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# What actually makes Springfield so timeless? Matt Groening spills the beans on the show’s best kept secret.
- URL: https://www.killscreen.com/what-actually-makes-springfield-so-timeless-matt-groening-spills-beans-shows-best-kept-secret/
- Published: 2012-04-11T17:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2015-11-17T15:08:20.000Z
- Description: One of the most successful television shows ever made, a constant joke in The Simpsons is the resistance on the creator’s part to actually reveal where in the United States the show is set. That may have changed with a new reveal by Matt Groening, BBC News reports: Mr Groening also said he was inspi
- Author: Yannick Lejacq
- Tags: News, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2024-07-26 09:39

One of the most successful television shows ever made, a constant joke in *The Simpsons* is the resistance on the creator’s part to actually reveal where in the United States the show is set. That may have changed with a new reveal by Matt Groening, BBC News reports:

> Mr Groening also said he was inspired by the TV show Father Knows Best, which was set in a place called Springfield.  
>  
> But the Springfield in Oregon is just 100 miles (160km) south of Portland, the city where Mr Groening grew up.  
>  
> The Simpsons has sometimes given false answers to the question of Springfield’s true location, leaving open the possibility that Mr Groening’s latest comments are a continuation of the joke.  
>  
> “Whenever people say it’s Springfield, Ohio, or Springfield, Massachusetts, or Springfield, wherever, I always go: ‘Yup, that’s right,'” Mr Groening said.  
>  
> In one episode, Marge and Homer Simpson’s precocious daughter Lisa points to Springfield on a map, but the audience’s view is obscured by Bart Simpson’s head.  
>  
> It appears that the town of Springfield, Oregon, has known of its connection to the sitcom since 2007, when Mr Groening visited before the release of The Simpsons Movie.  
>  
> “Oh, okay, we knew that,” a community relations manager told the Associated Press when she heard about Mr Groening’s latest comments.

Is doubt part of what makes [Springfield timeless](http://killscreendaily.com/articles/reviews/simpsons-game/?ref=killscreen.com)? What makes *The Simpsons* endure might be how it deliberately eschews reality while obviously drawing deeply from the groundswell of American culture, the same way that the *Grand Theft Auto* games take place in places inspired by iconic American cities, but still remain their own works of fiction. It gives a space, however imaginary, its own history and mythology, which is crucial for any good story.

\[via [BBC News](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17673475?ref=killscreen.com)\]