Where no citation is given, the quotation comes from an interview or personal conversation between the author and the subject.
Introduction
1. Jon Horowitz, “Mmm . . . Television: A Study of the Audience of The Simpsons,” unpublished paper, Rutgers University, courtesy of the author.
2. Todd Brewster, “How TV Shaped America,” Life, April 1999.
3. Kurt Andersen, “Animation Nation,” New Yorker, June 16, 1997.
4. Robert Thompson, quoted in the Orlando Sentinel, December 2, 2000.
5. James Sharpe, quoted in the Star Ledger (Newark, NJ), June 20, 1990.
6. William Bennett, quoted in the Seattle Times, August 19, 1990.
7. Barbara Bush, quoted in “And on the Seventh Day, Matt Created Bart,” Loaded Magazine, August 1996.
8. Reinhold Niebuhr, quoted in Conrad Hyers, The Comic Vision and the Christian Faith: A Celebration of Life and Laughter (New York: Pilgrim Press, 1981).
9. Hyers, Comic Vision and the Christian Faith.
10. Gerry Bowler, “God and The Simpsons: The Religious Life of an Animated Sitcom,” academic paper presented October 1996 at “The Media and Family Values” seminar at Canadian Nazarene College, Calgary, Canada.
11. William Romanowski, Pop Culture Wars: Religion and the Role of Entertainment in American Life (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996).
12. Beth Keller, “The Gospel according to Bart: Examining the Religious Elements of The Simpsons,” master’s thesis, Regent University, College of Communication and the Arts, 1992, courtesy of the author.
13. Mike Scully, quoted in “The Gospel According to Homer,” by Bob von Sternberg, Minneapolis Star Tribune, May 30, 1998.
14. “No Sacred Cows for Groening,” Associated Press, April 24, 1999.
15. John Heeren, “Religion in The Simpsons,” in The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D’oh! of Homer, ed. William Irwin et al. (Chicago: Open Court Press, 2001). An early version of this paper was presented at the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion conference in Houston, Texas, in October 2000.
16. The Door, November–December 1999.
17. David Dark, “The Steeple and the Gargoyle—Celebrating The Simpsons,” PRISM, July–August 1997.
18. David Landry, quoted in Bob von Sternberg, “The Gospel according to Homer,” Twin Cities Star-Tribune, May 30, 1998.
19. Paul Cantor, “The Simpsons: Atomistic Politics and the Nuclear Family,” Political Theory 27, no. 6 (December 1999).
1: Divine Imagery
1. William A. Dembski, Intelligent Design: The Bridge between Science and Theology (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999).
2. “Matt Groening: The Mother Jones Interview,” Mother Jones, March–April 1999.
3. Eric Michael Mazur and Kate McCarthy, eds., God in the Details: American Religion in Popular Culture (New York: Routledge, 2000).
4. Abraham Heschel, The Prophet (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1962).
5. David Owen, “Crazy for the Simpsons,” TV Guide, Jan. 3–9, 1998.
6. Mazur et al., God in the Details.
7. Keller, “The Gospel according to Bart.”
8. Gerry Bowler, quoted in Douglas Todd, “The Simpsons as TV’s Holy Family,” Vancouver Sun, December 1996.
9. Elton Trueblood, Humor of Christ (New York: Harper & Row, 1964).
2: Personal Prayer
1. Lee Strobel, What Jesus Would Say (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1994).
2. Robert Thompson, quoted in the Ventura County Star, “The Gospel of Homer,” by Tom Kishen, September 4, 1999.
3. Ibid.
4. Strobel, What Jesus Would Say.
5. Mazur et al., God in the Details.
6. Heeren, “Religion in The Simpsons.”
7. Wendy Kaminer, Sleeping with Extra-Terrestrials: The Rise of Irrationalism and Perils of Piety (New York: Vintage Books, 2000).
3: The Evangelical Next Door
1. Gerry Bowler, quoted in Les Sillars, “The Last Christian TV Family in America,” Alberta Report, October 21, 1996.
2. Michael Weisskopf, quoted in the Washington Post, February 1, 1993.
3. Harry Shearer interview in The Door, May–June 1999.
4. Frederica Mathewes-Green, “Ned Flanders, My Hero,” on Beliefnet.com, February 10, 2000.
5. David Landry, quoted in von Sternberg, “Gospel according to Homer.”
4: The Church and the Preacher
1. Matt Groening, The Simpsons Guide to Springfield (New York: HarperCollins, 1998).
2. Mazur et al., God in the Details.
3. Ibid.
5: Heaven, Hell, and the Devil
1. Pope John Paul II, quoted by the Associated Press, July 28, 1999.
7: The Bible
1. “Public Perceptions about the Bible in the Twenty-First Century,” survey released by Zondervan Publishing, November 15, 2000.
2. Groening, Simpsons Guide to Springfield.
8: Catholics
1. William Bennett, quoted in the Seattle Times, August 19, 1990.
2. Mark Fischer, quoted in the Ventura County Star, “The Gospel of Homer,” by Tom Kishen, September 4, 1999.
3. Cardinal John O’Connor, quoted on the Catholic League Web site (www.catholicleague.org/faqs.htm).
4. The Catholic League statement of purpose, from the Catholic League Web site.
5. Letter by Thomas Chavez, quoted in The Catalyst, January–February 1999.
6. “The Simpsons Gets Too Cute,” The Catalyst, January–February 1999.
7. “The Simpsons Offends Again,” The Catalyst, March 1999.
8. “Rosenberg on TV: Fox Does Have Standards—And Double Standards at That,” Los Angeles Times, June 2, 1999.
9. Ibid.
10. Ibid.
11. Ibid.
12. “Fox Gets Message on Simpsons,” The Catalyst, July–August 1999.
13. George Weigel, speaking at a conference sponsored by the Ethics and Public Policy Center at Prouts Neck, Maine, September 1999.
9: The Jews
1. Jack Wertheimer, speaking at a conference sponsored by the Ethics and Public Policy Center at Prouts Neck, Maine, September 1999.
2. Mel Brooks, quoted in The Big Little Book of Jewish Wit and Wisdom (New York: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 2000).
3. Matt Groening, quoted in “Life in Hell,” by Alan Paul, Flux, September 30, 1995.
11. Miscellaneous
1. Al Jean, quoted in Joe Rhodes, “Flash! 24 Simpson Stars Reveal Themselves,” TV Guide, October 21, 2000.
2. Matt Groening, quoted in Rhodes, “Flash!”
3. Prithvi Raj Singh, quoted in John Dart, “TV’s Most Religious Family?” Christian Century, January 31, 2001.
13: The Creators
1. Matt Groening interview with Andrew Duncan, Radio Times, September 18–24, 1999.
2. Matt Groening interview, “Influences: From Yesterday to Today,” CBS, August 27, 1999.
3. James L. Brooks interview, ibid.
4. Matt Groening, quoted in “The Making of The Simpsons,” by Joe Rhodes, Entertainment Weekly, May 18, 1990.
5. Harry Shearer interview, FilmForce, April 25, 2000 (www.filmforce.ign.com/chats/harryshearer.shtml).
6. “Matt Groening: The Mother Jones Interview,” Mother Jones, March–April 1999.
7. Matt Groening interview with Isis Sauceda, La Opinion, November 30– December 10, 2000.
8. Deborah Groening, quoted in Paul Andrews, “The Groening of America,” Seattle Times, August 19, 1990.
9. Matt Groening interview with Carina Chocano, Salon.com, January 30, 2001.
10. George Meyer interview, “Taking Humor Seriously—George Meyer, the Funniest Man behind the Funniest Show on TV,” by David Owen, New Yorker, March 13, 2000.
14: Conclusion
1. Francis Chan, in the Ventura County Star, “The Gospel of Homer,” by Tom Kishen, September 4, 1999.
2. Cantor, “The Simpsons: Atomistic Politics.”
3. Jonah Goldberg, “Homer Never Nods: The Importance of The Simpsons,” National Review, May 1, 2000.
4. Barbara Curtis, “Are the Simpsons ‘Okily Dokily’?” Plain Truth, January– February 2001.
5. Walt Davis et al., Watching What We Watch: Prime-Time Television through the Lens of Faith (Louisville, KY: Geneva Press, 2001).
6. Mike Budd et al., Consuming Environments: Television and Commercial Culture (Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1999).
7. Davis et al., Watching What We Watch.
8. Mazur et al., God in the Details.
9. Joseph Bastien, “Humor and Satire,” in The Encyclopedia of Religion, ed. Mircea Eliade (New York: Macmillan, 1987).
10. Heeren, “Religion in The Simpsons.”