Iowa fans of a popular adult cartoon show have little hope of hosting the premier of a film that’ll be based upon it. Creators of the Simpsons say the reason it’s set in the fictional town of Springfield is that it’s one of the most common names for a town — there are at least sixteen around the country, 71 Springfields if you count townships and other civic venues, according to the United States Geographical Survey .
Twentieth Century Fox has challenged all the towns to compete for the honor of hosting the movie’s premier. Folks in Springfield, Nebraska, are getting excited about their bid for the red-carpet event, but just among our border states they face competition from Springfields in South Dakota, Illinois, Minnesota and Missouri. Wisconsin and Kansas don’t have any town called Springfield, and Iowa’s out of luck, too…unless we could pass off our Springville, Spring Hill, Springbrook, Springdale, Spillville or Spragueville.