This has been done before, but that other thread doesn’t mention a recent episode which should shed some light. Recently, on ‘The Simpsons’, the couch part of the intro to the show featured a very cool sequence. The camera zoomed out from Homer’s head, past his house, above Springfield, above America, through the sky, through the Solar System, through the galaxies, through the superclusters, then the superclusters formed atoms, which formed DNA, which formed cells, which formed the skin on Homer’s head. Trippy.
My question is this: Where in America did the zoom pull back from? I would need a freeze frame and a US map to place where they were. Perhaps a more geographically aware Doper remembers or has the resources to check. It seems they finally pointed to a location on the map and said ‘Springfield is here!’. Anyone know what I’m talking about?
This was the best couch moment ever if you ask me . . .
But all it would show is where the microscopic Simpsons live, not the full sized ones. Face it, it’s a running gag that has no real answer, and *can’t * have a real answer.
They are one and the same. An infinite loop. A river with no beginning that flows into itself from all directions. A tapestry of infinite detail including everything and signifying nothing. In other words, where on the map were they?
Really, dude, Springfield moves. This isn’t the first episode with “conclusive” evidence of where it is … it’s just that all the various pieces of conclusive evidence are all self-contradictory! I seem to remember an episode where various self-contradictory pieces of evidence were mentioned all within that one episode. I suppose a more learned Simpsons scholar will come along in a moment to let us know the details …
It’s all in the linked thread. I get it. I know that they contradict themselves and do it on purporse. I realize it is a cartoon and so they don’t really “live” anywhere. I just want to know where it was for that episode. Whether or not it can be solved conclusively doesn’t really matter. Anticipation of the thing is better than the thing itself anyway.
Even if there is never any payoff/total solution, it’s fun to try to put together a best case scenario and debate the merits of a theory among like minded people. A never-ending plate of delicious anticipation (mmm . . . anticipation) served cold and with beer. I understand it is a pointless activity, but my juvenile psyche is entertained by endless discussion of pop culture minutiae. Forgive me if you must, call me a glutton if you will, but I’d rather you indulge me and call me Lord of the Cats (or ‘Daddy’ if you’re into that sort of thing). Never deny kids. Never deny.
In the “Behind the Laughter” episode (a take-off on VH1’s Behind the Music show), one of the last lines in the show was something like… “and so, life goes on for this Kentucky family”. Which you’d think would seal the deal, but that same episode when shown in syndication says either Kentucky or Missouri.
Honestly though, name any city in America that has: a harbor, salt flats, a desert (different from the slat flats), mountains, etc.
I remember one episode where Lisa said something about West Springfield being three times the size of Texas. So obviously Springfield makes up at least 10% of the country.
Thanks. Springfield is the capital of Illinois. That would also put in range of Kentucky, Missouri, Indiana, maybe Ohio, and Iowa. I wish I could find a freeze of that shot. Anyone remember the name of the episode or what it was about? I’m having trouble finding it on the net. I remember I laughed pretty hard if that helps. . .
I just wanted to add that I had never even thought about this puzzle until I heard the above line earlier this year. Even if there is no answer, I gotta give the show props for being fun in such interesting ways. There are the obvious hit-you-over-the-head gags, the subtle jokes, the hidden jabs and even, it would seem, some games aimed at the audience.
This show is so much fun. Groenig is great. You can see he puts alot of forethought and care into this show. Same with Futurama. There was an episode late in the series where they go back in time to the first episode. Someone pointed out that if you watch the first episode you see Nibler’s shadow. Nibler wasn’t introduced until well after the first episode. He planted the seeds for a gag and storyline that he didn’t plan to use for years! Incredible! Fun for me. Daddy likes.
I don’t know the name of it, but it started out with Bart and Lisa being absolutely terrified by a movie that Homer took them to. Then, in a typical Simpsonesque plot twist, Arnie (Marge’s old boyfriend) makes an appearance and Homer ends up being framed and convicted for embezzlement that Arnie committed in the 90s.
Here in New Zealand that episode was shown last Wednesday :D.
I just found a useful page for this game. It also has some good fan quotes, of which, I will list two. The first echoes my sophmoric enjoyment and the second offers a bold theory as to the final solution.
Thanks, Mbossa. Armed with the episode title I was able to track down the following interesting information:
Seems this writer discards this as a possible location reference, but It’s not so simple. All I have to do is divine it from what I know of Matt and the Simpsons. Is he the sort of man who would put meaningful references into his own shows? Now, a clever man would put the meaning deep in his art because he would know that only a great fool would reach for what he was given. I am not a great fool so I can clearly not choose that an obvious reference has merit…But he must have known that I was not a great fool; he would have counted on it, so I can clearly not dismiss out-of-hand obvious references. Not remotely! Because Groenig comes from the Pacific Northwest. As everyone knows, the Pacific Northwest is entirely peopled with musicians. And musicianss are used to having people not trust them, as Groenig is not trusted by me. So, I can clearly not choose to believe that obscure references, such as ‘Power of Ten’ are unimportant. And he must have suspected I would have known of his origin, so I can clearly not choose to accept information at the outskirts. He’s come out on top of the Hollywood game, which means he’s exceptionally cut-throat…so he could have put this reference in counting on my weakness to ruin me, so I can clearly not accept that this is a meaningless nod. But, he also has a father named Homer, which means he must have studied…and in studying he must have learned that Man is mortal so he would not dare toy with my intellect, so I can clearly not pay this couch gag any attention. Unless he’s found the fountain of youth . . .
Until my dying day I will swear the Simpsons live in Oregen.
I think it is a somewhat well-known fact that Matt Groening did model Springfield on the various towns around where he grew up in Oregen. Heck there is even a Springfield in Oregen.
Thus by default, the Simpsons are the Simpsons of Oregen. Plus some other fun coinsidences, in the Navy episode they did seem to be a pacific costal town, not an Atlantic or Gulf, and the state has a female governor (in 1990 when the Simpsons where in there infancy, Oregen elected a female governor).
Okay it is grasping at straws, but it is as good a theory as any.
Actually my belief is when the final epsiode is shown many years down the road (which reporting to Matt Groening, he had wrote in like 1989), the State of the Simpsons will be revealed.
But they don’t. Homer’s boxing nickname is ‘the Southern Dandy,’ for one. But you’re right about the towns. Also, IMDb Groening named a number of the characters (including Flanders, Lovejoy, Terwilliger, and Kearney) after streets in the area where he grew up.
Plus some other fun coinsidences, in the Navy episode they did seem to be a pacific costal town, not an Atlantic or Gulf, and the state has a female governor (in 1990 when the Simpsons where in there infancy, Oregen elected a female governor).