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Matt Groening Reveals Springfield Is In His Home State of Oregon
First time accepted submitter TheSeventh writes "Simpsons creator Matt Groening has revealed the location of the real Springfield: It's in Oregon. In an interview with Smithsonian magazine, Groening credits the name to the hit TV show Father Knows Best. The show 'took place in the town of Springfield, and I was thrilled because I imagined that it was the town next to Portland, my hometown,' he says. 'When I grew up, I realized it was just a fictitious name. I also figured out that Springfield was one of the most common names for a city in the U.S. In anticipation of the success of the show, I thought, 'This will be cool; everyone will think it's their Springfield.' And they do.'"
I always thought it was inside my television.
From Wikipedia... Due to the many contradictory statements regarding Springfield, it is impossible for the town to exist in any specific U.S. state. For example, in The Simpsons Movie, Ned Flanders tells Bart that Ohio, Nevada, Maine, and Kentucky all border Springfield's state. The city's unknown and unknowable geography is a recurring joke in the series; despite the "riddle wrapped in an enigma that is Springfield's location", Lisa Simpson states that "it's a bit of a mystery, yes. But if you look at the clues, you can figure it out." Episodes frequently make fun of the fact that Springfield's state is unidentifiable by adding further conflicting descriptions, obscuring onscreen map representations, and interrupting conversational references. The telephone area codes for Springfield are 636 (St. Charles County - Western St. Louis County, Missouri) and 939 (Puerto Rico). David Silverman has claimed that Springfield is in the fictional state of "North Takoma". This is substantiated by the state abbreviations NT and TA used within the show. However, this has never been officially confirmed in any canonical episode of The Simpsons or by other Simpsons producers.
"Matt Groening Reveals that 'Springfield' Name Came From 'Father Knows Best'"
The Springfield of the show is, of course, fiction. It can't exist. It's everywhere in the U.S. all at once. It's in the desert, near the ocean, it was founded by colonial settlers, it's close to both Mexico and Canada, it's home to every type of U.S. wildlife (except for bears, of course--the Bear Patrol keeps those out).
About the only things you won't find there these days are decent writing or a sense of pride.
What political party do you join when you don't like Bible-thumpers *or* hippies?
From TFA: "Springfield was named after Springfield, Oregon"
That doesn't mean it IS Springfield, Oregon.
I thought, 'This will be cool; everyone will think it's their Springfield.' And they do.'
Well, not anymore.
Eugene.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
The characters aren't weird enough.