The Simpsons has been running for a long time, how does the series handle the character's aging? There's an annual Halloween episode, so we know the years pass in Springfield, but do the characters age at all?
Answer
The Simpsons utilizes a floating timeline to explain how the world of the show advances in time while the characters remain the same age.
From Wikipedia:
A floating timeline (also known as a sliding timescale) is a device
used in fiction, particularly in comics and animation, to explain why
characters age little or not at all over a period of time - despite
real-world markers like notable events, people and technology
appearing in the works and correlating with the real world.
The show always takes place in the current year and the characters will always remain the same (general) ages except in certain episodes that show flashbacks or someone's future or where the plot simply requires a birthday, etc.
As a result, there's actually very little continuity between the episodes themselves and plenty of things that just don't make sense if you look at the series as a whole. Basically, the writers do what they want, and if you ever notice a problem you can just assume a wizard did it.
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