general

where does matt groening lives?

Where does Matt Groening live or where shall I send a letter from a massive fan?

Somewhere in the LA area, presumably, but Groening’s address isn’t publicly known. (Which, of course, is no big surprise for a celebrity.) The official mailing address for the “Simpsons” staff is (according to the “Simpsons” FAQ/LISA):

The Simpsons
c/o Twentieth Television
Matt Groening’s Office
PO Box 900
Beverly Hills, CA 90213

characters

Where’s Herman?

He’s been in the background a bunch of times, but he hasn’t had a speaking line since “Treehouse of Horror VIII”. How weird is that? Over seven years. Herman’s not the only character who has seemingly vanished without trace.

What is the rest of the quote that CBG says when he says “we are not nerds….”

“We are hardly nerds. Would a nerd wear such an irreverent sweatshirt?”
C:/DOS
C:/DOS/RUN
RUN/DOS/RUN

Robotic Richard Simmons gag from the “Burns’ Heir” outtake in “The Simpsons’ 138th Episode Spectactular”. Is there any particular reason why the robot was Richard Simmons?

Probably because he’s a fruit and Homer’s scared of exercising.

episodes

what seasons did Conan O’Brien write for?

Conan only wrote episodes for the fourth and fifth season. One of his plot ideas, “Lisa’s Rival”, was finished by Mike Scully after Conan left and aired during the sixth season.

Which episode is it where Homer is trying to think of the word “conscience” and he calls it (paraphrased) “that voice in your head that sounds a lot like Lisa”?

Viva Ned Flanders.

In Summer of 4ft2, the holiday house Flanders has is referred to in the town known as America’s crudbucket and then Springfield is referred to as America’s scraudbasket (Or the other way around). Does this refer to the people or the state of the town. What is scraud?

The fictional town of Little Pwagmattasquarmsettport is called “America’s scrod basket.” My dictionary gives “scrod” as meaning “A young cod or haddock, especially one split and boned for cooking as the catch of the day.” Which fits, given that it seems to be a fishing town. (As for the state it’s in, the town, including its name, is fairly representative of homey resort towns along the northeastern U.S. coast, especially in Maine and Massachusetts.)

Homer lists his jobs as: boxer, mascot, astronaut, imitation Krusty, baby-proofer, trucker, hippie, plow-driver, food critic, conceptual artist, grease salesman, carny, mayor, grifter, bodyguard for the mayor, country-western manager, garbage commissioner, mountain climber, farmer, inventor, Smithers, Poochie, celebrity assistant, power plant worker, fortune cookie writer, beer baron, Kwik-E-Mart clerk, homophobe, and missionary.

Which episode does Marge say “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night?”

‘Scuse Me While I Miss The Sky.

Which episode does Marge do a head count by saying spikey, twinky, twinky, baldy?

“Old Yeller Belly.” And I think she said “Where’s Baldy?” b/c Homer was trapped in the burning treehouse. Also, she counts herself and says “Stylish.” – Spikey, Pointy, Pointy, Stylish…where’s Baldy?”

What was the name of the Joe Millionaire parody in Simple Simpson?

Promiscuous Idiots’ Island

in Day of Jackanapes, Bob says: “Attention! The French club picnic has been cancelled. Quel domage” What does “Quel domage” mean?

Quel dommage means “what a pity!” It’s a commonly-taught French phrase, the sort you’d expect American students to use frequently.

What episode was the 2001 parody where Homer is an ape in?

Lisa’s Pony.

In the episode where “No Homers Club” where presented, a certain Homer Gumble appeared… Do we hear anything about him before or later in the show?

His name was Homer Glumplich, and he has not been mentioned or seen since. The only purpose of his character was for a quick joke

music

lisa’s sax song?

What is the name of the piece of music that lisa plays at the end of the episode 3, season 9, entitled “Lisa’s Sax”?

It’s Gerry Rafferty’s classic song called “Baker Street”.

sound byte for my cell phone answering machine?

I’m a big simpsons fan and ive been looking for a sound byte for my cell phone answering machine. When i thought of this i instantly thought of episode [3F05] King Size Homer. When homer realizes there is a problem at the nuclear power plant he tries to call someone but his fingers are too fat to dial. The sound byte im looking for is the message he recieves when he tries to dial. something along the lines of “your fingers are too fat to dial this number. to order a dialing wand, please mash the keypad with your palm, now.” I’ve been looking all over the internet for it and you have a very dedicated Simpsons web site. If you have this sound byte or know where i can find it i would really appreciate it. Thank you,

Here is the file in good mp3 format: “The fingers you have used to dial are too fat. To obtain a special dialing wand, please mash the keypad with your palm now.” -operator (Courtesy to Last Exit to Springfield’s Quote page).

What are the two songs that James Taylor sings in Deep Space Homer?

Taylor sang “You’ve Got a Friend” and “Fire and Rain”.

Which episode features the Simpsons Soap Opera Ending Music?

‘The Springfield Connection’ has Soap Opera-ish end music, although there might be another one.

What was the sax song Lissa played when bleeding gums murphy died?

“Jazzman”, by Carole King.

In “The Homer They Fall” what’s the music playing during Homer’s black-and-white boxing montage? I’ve heard it in other shows and commercials, but I don’t know its origin…

It’s the same music cue from the montage in Scorsese’s “Raging Bull” that the scene parodies – for the life of me, I can’t remember if that would make it a clip from Cavelleria Rusticana: Intermezzo, Guglielmo Ratcliff: Intermezzo, or Silvano Bacarolle, or if I’m completely misremembering it.

Does anyone know the lyrics to Marge’s new and improved Itchy and Scratchy theme song in Itchy and Scratchy Vs. Marge?

They love! They share!
They share and love and share!
Love, love, love!
Share, share, share!
The Itchy and Scratchy Show!

voices

who’s voice is it when maggie simpson speaks?

Who’s voice is it when Maggie Simpson speaks?
From: Morgan

What a fun question to research! Among much hoopla, Maggie’s first spoken word on The Simpsons was “Daddy”, with Elizabeth Taylor doing the voice for that show. I can still remember the interview on The Today Show about this “momentous occasion”! Since then, Maggie’s voice (what few episodes in which she’s actually given a voice) has been done by:

• Yeardsley Smith (who also does Lisa Simpson and others)
• Liz Georges
• Nancy Cartwright (Bart’s voice)
• Danny DeVito
• James Earl Jones (now, *that’s* strange)

The sucking sounds as Maggie sucks on her pacifier are believed to be made by Matt Groening, the series creator.

Who does the voice of the “Old Gray Mare” guy from Krusty Gets Kancelled?

Hank Azaria.

Who did the voice of Gabbo?

Hank Azaria.

broadcasting

world series over – why not show the simpsons?

1:It’s FOX, dude!

2: They had already planned the schedule to air for that night, in case there was no Game 7: 7:00 – last year’s Simpsons THOH episode (they stopped calling them “Halloween Specials” in 2002) 7:30 – The X-Files Movie. They’re not going to air the new one until November 7 for a very simple reason: they’ve already run commercials numerous times saying that it won’t air until then (and it makes no sense to air the same episode two weeks in a row).

jokes i don’t get!

when homer is working at the bowlarama and the guy who works there tells him to bring an extra pair of pants and homer asks why and he says when it happens you’l know?

Its a joke that he will get squirted with some kind of filthy liquid or something will spill on him so he will need fresh clothes. Maybe because the bowling alley is full of yucky people and their sweat on the balls and shoes and did you notice uncle Al was covered with some crap and he sounded sick from working there.

Bowling lanes are covered with a lot of oil. I’m assuming what’s meant here is that Homer would make a lot of contact with the lane floors, and thus his pants would be dirtied up greatly.

in Mr Spritz goes to Washington. After watching the 3 stooges, Homer says “Droll.”, then JOE MILLIONAIRE- FOX appears. Is it a joke?

In the United States, many episodes (of all FOX’s shows) have annoying digitally-added promos for shows like Joe Millionaire which streak across the screen like that. They usually come at the start of the show. The joke is that Homer actually sees the promo, and eats it. Not exactly hilarious, but there you go.

In Treehouse of Horror XIV, why is Ned Flanders so surprised to have seen Confucius and Milton Berle in heaven?

Neither Berle nor Confucius were Christian.

In Sunday, cruddy Sunday,at Moes. The travel agent and Moe speak with their mouths behind beer glasses. Eg: “President Clinton will be there with his wife, Barbara.”

It was because at the time the writers didn’t who’d be playing in the Superbowl. They did it so that fans couldn’t lip-read who their original predictions would be. The Clinton and Hilary thing was just a “joke”, that Clinton might not be president (though, they showed him later in the episode) and that he might not be married when the episode aired. And so they could update it and re-run it at the time of the Superbowl (like they did with Lisa The Greek). Obviously they made it noticable on purpose and as you say it was mainly used for the Clinton gag.

Can someone explain the DOS/RUN joke? not the “its funny because it’s a nerd joke” explication… but why is it funny?

It’s like the line from “See Spot Run” (the children’s book), but with DOS in place of Spot. Its reads almost like a series of command lines in DOS (Disk Operating System). That’s the joke.

In The Way We Weren’t, Marge says “Now I should warn you kids, this part of the story is a little ‘WB'” What does she mean by that? What does WB stand for?

The entertainment/media company Time-Warner started their own network in the U.S. a few years ago, the Warner Brothers Network – which is called the “WB” for short (a la ABC, CBS, NBC, and another smaller start-up, UPN). The WB is best-known these days for the type of young-persons’ soap operas which have been its biggest ratings’ successes – like “Dawson’s Creek”. They’re shows that prominently feature young kids & teens gettin’ down – so Marge is warning her kids that there’s gonna be some romance and kissing in her story.

why do the simpsons always make fun of the Unitarians?

Grampa turned around in his seat and said “What is it – a Unitarian?”

It’s not that their “worth making fun of” – its that their used to show the absurdity of religious bigotry, especially that which goes on within sects of Christianity.

Unitarianism as a system of Christian thought and religious observance that has as its basis the belief in the single-unity of the “Christian Godhead”, i.e. in the idea that the Godhead exists in the person of “the Father/God” alone, rather than the Trinity of Father, Son & Holy Ghost. Unitarians trace their historical roots back to the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, which saw so many other Christian denominations split off from Catholicism. Its been around in Europe since then, though far less prevalent than other denominations, and there have been Unitarian churches and believers in America as long as the U.S. has been established. (Members number in the millions today in the US).

It’s not that their religious beliefs are “wacky” or that far off other Christian beliefs – it’s a good illustration of how more populous, “mainstream” branches of Christianity ‘look down’ on other brances, as well as other religions. (Think of Rev. Lovejoy’s wonderful phrase from “Homer the Heretic”: “… whether Christian, Jew, or miscellaneous.” (“Laika” is a spammer whose screeds are far too bigoted to understand the humor in this) [Jean was joking when he said “most of us are Irish”.]

BTW, the “If you lived here, you would be home by now” signs originated in the US post-WWII era, during the widespread build-ups of suburban planned communities, as a cute advertisment for these communities. You can still mostly see them on highways today, still used as advertisements for newly-built small towns and suburbs (or as cute, folksy advertisements for older ones.)

In Special Edna, What is the joke with that teacher when the Teacher Of The Year Award judges say Dead Poets Society ruined a generation of educators and I know its a movie could you go into more detail about what the teacher himself said and why the other judges made the comment?

The movie starred Robin Wiliams and the teacher on the showed the charismatic behavior of Robin Williams, to the judges’ dismay. The judges were basically old-fashioned and would rather education by tedious than fun (it’s a low-level everyday satire, in a sense).

miscallenous

in what state does the simsons live in?

That’s a question! There are 121 Springfields in the U.S. Matt Groening picked the name for the city because it was so common and well-known.

Season 5 DVD discs bonuses?

Here are some preliminary details on season five for the Simpsons:

disc 1:

• Commentary on Homer’s Barbershop Quartet by Matt Groening, Al Jean, Hank Azaria, Jon Lovitz, Jeff Martin and Mark Kirkland
• Commentary on Cape Feare by Matt Groening, Al Jean and Jon Vitti
• Commentary on Homer Goes to College by Matt Groening, David Mirkin, James L. Brookes, Conan O’Brien, Jim Reardon and David Silverman
• commentary by Matt Groening, David Mirkin, Wes Archer and David Silverman on Rosebud.
• Commentary on Treehouse of Horror by Matt Groening, James L. Brookes, David Mirkin, Conan O’Brien, Greg Daniels, Bill Oakley, Josh Weinstein and David Silverman
• Commentary on Marge on the Lam by Matt Groening, David Mirkin, Mark Kirkland, David Silverman
• Animatics and storyboards with illustrated commentary
• Commercials
• Tree House of Horror Sketches Deleted scenes entitled Homer’s Barbershop Quartet, Cape Feare, Homer Goes to College, Rosebud and Treehouse of Horror IVdisc 2:
• Marge on the Lam – Commentary by Matt Groening, David Mirkin, Mark Kirkland, David Silverman.

There was a DVD commentary where the closing credits have just begun to appear, and someone says something like, “Most of these people are dead now” and everyone laughs, and a second later Phil Hartman’s name comes up and everyone goes silent. Does anyone remember which episode this was?

Marge vs. the Monorail. The 5th audio choice. It was Conan O’ Brien who said that.

does anyone know what Lisa’s email is from when she says it in the episode where shes school president?

smartgirl63_ (at) yahoo.com

When they interview the characters (Marge in Maxim, Homer in that presidential poll), who makes the jokes? or who writes it? The writers or the people who voice the characters?

These types of ‘print’ promotional pieces, as well as the ‘scripts’ for videogames and video promotional appearances and commercials, are written by the lower-level writing staffers – typically the ones with the “story editor” and “story consultant” credits in the end-credits (in their 1st & 2nd seasons on the staff). They’re reviewed and/or revised by other writers that wish to, and approved by Fox publicity, the showrunner and Matt. (The artwork for printed pieces is created by the Bongo art staff.)

Sarin (In the one where Manjula gets all the valentines day presents) and the pilot skywriter says its just peace corps surplus. Peace corps Surplus? What Bart doing the digging about in Homer the Moe anyway?

Sarin is one of the most dangerous chemical warfare agents, an extremely toxic liquid and gas that disrupts the nervous system. It became well-known in late 1995 when used by a Japanese doomsday cult, in a terrorist attack on the Tokyo subway system that killed 12 and sent more than 5,000 people to hospitals.

“Peace Corps surlus” is a joke on “military surplus”, which is the way that “regular” stores that carry such outdated miltary products obtain them and sell them to civilians. The actual Peace Corps would have no use for Sarin. (Incidentally, Fantastic Dan explains that the can is “Peace Corps surplus” – its unlikely that he really exposed Springfield to the real chemical.)

—

questions

questions?

We would love to publish it! Write it to .

credits

Special thanks to Jonah Flynn and Don Del Grande.

Extra special thanks to users of nohomers.net: wavy gravy, Ben H, Hydro, Butters, Colburn, Miss Springfield, Huh?, Roger Myers III, bupkis, Vox Nerduli, larson something, Patman, 729, Necromancer, Mr. Broom, Goty and strong sad.

—