Matt Groening Reveals What State Is Least Popular to View 'The Simpsons'

[Brian Damage]

I have one sort of very nerdy and specific "Simpsons" question I want to ask, if that's OK.
Sure.

Right after college I lived and worked in Chico, Calif., and there's a bar there called Duffy's. Some of the regulars claimed the name inspired the naming of Duff beer. True?
There was a radio show called "Duffy's Tavern," I believe in the '30s and '40s [1941-51, to be exact]. ... But no -- I'm sorry. I try to confirm all rumors -- people say, "Oh yeah, my friend says he was your roommate the University of Kansas." I never went there, but I usually say, "Yeah, that's right [laughs]." The only thing I know about chico is I used to read the Chico State newspaper -- I liked it a lot -- when I was working on my college newspaper. But nope.

I figured as much, but since I had the chance to ask ...
Yeah. It was "Duff" as in bad, off. And no one ever mentions the rural competition beer we had in one episode, Fudd. What's amazing about Duff beer is it's this throwaway joke on the show, and all over the world there have been counterfeit, unauthorized Duff beers -- in Mexico, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand. I try to get a six-pack before they get shut down. They keep talking about a real Duff beer, but I'm against it.

Although if there were a real Duff Gardens, I'd totally go.
Exactly. ... By the way, have you ever been on the Simpsons ride at Universal? It's pretty good. ... I always think it's like the lost "Simpsons" episode that you can only see in two places in the world. I was pretty happy with it. When I have out-of-town visitors I'm able to take them to the Simpsons ride. ... Then we go to the Kwik-E-Mart gift shop afterward, and I sometimes get recognized, but no tourist is surprised. It's like, "Of course that's where the creator of 'The Simpsons' would hang out."

Why not?
[Laughs] At the Kwik-E-Mart, where he autographs T-shirts.


The recording cuts out at this point, which is unfortunate because we spend a couple minutes talking about the where-is-Springfield hubbub on "The Simpsons" from earlier this year. For us the location has been fixed since the Season 11 episode "Behind the Laughter," when the narrator refers to "this Northern Kentucky family."

Groening says the show picked that location -- since changed for syndication -- because, according to him, it's "the place where 'The Simpsons' is the least popular."

"I have a friend who lived there, and he told me it was weird -- none of the kids in his town were allowed to watch 'The Simpsons,'" Groening says.

http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethe...obsession.html

[Blackout]

interesting