{"id":489133,"date":"2026-02-19T02:10:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T02:10:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/489133\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T02:10:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T02:10:11","slug":"all-the-philly-people-and-places-in-the-simpsons-800th-episode","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/489133\/","title":{"rendered":"All the Philly People and Places in The Simpsons\u2019 800th Episode"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"simpsons<\/a><\/p>\n

The Simpsons come to Philly for their 800th episode. (Click image above for the full map!) \/ Illustration by Eric Keyes. The Simpsons\u2122 and \u00a9 2025 20th Television<\/p>\n

This Sunday, Marge and Homer Simpson \u2014 America\u2019s most enduring (and most chinless) animated stars \u2014 will visit Philadelphia for the first time in The Simpsons\u2019 36-year run, showering love on our city for the show\u2019s milestone 800th episode.<\/p>\n

For this you can thank Simpsons co-executive producer Christine Nangle, the Penn grad and Oxford Circle native who conceived of and wrote the installment. She\u2019s been with the show \u2014 the longest-running scripted prime-time series ever \u2014 since 2019, prior to which she was, among other things, a writer for Saturday Night Live. These days, Nangle makes her home in Los Angeles, but \u201cI\u2019m 100 percent still a Philadelphian,\u201d she says. \u201cI wear it with pride on my sleeve.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

That\u2019s abundantly apparent in her Simpsons plot, which \u2014 mild spoiler alert \u2014 begins when Marge and Homer journey to the city so their dog, Santa\u2019s Little Helper, can participate in a (fictional) Philadelphia dog show. Once here, some local conspiracy theorists known as the H.O.A.G.I.E. Men (Historians of America\u2019s Great Inventors and Enlightened Men) convince them that the dog is actually a direct descendant of Ben Franklin\u2019s mutt, and that he holds secret abilities to find gold supposedly stashed by Franklin. (A penny saved?!) The two find themselves on a National Treasure\u2013style adventure in search of that fortune, running into a host of icons along the way.<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, the Philadelphia gags come fast and furious \u2014 so here, ahead of the February 15th air date on Fox, Nangle offers up a preview of the people, places, and oh-so-Philly plot points you\u2019re going to want to watch for.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Michael Vick Reparation Park<\/p>\n

Fictitious \u2026 and \u201cthe best dog park in the world,\u201d says Nangle.<\/p>\n

Quinta Brunson<\/p>\n

The Abbott Elementary creator\/star voices a trainer charged with getting Santa\u2019s Little Helper in shape. Alas, she meets an untimely end, falling down a hole \u2014 d\u2019oh! \u2014 but does manage a resounding \u201cGo Birds!\u201d on the way down.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hall & Oates<\/p>\n

The dog show takes place at the Convention Hall, which is adjacent to the Oates Parking Lot. (Poor John, always the smaller spotlight.)<\/p>\n

Whiz Wit<\/p>\n

Cheesesteaks get a cameo, obviously, with appearances by Pat\u2019s, Geno\u2019s, and Dalessandro\u2019s \u2014 the last of which Nangle says was a rec from Questlove while she was writing the episode.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Kevin Bacon<\/p>\n

For Bacon\u2019s first Simpsons role, he plays a clerk at the fictional Hotel Philadelphia. (\u201cHe nails the Philly accent,\u201d Nangle says.) Marge opts for the Fresh Prince Suite over the Silver Linings Playbook Suite.<\/p>\n

Boathouse Row<\/p>\n

The conspiracy theorists row Homer down the Schuylkill while he slurps a water ice. (Cherry, obviously.)<\/p>\n

Gotta Have a Wawa<\/p>\n

One of the conspiracy theorists tries to sell Homer on the Ben Franklin theory while Homer is in \u2014 where else? \u2014 a Wawa bathroom.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Segway Tours<\/p>\n

The family joins a Segway tour near the Philadelphia Art Museum, with a tour guide voiced by Questlove. (They eventually happen upon the Mummers Parade.)<\/p>\n

The Rocky Statue<\/p>\n

But not only Rocky \u2026 this version of Philly also features a statue honoring the hanging side of beef from the meat locker. There\u2019s one for Apollo Creed. And Mr. T. And more.<\/p>\n

The Betsy Ross House<\/p>\n

Santa\u2019s Little Helper relieves himself on an antique fire hydrant, releasing an enzyme that unlocks a clue to the gold that leads the Simpsons to Betsy\u2019s house and a secret chamber holding the key from Ben Franklin\u2019s lightning experiment.<\/p>\n

Check out the whole map here.<\/a><\/p>\n

Published as \u201cWhere\u2019s Homer?\u201d in the February 2026 issue of Philadelphia magazine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Simpsons come to Philly for their 800th episode. (Click image above for the full map!) \/ Illustration…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":489134,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[64,63,134,427],"class_list":["post-489133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=489133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489133\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/489134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=489133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=489133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=489133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}