'The Simpsons' knocks Gainesville in episode

On Sunday night’s episode of "The Simpsons," Marge pitched a family vacation: her great half-step-aunt Eunice was turning 100, and has invited the family to celebrate.

Bart asked if this is the aunt that lives in Florida. Marge clarified.

“It’s not just Florida,” she said. “It’s Gainesville!”

Marge then waved her hands in an arc to communicate the razzle and dazzle of the city, but her message fell flat.

Homer protested: “I only have two weeks' vacation and I have to spend them in Dullsville?”

The family groaned in mutual distaste, but Marge persisted and soon enough, Randy Newman’s (of Toy Story fame) “Gainesville” was playing while Marge searched for flights to and from the city. It was $19 from Springfield to Gainesville, $999 to fly back.

Gainesville Regional Airport CEO Allan Penska expressed dismay over the inflated rates. "All they had to do is ask," he said, "or just check our Low Fare Alerts, and we could have found a much better return fare for Marge and the family."

The 3½-minute bit was full of jabs like this, culminating in a plane full of Gainesville-bound passengers, all thrilled at the prospect of an emergency landing anywhere other than here. Lucky for them, Bart and Homer conspired to force an emergency landing in New Orleans, where Homer went on to eat his way through the city.

Meanwhile, Eunice sang happy birthday to herself and celebrated alone.

Gainesville Mayor Lauren Poe said he saw the clip of "The Simpsons" dogging the city and found it hilarious.

“If you’re being roasted by 'The Simpsons,' you know you’ve made it,” he said.

Poe, a fan of the show, said he’s sure that had the family visited Gainesville, they would have wanted to move here.

“Everybody in Gainesville knows we’re better than Springfield, any day of the week,” Poe said. “We’re just happy we’re on their radar.”

In its 29th season, "The Simpsons" is the longest-running American sitcom and animated program. Sunday marked the series' 636th episode, and earned the show another distinction, making it the longest-running American scripted TV series.

The show’s executive producer, Al Jean, in an email said there was no deep reasoning behind the Gainesville jokes, other than humor, and that he wishes the city the best.

“Now that we've made peace with New Orleans, we owe you a makeup show, no doubt centering on a Gators National Championship,” Jean wrote.