I was nine years old, hanging out in my older cousin’s room at my grandmother’s house. He looked at the time and quickly grabbed for the remote, saying “Yes! The Simpsons are on.” I watched “The Call of the Simpsons” and was immediately hooked, religiously watching every week until I got older. 36 years later, I watch my favorite show nearly every night on Disney + and still catch new episodes on the air when I’m home. The show has been a major influence and comfort to me for the majority of my life. I jumped at the chance to attend Yoinks Simpsons Trivia at Ogie’s Trailer Park back in May, and plan to return October 30 for Simpsons Halloween of Horror Trivia night.
“The Halloween trivia only deals with the Treehouse of Horror episodes (their annual Halloween episode) and since we’re dubbed ‘classic’ trivia, only episodes from the first 10 seasons,” host Dave Alves says of the event.
Alves, whose favorite character is Groundskeeper Willie, because of the depth and comic relief he adds to each episode that he is in, says that he comes up with the questions himself by rewatching the episodes. He aims to make them challenging, but not impossible. He’s always willing to give a hint if the crowd seems confused by his question. He likes the questions to paint the scene and give people great memories of the episode, even if they can’t come up with the answer. He’ll test out questions on friends who worry about their Simpsons knowledge, only to realize that they remember more than they thought.
“The best questions will get people laughing because, if they can’t remember the answer, they’ll at least remember the parts of the episode it entails, and that’s what we’re here for – celebrating the Simpsons,” Alves says. “It’s amazing what useless knowledge your mind stores away if it’s a show you love.”
Halloween of Horrors Trivia is a way for fans of The Simpsons to reminisce, laugh together, and compete for prizes; though everyone walks away a winner with the option of grabbing free Simpsons stickers. The top three teams with six players or fewer will get to choose from the huge Simpsons-related prize table and receive gift cards from Ogie’s. There will be other opportunities to win prizes with a costume contest and physical challenges.
Alves feels lucky to have Ogie’s host the events. He appreciates the supportive staff and likes that they are also into it! He notes that they create food and drink specials, and have Simpsons screensavers on all of their TVs to set the mood.
“It’s important to have the right venue,” Alves says when asked what goes into putting a trivia event together. “A great spot makes the trivia much more fun! And prizes help too! In addition to the gift cards and free donuts, I scour the interwebs for the best Simpsons-themed merchandise! Put that together with branding, social media presence (@yoinktrivia), and some amateur marketing, and you’ve got yourself a regular Compuglobal Hypermeganet!”
“Dave sure does bring a crowd for Simpsons Trivia night,” Ogie’s said when asked about the event. “It’s a night where anything can happen. You could be a team of 6 or 1 and bring home the gold. He gives out Simpsons-themed prizes, Simpsons -hemed drinks, and the food menu is always a hit. And we even get D’oh-nuts made by PVD Donuts with pink glaze.”
Alves doesn’t have a specific favorite Simpsons Trivia moment, but he enjoys watching adults brush off their daily expectations and reconnect with their younger glee of reliving the show through the eyes of everyone in the crowd. Everyone there has something in common, which is their love of “The Simpsons.”
Alves is proud to admit that “The Simpsons” has been a huge influence on his life. His parents wouldn’t let him watch the show when it initially aired, when he was seven. He had to wait until it was in syndication when he was in 6th grade.
“The episode that sticks out for me was ‘The Call of the Simpsons’ in season one,” Alves says. “Homer launching a bunny with his self-made trap always gets me, and I still remember being caught off guard with the gag so long ago.”
Specifically, he credits the Halloween of Horror episodes with taking things that should be scary and making them funny.
“As a kid I really appreciated that,” he says. “I have the show to thank for shaping my humor, going into life, and keeping a connection to my past.”
Expect a cromulent night of laughter, reminiscing, and appreciating the longest-running American television sitcom and scripted series.
“Though I make it out to be difficult, trivia is most of all, inviting,” Alves concludes. “My goal is to create an event, this one being about “The Simpsons,” that would be just as entertaining to watch as it is to participate in. We’ve got ‘quotes’ rounds, physical challenge rounds where you can watch people perform parts of the episodes, all to win at trivia! So even if you feel you wouldn’t do well at it (it’s free to play, by the way), you should just come out and hang with the Simpsons nerds for a while. We’ve been having fun for years.”
Simpsons Treehouse of Terror is happening Thu, Oct 30 at 7pm. Go to ogiestrailerpark.com for more info.