I think it's conspicuous that in the Simpson's Movie, they list the four states that theirs borders, and they include Ohio and Kentucky, two of the states that most people are betting on. As for Maine or Nevada, there are probably a great deal of clues to support those two as likely states as well. I think what they're trying to say is, "To all you people who think you have it right, think again. There is no right answer." When you try to find the state that borders all four, there of course isn't one. This supports the theory that the city is located in whichever state is convenient for the episode. A slight clue comes with the fact that in the movie, their back yard is at the edge of town, while in several episodes, there are other houses beyond the back fence. But in order for the story to make sense this time around, (no explanations, don't want to spoil it) they had to be at the edge of town. As for Shelbyville, it is one of the most common city names, after Springfield of course. There are many of them within driving distance of a Springfield. The names are common. I had a friend in college whose legal name was Homer Jay Simpson, yes Jay like in the episode. Of course there are street names in every state named Homer and Lisa and so on. The point isn't that they are in -a- state, it's that they're every family in every state, with a picket fence and 2.5 kids and ridiculous problems like the rest of us. The humor is in how they respond to normal situations and blow them incredibly out of proportion. Kind of like the "years" some people have put into trying to figure out what state they're from. The Simpsons is a parody of real life and the people and places that make it up. When you're telling such a story you don't have to have all the facts straight, just whichever ones lend themselves to a funny story.
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I think it's conspicuous that in the Simpson's Movie, they list the four states that theirs borders, and they include Ohio and Kentucky, two of the states that most people are betting on. As for Maine or Nevada, there are probably a great deal of clues to support those two as likely states as well. I think what they're trying to say is, "To all you people who think you have it right, think again. There is no right answer."
When you try to find the state that borders all four, there of course isn't one. This supports the theory that the city is located in whichever state is convenient for the episode. A slight clue comes with the fact that in the movie, their back yard is at the edge of town, while in several episodes, there are other houses beyond the back fence. But in order for the story to make sense this time around, (no explanations, don't want to spoil it) they had to be at the edge of town.
As for Shelbyville, it is one of the most common city names, after Springfield of course. There are many of them within driving distance of a Springfield.
The names are common. I had a friend in college whose legal name was Homer Jay Simpson, yes Jay like in the episode. Of course there are street names in every state named Homer and Lisa and so on.
The point isn't that they are in -a- state, it's that they're every family in every state, with a picket fence and 2.5 kids and ridiculous problems like the rest of us. The humor is in how they respond to normal situations and blow them incredibly out of proportion.
Kind of like the "years" some people have put into trying to figure out what state they're from.
The Simpsons is a parody of real life and the people and places that make it up. When you're telling such a story you don't have to have all the facts straight, just whichever ones lend themselves to a funny story.