The Simpsons on Sporcle

The Simpsons creator Matt Groening recently confessed in an interview that the fictional town in which everyone’s favorite macaroni yellow family lived–Springfield–is actually based on Springfield, Oregon. While this may disappoint the Springfields in every other state of the Union, it can hardly come as a surprise to Oregonians. (Editors Note: Groening now says he was misquoted.) After all, Evergreen Terrace (the street on which the Simpson family lives) is the name of the street in southeast Portland on which Groening grew up, and Lovejoy, Flanders, and Quimby are only some of the Portland street names that have been applied to major characters in the Simpsons.

But for years, Groening refused to let on the Simpson’s real home, enjoying the ambiguity. Everyone could (and many did) believe that this Springfield was their Springfield. Given the nature of town life in The Simpsons, this may be something of a worrisome prospect. But maybe it isn’t just that the name “Springfield” is synonymous with eccentric citizenry and utterly incompetent local government. Maybe there’s something about how the characters from The Simpsons never try to pretend they’re better than they actually are, something about they’re being average people trying to get along in seemingly average circumstances that everyone responds to. We love the Simpsons because they are like us at our absolute worst and most ridiculous.

This affinity may lead to an almost fanatical level of devotion. In February to celebrate the show’s 500th episode, two Simpsons fans from California broke the Guinness World Record for consecutive hours spent watching television by watching every existing episode without stopping. All told, this was almost ninety strait hours of television. Pictures of Homer Simpson have been hand painted in imitation of Van Gogh’s blue backed self-portrait and Munch’s “The Scream.” when the voice actors for the Japanese series were replaced by bigger Japanese stars for the movie, fans from the country set up websites and forums to protest this alteration. With tag lines like, “Save the Simpsons!” it was clear their love of the series inspired them to attempt to maintain its integrity in the face of an attempt to boost the movie at the Japanese box office. In Europe, a German company has been battling it out for the rights to keep producing Duff. Google Translate informs me that their red backed ad reads, “How to become a legend?” which seems appropriate for such an iconic beer, if a bit over-literal in the translation.

While their guest stars have ranged from the newest celebrities on the block (here’s looking at you, Glee cast,) to legends like Patrick Stewart and Ringo Starr. Kelsey Grammar–famous predominantly for the sitcoms Cheers and Frasier–has voiced the ever-homicidal Sideshow Bob from the beginning of the series. Neil Patrick Harris had already been in an episode by the early ’90s. Stephen Hawking has played himself four times on the show, and Leonard Nimoy has appeared as himself twice. (Although his Star Trek co-star, William Shatner, is rumored  to be the first star ever to turn down a guest spot…) When someone is famous enough to make it on to (or turn down) The Simpsons, they’ve truly made it.

With over 500 episode, there’s plenty to draw from to make a great quiz, and we have hundreds of them you to play: Check out the Simpsons page on Sporcle for enough Simpsons trivia to even satisfy the pope of chili town.

Comments of the Week 05/11

We always love to read all the funny and insightful comments you leave throughout the week, so much so that we’ve decided to highlight our favorite five each and every Friday. Check out our favorite witty comments below:

1. From: ’80s Sitcoms

rockgolf: Peter Scolari was hilarious in Bosom Buddies, but whatever happened to that other guy?

2. From: Find a Fourth II

AzraelI just realized how awesome a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Legolas would have been…

3. From: Speed Countries II

object_holderSome weird stuff pops into your head when you’re trying to think fast. Swa-hili? Marshall Mathers? Camer-on Diaz? Pan-dora? Thanks for nothing, brain.

4. From: Click Be A Lady

mbusuttilI wish there was some way I could mark people as “definitely a man”, so I could stop accidentally clicking on them.

5. From: Gaming by Numbers

XYlophonetreeZWas anyone else ever kind of weirded out by the fact that there aren’t any bathrooms in Clue?

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Comments of the Week (05/04)

We always love to read all the funny and insightful comments you leave throughout the week, so much so that we’ve decided to highlight our favorite five each and every Friday. Check out our favorite witty comments below:

1. From: Click A Bro

hodgetiger: I’m surprised this quiz didn’t have any bro-nus answers!

2. From: South American Mammals

cripple_creekCapybara was at the tip of my tongue; I knew it started with a “c” but chupacabra was the only thing I could recall.

3. From: Best Picture Bonanza

WindSwordGood thing The Hurt Locker wasn’t a landmine. That would be an unfortunate coincidence.

4. From: NFL Penalty Yards

JaguarGator9Upon taking this quiz, James Harrison was fined $25,000.

5. From: Click A Bro

DavidosHonestly I don’t even know if these are real words, something from a TV show, or something else random, but who cares it was still fun.

New! Sporcle Hunger Games Trivia App

So now you’ve read all the Hunger Games books (in a 36 hour marathon), you’ve seen the movie (twice) and now you’ve started to braid your hair Katniss style (it’s working for you, trust us). The only thing you have left to accomplish is to download Sporcle’s brand new Hunger Games app and get 100% on every single game.

Our brand new app comes with 35 mind-busting quizzes that are as tough as Liam Hemsworth’s steely blue gaze. Included in the pack are quizzes about the major characters, events and even foods featured in the books. For those of you who loved the movie, we have quizzes based on the cast, and even the Hunger Games movie soundtrack. The best part? Each of these quizzes can be played any time and anywhere you are. Out in the woods chasing Groosling? Singing to the mockingjays? You’re good to go with the Hunger Games Trilogy Trivia app.

Read more

Deadly Sins of Disney Characters

Whether you’re Roman Catholic or not, you’ve likely heard of the seven deadly sins. Also described as “Cardinal Sins,” these are supposed to be the worst of the worst–that which would make your teachers from Catholic school do more than just slap your hands with a ruler. Since Pope Gregory IX and the days of old, these sins have been held to by worshipers and clergy alike as being on the top of the hierarchy of the abominable. The cream of the despicable crop, the most profound manifestations of human corruptibility, the seven deadly sins are the most greatly nefarious and obscene actions us mere mortals can commit.

And they’re evident in every Disney film.

Read more

New Clickable Feature

We’ve been making small tweaks here and there to Clickable quizzes since we released them just a couple of weeks ago. We’ve also had quite a few feature requests, and this new clickable option will hopefully be the first of many more:

Introducing: Hide the Previous/Next Button

This feature functions much like ‘force order and hide the next clue’ in our classic quiz type. The idea is that a user will not be able to movie forward or backward, and will only be able to follow the path that you lay out for them in the quiz. This could be used for Clickable Bunker type quizzes or strange new ideas we haven’t thought of yet.

Please let us know if you have any questions in the Sporcle Blog comments section.

Comments of the Week (04/20)

We always love to read all the funny and insightful comments you leave throughout the week, so much so that we’ve decided to highlight our favorite five each and every Friday. Check out our favorite witty comments below:

1. From: Titanic Survivors

eab21Is this quiz going to be republished in 3D?

2. From: Sink or Float? (Fruit)

adhairThe 27% who got cranberry wrong have clearly never seen an Ocean Spray commercial.

3. From: Sink or Float? (Fruit)

katipo12345Knowledge is knowing that a tomato floats in water… wisdom is not putting it there.

4. From: Countries of the World (Redux)

Jordan117Bermuda is like a cartoon rake I keep stepping on over and over and over and OVER.

5. From: Are You Smarter Than a College Student? V

hodgetigerI’m so out of touch with pop culture I thought the Kardashians fought the Bajorans on Deep Space 9!

Comments of the Week (04/13)

We always love to read all the funny and insightful comments you leave throughout the week, so much so that we’ve decided to highlight our favorite five each and every Friday. Check out our favorite witty comments below:

1. From: Countries in Countries

ablattThis would have been easier if there was a country named “Stan”.

2. From: One-Word Song Titles by Synonym

Evil44I forgot how to spell that Aretha Franklin song.

3. From: Clickable Matching Pairs

PoguesMan that made my eyes blurry.

4. From: Easter Egg Scramble

WCRoentgenDo I forfeit my “man card” because I thought the fashion magazines were easier than the beers?

5. From: Bill Murray Movies by Picture

hodgetigerThe weirdest thing happened when playing this quiz: I was doing it for the first time, but it felt like I had been taking it over and over again every day! And ‘I got you babe’ was playing in my head!

Add Sporcle to Your Facebook Timeline

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That’s all there is to it! Sporcle will automatically be added to your Timeline.

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Enjoy and happy Sporcling!