Clara’s Simpsons sleuthing

Clara has blessedly fallen in love with The Simpsons.

Charlie got a head start, but Clara caught up quickly once she understood the genius behind the show.

One of my favorite things about watching the show with the kids is the number of times we pause so I can offer a history lesson, an explanation of pop culture from long ago, and otherwise confusing dialogue:

Idioms and the like.

You can’t understand a Nixon joke without knowing who Nixon was.

You need to know who Duff McCagen is to understand how The Simpson’s iconic beer brand was named after him.

You can’t laugh at a character crying, “Oh, the humanity!” without knowing the fate of the Hindenburg.

The kids are learning a lot as they laugh a lot.

Last night Clara sent me an email (from her bedroom) describing some recent Simpsons sleuthing.

As you may know, The Simpsons live in Springfield, but the state is never referenced on the show. In fact, it’s deliberately, oftentimes amusingly obscured. Back in 2012, Simpsons creator Matt Groening revealed in an interview that the Springfield of the show was named after Springfield, Oregon, which is close to where Groening grew up.

Makes sense. Homer, Marge, Lisa, and Maggie are the names of Groening’s mother, father, and sisters. The Simpsons live on Evergreen Terrace – also the name of the street the Groenings lived on. And many of the characters in the show are named after streets in Portland.

But does naming a town after a town mean that it is the town?

Groening has also long given fake answers about the Simpsons’ hometown, too, so who knows?

Well, Clara is trying to find out for sure. She wrote:

I made a list of the states I’ve narrowed down to be the location of Springfield while watching the episode where they go to Washington.

• Minnesota
• Arkansas
• Pennsylvania
• Iowa

Apparently, the episode features a map of the Simpson’s route. Clara analyzed their movement on the map to determine possible locations of Springfield.

I don’t know if she’s onto something, but the fact that she is analyzing Simpsons episodes like this warms my heart immeasurably. I started watching The Simpsons from the very first episode, and it became appointment viewing for the years I lived with my friend, Begni, in a home we referred to affectionately as The Heavy Metal Playhouse.

A poster of Bart Simpson hung on the wall over the television.

Years later. Elysha and I – at Elysha’s request – watched The Simpsons on our first date,

Now my kids are watching the show with me.

Both of them.

I couldn’t be happier.