Stymied by The Simpsons

In yesterday’s post, I explained how I thought of this story about a dome that descended upon Houston and cut off the people within and the aftermath of this disaster. The fact is that I first wrote the story in 1999 but you’ll see that that fact counts for very little. In fact, the story will never get written because of The Simpsons.

In 2007, The Simpsons Movie came out and the basis of the plot was that Springfield was so eco-unfriendly that the powers that be decided to put a large dome over the town and trap the people (and the pollution) inside.


The dome was not completely secure. A sinkhole becomes a secret passageway and the Simpson family escapes to Alaska. Eventually, the family returns to Springfield and Homer and Bart save the day by seizing a bomb that was being lowered into the dome and using it to shatter the dome forever.

The similarities to my story about Brandon, Jody and Muriel are limited only to the fact that a giant dome trapped people inside a city. The intent, the characters and the eventual outcome are totally different. But if I ever published this story, people would say, “Isn’t that exactly like The Simpson’s Movie?” I’d have to say no and even though I could prove I wrote my first draft in 1999, this fact would count for nothing. So as I said above, this story will never get written.

I’m not the only victim to by stymied by The Simpsons. Stephen King wrote a novel and published it two years after The Simpsons Movie came out. The novel was called “Under The Dome” and eventually it was turned into a TV series. Imagine being Stephen King and asked if he copied his idea from The Simpsons Movie? More on that tomorrow.