How the Test Was Won

Earlier this month, The Simpson's weighed in on the issue of high-stakes assessment with their episode, "How The Test Was Won."

This episode opens with Homer and Marge celebrating with champagne and New Years party hats. 3...2...1...Happy New Year of school !

Bart and Lisa wander into the kitchen wondering what's going on.

Marge: "It's the first day of school!"

Homer: "You're the government's problem now!"



The plot involves Springfield Elementary school's nefarious plans to game the high-stakes "Vice President's Assessment Test" by manipulating which students -- the Barts or Lisas -- take the test.

Bart is informed that he and a select group of students have received perfect scores on a practice test for the upcoming Vice President’s Assessment Test and are sent off to receive a prize.

Meanwhile, Lisa gets brain lock over a poorly written test question.

Hat tip to Russo.

Eat My Shorts, Vermont

"I'll even take 'em off for ya." - Bart Simpson

Springfield, VT (AP) - Springfield, Kentucky, has lost a chance to be known as the official hometown of the "The Simpsons" TV show.

The honor goes to Springfield, Vermont, which will now host the premiere of "The Simpsons Movie" on July 26.

Officials at 20th Century Fox ran an online poll on the USA Today Web site inviting people to vote among 14 Springfields around the nation, including Kentucky's, Ohio's, Tennessee's, and Illinois'.

This from MSNBC.

'Simpsons' premiere bid gets boost. The 'ville's Abramson aids Springfield, Ky.

If a couple of six-packs of Duff, a skateboard and a Louisville Slugger are enough loot to bribe Matt Groening into bringing the premiere of "The Simpsons Movie" to Springfield, Ky., the town of 3,000 is in.

And if it isn't enough, add more than a million votes from people in the Louisville area and the smallest of 14 Springfields across America competing for the right to serve as host of the premiere just might have a chance.

Louisville Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson held a press conference with Springfield Mayor Joe Quimby -- d'oh!, make that Springfield, Ky., Mayor John Cecconi -- yesterday to urge everyone in the area to vote for Kentucky's Springfield.

People can vote through 3 a.m. Tuesday on the USA Today Web site, where each Springfield -- from Massachusetts to Oregon, Michigan to Florida -- has produced a video explaining why it is the "real" fictional home of "The Simpsons."

The city with the most votes will be the host of the premiere later this month.

"Springfield, Mo., has 150,000 people. Springfield, Mass., has 150,000 people," Abramson said. "So to even the score, I'm calling on all 1.4 million Louisville residents to cast a vote."

The "gifts" were all produced locally. Bluegrass Brewing Co. made the Duff beer (complete with a label that said, in small print, "mmm, beer"); Home Skate Shop temporarily changed its name to Homer Skate Shop while making the board; and the baseball bat was emblazoned with the message, "Springfield, Kentucky is a real Homer."

This from the Courier-Journal.

USA Today moves Simpson's voting back to Monday

D'oh!

Here come the Simpsons...but not yet.

Beginning Monday, you'll be able to vote for the Springfield you think should host the hometown premiere of 'The Simpsons Movie.'

In the meantime, check out THE EVIDENCE from the Simpson's Archive at Snpp.com.

Kentucky town is one of 14 hoping to claim it's hometown of Simpsons

This from the Herald-Leader.

Hey, you know what would be sweeter than a plateful of doughnuts (Mmmm ... doughnuts!) to the folks in Springfield, Ky.? More intoxicating than a truckload of Duff beer? More smooth-jazz cool than a Lisa Simpson saxophone solo?

To be named the site of the world premiere of the The Simpsons Movie, due July 27. It's the big-screen version of the Fox TV animated series. And Springfield, Ky., pop. 2,800, is among 14 Springfields across the country vying to host the premiere.

"There's really a buzz around town," said Jeff Moreland, editor of The Springfield Sun weekly newspaper. "We've had a lot of excitement about it."
Each town submitted a 3- to 5-minute video to make its case as the premiere site. The Kentucky Springfield asked Washington County native and Lexington resident Michael Breeding to direct its video.

"I have never had more fun," said Breeding, who has made documentaries on Keeneland and other Kentucky subjects. "It's a sweet little community. We had 50 people show up for our call for actors, and 150 people showed up for the shoot."

The premise of Breeding's video is that the series' creator, Matt Groening, came to Springfield in the 1980s to research Abraham Lincoln, whose parents were married in Springfield. The video posits the theory that Groening's idea for an animated series was born in Springfield. So the town puts him on trial and confronts him with evidence that he based the cartoon world on the Washington County seat...

The Evidence?

One episode of the animated series said that the fictional Springfield is south of Shelbyville, which is the case in Kentucky. Fans of the show say another episode said the Simpsons lived in "Northern Kentucky," although the Kentucky Springfield is close to the geographic center of the state. The city's real-life postmaster is Marshall Simpson.

In another episode, a statue of Jebediah Springfield was beheaded. Well, twice a similar war-memorial statue was beheaded on the Washington County courthouse lawn in Springfield some years ago -- before The Simpsons episode ever aired.

"How much more evidence do we need to bring to the table?" said Hal Goode, executive director of Springfield-Washington County Economic Development.
~
The more famous Springfield, Illinois may have a power plant, run by a man who looks a lot like Mr. Burns, head of the nuclear plant on "The Simpsons," and the local school may be identical, but Kentuckians are still hopeful of getting the nod.

Afterall, the nuns at St Catherine College have been praying for Bart for years.
~
The Kentucky video features an original song written by Beau Haddock, a former member of the Little River Band of '70s fame. And Peter Thomas, who narrated NOVA science programs on PBS and Forensic Files, narrates the video. Rick Dees, the disc jockey and Disco Duck singer who owns a home in Boyle County, contributed a concluding comment.

Beginning tomorrow, people across the country can go to www.usatoday.com/life to view the competing videos and vote for the Springfield that most represents the spirit of the animated town. The voting ends July 9 and the winner will be announced on or about July 10.