Moe's Tavern
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Moe's is the local tavern in Springfield.
Contents
Interior
Dark and described by Dr. Hibbert's daughter as smelling "like tinkle", the inside of the bar is dank and scant. As female customers are so rare, Moe uses the women's restroom as an office. Moe claims that there haven't been any ladies at Moe's since 1979 (though earlier episodes show otherwise, as Ruth Powers has been seen there many times). A jar of pickled eggs perpetually stands on the bar. In "Who Shot Mr. Burns?", Moe's Tavern was forced to close down because Mr. Burns' drilling operation near the tavern caused unsafe pollution. The bar serves Duff Beer, Henry K. Duff's Private Reserve and Red Tick Beer, a beer flavored with dogs.
In one episode, Moe is also seen serving Tuborg for Homer.
Moe's may actually be an illegal speakeasy, since in the episode "Pygmoelian" Lenny noticed that the bar's liquor license expired in 1973, was valid only in Rhode Island and was signed by Moe himself (although Moe had intended to get it updated to the current year, the correct state, and real).
In one episode it was shown that Homer could walk to Moe's Tavern from home by traveling a few doors along. This makes little sense, however, as the tavern's wider surroundings have frequently and notably been shown not to include the Simpson's home on Evergreen Terrace. It was obviously a joke describing how far Homer could walk: down the street.
Moe's Tavern is based on a real bar called Moe's by Loyola Marymount in Playa Del Rey, CA on Culver Street. The owner of Moe's actually bears a striking resemblance to the Simpson's Moe. (Citation: TV Guide Special on Simpson's Movie, July 27, 2007)
A bar called Moe's Tavern can be seen opposite the bank in the film Dog Day Afternoon. Hank Azaria stated that Moe's voice was based on that of Al Pacino's character in the same film.
On the Middle East Broadcasting Center on the Arab version of the show, where The Simpsons is known as Al Shamshoon, the characters drink soda at Moe's Tavern because alcoholic beer is forbidden in Islam.
His bar features a few pool tables (to which Barney Gumble once "made sweet love" and then "befouled," in that order), a dartboard, the occasional rat (this can be attributed to the episode "Homer's Enemy" in which Bart's factory collapses, and the rats are then shown to find a new home at Moe's), a love tester (which was briefly inhabited by Grampa Simpson in a fictional spinoff series), a bull-riding machine, a racing washing machine and dryer sold to him by Herb Powell, and a jukebox.
In the episode "The Seemingly Never-Ending Story", we also find out that Montgomery Burns was once an employee of Moe's Tavern after he lost the nuclear plant in a bet. He later found and stole Moe's treasure to buy back the plant.
According to the episode "Homer Loves Flanders", Moe's Tavern always closes on Wednesdays, as Moe performs charity work by reading to the homeless at the same refuge where Flanders serves soup.
Moe's back room has often been the site of numerous illegal operations. Among these are: smuggling Pandas (Cape Feare), Kidnapping Shamu (The Springfield Files) and running a Deer Hunter-style Russian Roulette game.
In the episode Homer and Ned's Hail Mary Pass, the Super Bowl is sponsored by Moe's Tavern
Incarnations
Moe's Tavern has been reinvented a few times over the years. During these times, at least, he had many more customers, including women:
- When Homer's cocktail drink in the episode "Flaming Moe's" was popular, Moe renamed his tavern Flaming Moe's.
- In "Homer's Barbershop Quartet," a flashback shows the bar with the name Moe's Cavern in reference to the Cavern Club where the Beatles got their start.
- Moe's was briefly converted into a family restaurant called Uncle Moe's Family Feedbag in "Bart Sells His Soul." Moe reverted it when he was unable to tolerate the family atmosphere.
- In "My Sister, My Sitter", it appears that Moe has moved to a new location on the Squidport named Moe's Brewing Co. Homer is amazed that Moe's moved to a fancier place. In fact, it was actually a long tunnel that lead to the original Moe's. A visitor remarked, "Hey, this isn't faux dive. This is a dive," to which Moe replies "You're a long way from home, yuppie-boy. I'll start a tab."
- In the episode "Homer vs. The Eighteenth Amendment", during a brief period of Prohibition, Moe's Tavern is converted into a speakeasy. The sign on the front reads Moe's Pet Shop, and the bar and booths flip over to display pet cages when federal agents show up to bust the speakeasy.
- Moe revamped his tavern for yuppie hipsters, renaming the bar M in "Homer the Moe," a parody of Starwood's "W" hotels.[citation needed]
- Since Homer took a mortgage on his house to save Moe's, Marge partners up with Moe to revamp the bar as an English pub called The Nag & Weasel in "Mommie Beerest." The pub's sign indicates that Marge is the nag and Moe is the weasel.
- When Homer convinces the town that the Rapture was coming in "Thank God It's Doomsday", Moe sells his bar to Japanese businessmen who converted it into a sushi restaurant named Tokyo Roe's, a reference to Tokyo Rose, the generic name given by Allied forces during World War II to English-speaking female broadcasters of Japanese propaganda.
- In a flashback, it is shown that Moe's Tavern was originally called Meaux's Tavern. This is in the episode: Three Gays of the Condo.
Regular customers
It appears that Moe's tavern has only six regular patrons, Homer, Barney, Lenny, Carl, Sam and Larry. In "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson", Moe pointed out that due to their frequent habit of drunk-driving, "91% of all traffic accidents in this city are caused by you six guys."
Barney Gumble is single, an alcoholic (after being introduced to beer by Homer Simpson as a teenager), and living in an incredibly messy apartment near the state penitentiary (or sometimes right above Moe's bar). Barney arguably remains Homer's best friend. His desperation for alcohol has been the source of many jokes. He remains friendly and good-natured despite his unfortunate condition. In early episodes, he appears to be a parody of Barney Rubble, similar appearance, hair color, clothing color, just much larger in size. In some ways, Barney also resembles Cheers' Norm Peterson, the heavy-set man at the end of the bar. He manages to make a living selling his body for medical experiments, which has led to some interesting changes. Barney has demonstrated considerable talents as a singer, filmmaker, astronaut, orator, painter, helicopter pilot, and snow plow driver, but keeps getting foiled by his various addictions. In "$pringfield", he claims to have five years of modern dance training and six years of tap dance training. He has drunk a can of turpentine, a bottle of brake fluid, a can of varnish, and even a cup of quarters at Mr. Burns' Casino.
In "Days of Wine and D'oh'ses," Barney finally kicked his alcoholism and transferred his addiction to espresso, which led to the disappearance of his trademark belch. He had a relapse in "I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can" and was back on the sauce in "My Big Fat Geek Wedding" (in a scene that was a parody of Jimmy Stewart's Harvey). By the end of Season 15, he was back in all his fat, lovable, belching glory. In Co-Dependent's Day he said the same re-hab center "cured" him six times, meaning he may randomly switch between drunk and recovering alcoholic.
Barney's bar tab was so large that Moe had to send it to NASA to get it calculated. It totaled $14 billion. Initially, it was believed to be $70 billion, but that was revealed to be the cost of the Voyager space craft.
Other regulars
The scene is usually set in Moe's Tavern when Homer Simpson is there. While there, we often see Lenny, Carl and occasionally Charlie, Homer's colleagues at the nuclear plant. Moe's is usually the place where Homer takes newfound friends to hang out, such as Ray Magini or Principal Skinner before his marriage.
The two barflies usually seen are Sam and Larry. Sam always wears a cap and Larry has a balding head. Sam appeared to get shot by Moe in "Worst Episode Ever", but has appeared since. Virtually nothing is known about them, not unlike various barflies on the series Cheers. Simpsons Comics #9 contains "Homer Simpson's Pathetic Pal Barney Gumble: Asleep at the Well", a story about a day in the life of Barney Gumble. In it, Larry is referred to as the ear bender and Sam is the wife dodger. However, the Simpsons comics are generally considered non-canonical.
A small bit of information is revealed about Sam & Larry in The Homer Book though. As it is Homer Simpson's point of view, he says quite a lot of good things about Sam but Larry is talked about being stupid, glum and weird.
See also - Sam & Larry
In the Simpsons: Hit and Run video game, Kearney Zzyzwicz is seen in Moe's drinking beer. He is seen in two different t-shirts. His classic white, and a new orange one.
Celebrity patrons
- Aerosmith — "Flaming Moe's"
- Stephen Hawking — "They Saved Lisa's Brain" and "Don't Fear the Roofer"
- U2 — "Trash of the Titans"
- Red Hot Chili Peppers — "Krusty Gets Kancelled"
- Jay Leno — "The Last Temptation of Krust"
- Wade Boggs — "Homer at the Bat"
- Johnny Carson — "Krusty Gets Kancelled"
- Joe Frazier — "Brother Can You Spare Two Dimes?"
- Jamie Farr — "Fear of Flying" (An autographed photo with the Legend: 'To Moe, the Inspiration for Corporal Klinger...now where's my beer?')
- R.E.M - "Homer the Moe"
Performances
A small stage stands at one end and has been host to a few performances
- Aerosmith — "Flaming Moe's"
- Red Hot Chili Peppers — "Krusty Gets Kancelled"
- The Be Sharps — "Homer's Barbershop Quartet"
- Krusty the Clown — during his "rebel comic" phase in "The Last Temptation of Krust"
Other Moe's Tavern patrons
- The owner of King Toots
- All the characters in the show voiced by Jon Lovitz drinking together
- A man with glasses that are out of focus
- Hugh Jass (a man who coincidentally has the same name that Bart uses for a prank call)
- An unnamed person who has a cowlick and easily passes out
- A gay man who was under the impression that Moe's Tavern was a gay bar
- Ruth Powers
- Joey Joe Joe Junior Shabadoo (a man seen in "The Last Temptation of Homer" whose name Homer uses as an alias. When Moe insults the name, Shabadoo bursting into tears and running out of the bar; Barney calls out sympathetically after him, "Come back, Joey Joe Joe!")
- A potential patron was Guy Incognito, a man who looked like Homer and talked in a voice similar to his but had a mustache and wore a top hat and tails. Guy wanted to order a drink one time, but Moe thought it was Homer (Homer was banned from Moe's in that episode) in disguise and kicked him out not realizing his error. Homer sees this man lying in the gutter out the front of Moe's and realises he looks just like him but instead of investigating this further, Homer chases after a dog with a puffy tail.
- An unknown character who thinks Homer's name is Bill.
- Barney's dog Shaggy was seen joining the regulars in one episode. When Moe commented that he was sick of hearing "shaggy dog stories", Shaggy left in a huff.
- Many Homer Simpson clones created from the magic hammock in Treehouse of Horror XIII. They cause the bar to reach record business and end up charging the tab to Lenny.
Address and phone number
It was stated in the "Flaming Moe's" episode that Moe's Tavern was on Walnut Street. The phone number would be 764-8437(7), since in "Homer the Smithers," Mr. Burns tried to call Smithers but did not know his phone number. He tried the buttons marked with the letters for Smithers and called Moe's. In "Principal Charming" Bart is asked to call Homer by Principal Skinner, the number visible on the card is WORK: KLondike 5-6832 HOME: KLondike 5-6754 MOE'S TAVERN: KLondike 5-1239, Moe answers the phone and Bart asks for Homer Sexual. In "Bonfire of the Manatees", however, Homer phones the bar at 355-1337.
Description
Moe's Tavern is located on a street corner, neighboring King Toot's Music Store. Across the street was a factory formerly owned by Bart Simpson, until it collapsed. The inside of the bar has a few pool tables and a dartboard.(These items dissapeared later) It is very dank and "smells like tinkle." A small stage stands at one end; Aerosmith, R.E.M, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Be Sharps and Krusty the Clown (during his "rebel comic" phase) have all performed there. Because female customers are so rare, Moe frequently uses the women's restroom as an office. Moe claimed that there haven't been any ladies at Moe's since 1979 (though earlier episodes show otherwise). A jar of pickled eggs perpetually stands on the bar. In Homer's Barbershop Quartet, a flashback shows the bar with the name Moe's Cavern in reference to the Cavern Club where the Beatles got their start. Moe's was briefly converted into a family restaurant called Uncle Moe's Family Feedbag. Moe also once revamped his tavern for yuppie hipsters, renaming the bar "M." When Homer's cocktail drink was popular, Moe renamed his tavern "Flaming Moe's." During this time, at least, he had many customers, including females. In "Who Shot Mr. Burns", Moe's Tavern was forced to close down because Mr. Burns slant-drilling operation near the tavern caused pollution that was unsafe. Moe's was also revamped as British pub in partnership with Marge Simpson due to a bank loan for Moe, foolishly secured by Homer by a mortgage on the Simpson's house. As revealed in Homer Loves Flanders, Moe's Tavern is closed on Wednesday when Moe goes to read stories at the homeless shelter.
Prank calls
Moe is frequently the victim of prank telephone calls from Bart Simpson, often followed by a violent threat of vengeance from Moe. Bart's calls to Moe have asked for:
- Maya Buttreeks (my-a butt reeks)
- Anita Bath (I need a bath) (Both this and Maya Buttreeks were used by Bart as fictious children's names when Moe was applying as a Substitute for Bart's Class in "The PTA Disbands")
- Al Coholic (alcoholic)
- I.P. Freely (I pee freely)
- Oliver Clothesoff (all of her clothes off)
- Ollie Tabooger (I'll eat a booger) (backfired; Homer was running the bar at the time and didn't understand the joke)
- Jacques Strap (jockstrap)
- Seymour Butts (see more butts)
- Homer Sexual (homosexual)
- Mike Rotch (my crotch)
- Bea O'Problem (B.O. problem)
- Amanda Huggenkiss (a man to hug and kiss)
- Hugh Jass (huge ass) (backfired; there was a Hugh Jass present)
- Ivana Tinkle (I want to tinkle)
- Heywood U. Cuddleme (hey, would you cuddle me?) (This prank call was done on a telegraph, as the Simpsons were living in a house from 1895 when Bart did this one)
- I'm a stupid moron, with an ugly face, and a big butt, and my butt smells, and I like to kiss my own butt. (When, in a Halloween episode, Bart had a Twilight Zone-esque power to transform people effectively blackmailing Moe into saying it despite the obviousness of the prank)
Homer once called and asked for "Eura Snotball", the gag intentionally backfiring so Homer can threaten Moe. Mr. Burns once tried to call Smithers when he was on vacation and typed in SMITHERS on his "telephone machine". Asking for Waylon Smithers, Moe presumed it was a prank and threatened him. Even though moes number is unkown it is persumed that it is 76484377 which is SMITHERS on a phone.
A DVD featurette on The Complete Tenth Season features a clip collection of these crank calls from Seasons 1 through 7.
