A&E

Viva Springfield? A brief history of ‘The Simpsons’ in Las Vegas

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D’oh! Both the family residence and the Kwik-E-Mart from The Simpsons have come to life in the Las Vegas Valley.

In the 1999 “Viva Ned Flanders” episode of The Simpsons, Homer takes his gregarious and godly neighbor to Sin City to live it up for his 60th birthday. Long story short: They both end up marrying cocktail waitresses (because Vegas). If you didn’t catch that episode, consider sitting down (maybe with some Duff beer?) during FXX’s ongoing 552-episode marathon. The beloved cartoon juggernaut is celebrating its 25th anniversary, and Season 26 debuts this month.

Las Vegas got a life-size replica of <em>The Simpsons</em> family residence in 1997. The home has since been painted in a more more subtle color scheme.

Las Vegas got a life-size replica of The Simpsons family residence in 1997. The home has since been painted in a more more subtle color scheme.

Of course, true Simpsons fans already know that the show’s love affair with Las Vegas began about two years before the ’99 Vegas episode, when 742 Evergreen Terrace landed at Kaufman and Broad’s Springfield development (how apropos!) right off Boulder Highway—a complete, life-size replica of the Simpson residence with the iconic pink sedan parked in the driveway—as part of a nationwide contest to win Marge and Homer’s digs. A decade later, another Simpsons destination came to life in the Valley: the Kwik-E-Mart, part of a promotion for The Simpsons Movie. 7-Eleven retrofitted 11 of its U.S. stores, including Henderson’s Horizon Ridge and Stephanie location, complete with the sale of Buzz Cola and Krusty the Klown’s KrustyO’s cereal (though conspicuously missing proprietor Apu Nahasapeemapetilon).

While no further Simpsonian development has happened here since, 25 years of animated excellence deserves something worthy of the silver anniversary milestone. How about Moe’s on Fremont East? If you don’t like the idea, well, eat our shorts.

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