed Burns Landing and the Simpson family couch given the ominous title The Couch.

It isn’t the first time ‘The Simpsons’ has redone its opening sequence. Banksy guest-directed the opening for an episode in 2010 and ‘Ren and Stimpy’ creator John Kricfalusi directed an opening sequence in 2011. A completely live action sequence, originally produced for the British channel Sky1, was incorporated into an episode in 2006.

The opening sequence of HBO’s ‘Game of Thrones’ is reminiscent of ‘The Simpsons’ in that it airs with slight variations in every episode. The locations used in that episode are included in the sequence. While the locations of ‘The Simpsons’ stay the same, every episode includes a different phrase on a blackboard and a different couch gag.

The new season of ‘Game of Thrones,’ adapting the second book of George R.R. Martin’s ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ series, begins on April 1.

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--Patrick Kevin Day