In Honor of the New Simpsons Pop-Up Bar, Here Are the Show's Best Dallas Moments

If a traffic jam on Interstate 35 inspired you to let out a “D’oh!” then we might have the place for you. Dallas has started its transformation into Springfield, and it’s not just because the State Fair is going to turn us all into a bunch of Homers.

Two neighboring Dallas bars on North Henderson Avenue have transformed into some of the most iconic locations from The Simpsons. The Whippersnapper Bar is now Moe's Tavern, the spot where resident bartender Moe is continuously deceived by Bart’s prank calls. Next door, High Fives is now Krusty Burger, the shady burger chain owned by Springfield's shiftiest clown.

Not only are the two locals decked with The Simpsons-themed props, posters and re-creations, but they’re revising their menus too. You can also enjoy some of the show’s most iconic foods and beverages, including Krusty Burgers and Duff Beers.

There’s no shortage of The Simpsons history to draw from. The animated sitcom has been on the air since 1989, and thanks to the advent of Disney+ you can watch the show’s entire run. Death, taxes and another season of The Simpsons may be the only things guaranteed in life, as this March it was announced that the series was renewed for its 33rd and 34th seasons.

The Simpsons bars aren’t the only connection the show has with Dallas. Check out some of the best Dallas-themed moments in The Simpsons history.

A Famous Dallas Cliffhanger Inspired An Equally Iconic Simpsons Parody
The 1980 Dallas episode “A House Divided” left viewers with the question “Who shot J.R.?” for an entire summer. The Simpsons took the Dallas premise and repurposed it as the two-part “Who Shot Mr. Burns?” to close out its sixth season and begin its seventh, both during the supposed “Golden Era” of the show’s quality.

Dallas and The Simpsons Were Always Intertwined
Beyond the major Mr. Burns arc, The Simpsons has always enjoyed poking fun at Dallas. In the Season 3 flashback episode “I Married Marge,” Homer wears an “I Shot J.R.” shirt in 1980, and he later destroys a display of J.R. Ewing in the Season 23 episode “The Ten Percent Solution.”

Did Usher Rip Off The Simpsons?
Dallas-born Usher, one of the best-selling artists in Texas history, may be harboring a secret Simpsons fandom. In 2010, many accused Usher of stealing lyrics from Homer’s comedic Christmas ballad in the 2003 Simpsons episode "Dude, Where's My Ranch?" for his single “OMG.”

Mr. Burns Took a Dallas Vacation in “The Burns and the Bees”
In a Season 20 episode, a gambling win allows Mr. Burns to purchase a number of Texas sports teams and visit their home states. This is all while he’s at Billionaire Camp with Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates, by the way.

Grampa Returns to Texas to Mend the Error of His Ways
In the Season 30 episode “Mad About The Toy,” Grampa takes a Dallas detour while he ventures out to apologize to a colleague for homophobic comments, in one of the more touching recent efforts from the show’s creators.

Flanders Uses Dallas-Approved Textbooks to Educate His Kids
Homer’s perpetually friendly next-door neighbor is pretty strict in the information he gives his two fiercely Christian children, so all of the reading materials referenced in Matt Groening’s guidebook Flanders' Book of Faith come from the Dallas-based Texas Home School Book Depository.

Catch a Simpsons Version of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre Before Texas Filmmakers Release a Remake
Texas writer/director David Blue Garcia is leading the reboot of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, set for release later this year, but The Simpsons already proposed a new installment in the series titled Texas Chain Saw Massacre: The Novelization: The Movie.

Marge and Homer Almost Solved the JFK Assassination
Who else could solve the case of the most famous conspiracy theory in U.S. history? Marge and Homer almost wrote a book about what really happened in Dealey Plaza in “Diatribe of a Mad Housewife,” but like most marital plans in The Simpsons, it never came to fruition.

Before He Tried to Throw a Mask-Free Concert, Vanilla Ice Popped Up on The Simpsons
Homer’s original songwriting venture continued when “Slice Slice Baby” took aim at one of Vanilla Ice’s most famous tracks in “Do PizzaBots Dream of Electric Guitars?” Sample lyrics include “Yak is back with a menu addition/regular toppings don’t get the job done/premium toppings get my mouth strung.”