Sentence examples for couch opening from inspiring English sources

Starting life as part of Playhouse Presents, an initiative whereby Sky offers people such as Paul O'Grady, Marc Warren, Will Self, Idris Elba and Jon Ronson a crack at writing or directing, Psychobitches mines the age-old dramatic/comedic seam of one character on a couch opening up to a professional (see also: In Treatment, Help, The Sopranos).

Other people who have directed the show's famous couch gag opening include "Ren and Stimpy" creator John Kricfalusi, Oscar-nominated animator Bill Plympton and the mysterious graffiti artist Banksy.

It's a kind of pre-game torpor, the kind that finds you slumped on the couch for the opening kickoff, Sunday crossword in hand, rather than standing four feet from the flatscreen for the duration of the first quarter.

All of them have appeared in the traditional opening couch sequence in each episode.

The opening couch gag also features Harold from the 1955 children's book Harold and the Purple Crayon.

The opening couch gag shows the Simpson family in blue boxes similar to the style of The Brady Bunch.

The A.V. Club critic Hayden Childs wrote that the "best thing about the 500th Simpsons episode is the opening couch montage, which hits the nostalgia bullseye almost perfectly".

The opening couch gag shows a pastiche of the cover collage from The Beatles' 1967 album Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

The opening couch gag is a recreation of the Rocky and Bullwinkle animated bumper seen at the end of each Bullwinkle short.

The show's annual Halloween special, "Treehouse of Horror XXIV" airs this Sunday, October 6 at 8 p.m. ET. In the spooky episode, director Guillermo del Toro ("Pacific Rim," "Pan's Labyrinth") resurrects monsters and classic characters from horror films throughout history for the opening couch gag.

Maggie Simpson appeared as a Pikachu in a couch gag during the opening animation of the 2003 episode "'Tis the Fifteenth Season".