Beware My Cheating Bart Club" gave the episode a C+ saying that "A stellar Bill Plympton couch gag is the best part of a mediocre "Simpsons"". Different chalkboard gags appeared for different airings of this episode. The original U.S. broadcast version was "The true location of Springfield is in any state but yours", a response to reactions to a Matt Groening interview in which he revealed that the name of Springfield was inspired by Springfield, Oregon, which was widely misinterpreted as Groening revealing that "The Simpsons" Springfield was located in Oregon. The montage featuring Simon & Garfunkel's "April Come She Will" is a reference
Springfield (The Simpsons) City Television" use of Melonville, a town with a large cast of recurring characters that serves as a mini-universe for the show, and partially based "The Simpsons" on it. Because of the many contradictory statements regarding Springfield, it is impossible for the town to exist in a specific state. In "The Simpsons Movie", Ned Flanders tells Bart that Springfield is bordered by the states of Ohio, Nevada, Maine, and Kentucky - of which only Ohio and Kentucky are real neighbouring states. The city's unknown and unknowable geography is a recurring joke in the series; one newspaper called it the "riddle