'Simpsons' founding writer Al Jean weighs in on the Homer coma theory

In case you missed it — there's a Reddit Simpsons fan theory making the rounds that posits that Homer has actually been in a coma since 1993. It's a long story, but the takeaway is that Homer did not wake up at the end of "So It's Come To This: A Simpsons Clip Show," and that every episode since has taken place inside his comatose mind. This would explain the increasingly fantastic plotlines (and overall decline in quality) of the show after this point.

Simpsons founding writer Al Jean recently dismissed the theory, telling TMZ, "It would mean back in 1993 we would presume the show was going on for years and years more and right before we left, threw this hidden monkey wrench in for all our successors."

He added, "I’m afraid it goes with the 'Dead Bart' episode in the intriguing but false file.” (Also, we just clicked on the "Dead Bart" thing — holy fuck!)

Speaking of Jean, we caught up with the metro Detroit native last year, and he told us all about sneaking Detroit references into The Simpsons. Read our interview here.