This ‘Simpsons’ Podcaster Tracked Down the Exact Location Where Homer Escaped Into the Real World

Twenty-nine years ago, Homer Simpson crossed over from the animated world into Sherman Oaks, California. Today, we’re still searching for those erotic cakes.

For the sixth installment of The Simpsons’ annual Halloween tradition “Treehouse of Horror,” Matt Groening and his team of nerds took a big risk that pissed off their masters at Fox. And, like most of the jokes that Simpsons writers loved and network suits hated, the end-of-episode gag is still being talked about three decades later as one of the more iconic moments in the show’s history. In the final storyline of “Treehouse of Horror VI,” titled, “Homer³ (Homer Cubed),” Homer flees from an impending visit from Patty and Selma by slipping into a portal behind a bookcase into a mysterious world that has — shockingly — three dimensions.

In our much more mundane world, the popular Simpsons podcast Four Finger Discount visited Homer’s final three-dimensional destination to report on how the scenery that hosted the first-ever live-action Simpsons scene has aged. Critically, the modern-day location of Homer’s emergence into the real world is missing the dumpster that broke his fall, so future Simpsons dimension-travelers should wear helmets if they don’t have his incredible cranial cushioning.

For California-based or California-visiting Simpsons fans looking to recreate Homer’s Sherman Oaks adventure, the location where the final scenes of “Treehouse of Horror VI” were shot can be found at 13567 Ventura Boulevard. Sadly, as Four Finger Discount documented, the exotic, erotic baked goods emporium that captures Homer’s attention is no longer operational.

Originally, Homer was supposed to visit several more dimensions in “Homer³ (Homer Cubed)” than just the late 1990s cyberspace one where he spends most of the storyline and the Los Angeles one where he ends it, but the plot line had to be simplified down to just those two. The episode’s director, David Mirkin, later said that Fox “couldn’t have been less supportive” of the live-action section of the episode, though they “begrudgingly” allowed him to film the expensive crane shot in the final scene. 

Additionally, Fox refused to shell out the money to have traffic redirected from the block where the final scene was shot, leading to a line of inconvenienced cars wrapped around the street that can be seen in the final few frames. But despite Fox’ resistance to the live-action sections of the episode, “Treehouse of Horror VI” ironically earned the series a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming less than One Hour).

Today, there is no plaque commemorating the moment Homer Simpson crossed the barrier between the Simpsons universe and the boring Los Angeles one, but superfans like Four Finger Discount are keeping the memory alive. Now, Simpsons fans just have to start a crowdfunding campaign to get the cake shop back on its filthy feet.