For 25 seasons and counting, the exact location of Springfield—the town in which The Simpsons takes place—has never been revealed. It could be Ohio. Or Illinois. Probably not Hawaii, given Homer’s one-time snow plow business, but you never know.
But as of today, we know exactly where to find Springfield: on the Internet.
Simpsons World launched today and is available through the FXNow app. It houses 552 episodes (and counting) of The Simpsons (assuming 23 minutes per episode, that’s around 212 hours, give or take) and allows users to watch clips, search for episodes based on favorite characters or phrases, read up on Simpsons trivia or any number of other activities.
“If you just flipped on the TV, anywhere across the country, you’d find an episode, and that was a great, easy experience,” FX Networks COO Chuck Saftler told ign.com. “But we wanted to look at the new paradigms that we’re seeing in this SVOD space, this non-linear space, where people can create playlists and create the [experience] they want.”
He’s right in describing The Simpsons’ ubiquitous presence, by the way. Every time I turn on the TV and flip through the on-screen guide, I can find some station somewhere showing a Simpsons episode—it doesn’t matter if it’s 10 a.m. or 7 p.m. or straight up midnight. It’s always there, lurking on the dial like Sideshow Bob.
Our culture is so saturated by The Simpsons that, if you look closely, it’s tinged a mustard yellow. It’s been called the greatest television show ever, and it’s spawned everything from movies and video games (of course), to college courses predicated on its satire, to everyday catchwords like “d’oh” and “meh” and “embiggen.” It even has its own theme park—a section of Universal Orlando Resort in Florida—where you can drink a Duff Beer.
‘Course, The Simpsons wasn’t always so beloved.
The show began in 1989—just a year before Plugged In got its start (then a small newsletter called Parental Guidance). And Parental Guidance dedicated the cover of its third issue to this then upstart show. The writer assumed The Simpsons was so unfamiliar to its readers that he felt the need to introduce the characters:
Homer is the head of this blue-collar clan and works as a safety inspector who sleeps on the job at the local nuclear power plant. His favorite drink is beer, and he loves to spend time at the bar with the guys. He constantly bickers with his wife and is famous for his arguments with his son, Bart.
It sounds pretty quaint, this description. These days, even Americans who’ve never watched the show probably still know more about Homer than the vice president.
The author compared the show to Fox’s then-popular sitcom Married … With Children, acknowledging the Simpsons was a kinder, gentler show. Not that the show was exactly kind and gentle—not with Homer strangling Bart in every episode.
Still, Parental Guidance didn’t drop the hammer on The Simpsons. The review ended like this:
Sometimes holding a mirror up to society, as Charles Dickens did to 19th century England, can be beneficial, while at other times it can be just plain … well, ugly. Let’s hope The Simpsons can rise above the ugliness to encourage communication, love and respect.
I don’t know if The Simpsons has ever truly “encouraged” communication, love and respect. In its 25 years, the show has given us plenty of controversial, cringe-worthy moments. It has satirized the best and worst aspects of us. It has skewered religion, especially Christianity. It has lampooned every aspect of society. But it has, against all odds, given us a curiously lovable, if dysfunctional, family.
Maybe in some ways, The Simpsons truly has captured something of our collective psyche: We can be clueless and careless, like Homer. We can be conscientious like Marge. We can rebel like Bart. Sometimes, like Maggie, we can just sit on the sidelines and suck on a metaphorical pacifier. We can screw up and say nasty things and fail time and time again. And every week we try again, hoping to share a hug with our loved ones before the credits roll.
From a family friendly point of view, of course, The Simpsons has many flaws. And even those who don’t care a whit about family friendliness acknowledge the show is well past its glory days. But as the 552 episodes in Simpsons World can attest, The Simpsons has come to reflect us—or we have come to reflect it—in strange, sometimes discomforting ways. And like us, it always holds out hope for a happy ending.
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