The 800th episode of the longest-runningprimetime scripted show in U.S. history — The Simpsons — is scheduled to air on Sunday. This milestone installment of the nearly 40-year-old animated series finds the family in Philadelphia. But much of the show’s true DNA is rooted almost 3,000 miles west, in Portland, Ore.
Although TheSimpsons is famously set in the fictional town of “Springfield,” the creator of the satirical animated series, Matt Groening, grew up in Portland and sought early inspiration for some of the show’s characters in the local landscape.
“Matt Groening was influenced by this place to a degree and chose to name characters after these streets,” said Bill Oakley, who served as a showrunner and head writer on The Simpsons through most of the 1990s. He moved to Portland after his tenure on the series.
Oakley said he is best known as the creator, with his writing partner Josh Weinstein, of the famous “Steamed Hams” skit in the season seven episode, “22 Short Films about Springfield.” The scene, set at a dinner party that goes horribly wrong, has been the source of many Internet memes since it came out in 1996.
A bully, a politician, and a cleric
Driving through the city, Oakley points out a stretch of road – NW 23rd Ave. – which intersects with multiple street names repurposed for characters in The Simpsons. “We have Flanders, Lovejoy, Kearney and Quimby along this strip,” Oakley said…