Missed Opportunity

I can’t believe my hometown of Springfield, Va., did not make a pitch to premiere the new Simpsonsmovie.

There are apparently 14 of the nation’s 46 springfields, according to CNN, that submitted videos in the contest  with the prize being the premiere of the show and its attendant free publicity, like this item right here.

My town fathers and mothers didn’t consult me. I would have pointed out that we have a donut placewithin a few blocks of the multiplex theater, or that this is the 20th anniversary year of the film Simpsons guru James L. Brooks and I worked together on, Broadcast News.

I can remember like it was yesterday when he said to me. "You, go," and watched with what I havealways assumed was a mixture of gratitude and only half-disguised admiration as I walked down an escalator behind Holly Hunter.

I would also have reminded them that I argued early on to put The Simpsons in the best sitcom Emmycategory rather than the best animated show category, where it was alwways up against shows like Garfield’s Easter Extravaganza or the Candyland Cookie Fairies’ Super-de-Duper Christmas and the like.

But nobody asked me and I was forced to watch Ted Kennedy (plugging Springfield, Mass.) mugging for the camera and saying "chowda," essentially doing an impression of Dan Castellaneta doing the thinly unveiled impression of Kennedy in the guise of Mayor Quimby.

By John Eggerton