One of my shortcomings as an American consumer is that I never watched The Simpsons. But I do know that the Simpsons live in Springfield, and that the creators have concealed the location of Springfield and its rival town, Shelbyville. There is evidence that both are located in the Midwest, and so this water tower in Kentucky caused us to wonder if The Simpsons creators knew about the town of Simpsonville in West Shelby when they were naming things in the show. After all, The Simpsons Movie jokes that Springfield’s state is bordered by Nevada, Maine, Ohio, and Kentucky.
Parks and Recreation is another TV reference we wondered about on the trip. Although the show is set in Pawnee, Indiana (which is fictional–this is Pawnee, Illinois), there is speculation that the show is actually based on …
… New Albany, Indiana, which is just across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky. Since Parks and Recreation is filmed in Pasadena, California, New Albany did not really resemble the town on the show, but it was still fun to drive through and look around.
Our final TV-related stop on the trip was 3ABN, in West Frankfort, Illinois.