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Weird Appalachia: How “The Simpsons” saved the Sunsphere

Weird Appalachia: How “The Simpsons” saved the Sunsphere

The Sunsphere in Knoxville, tennessee. photo by bruce mccamish. BART SIMPSON BY photology1971 ON ADOBE STOCK.

Whether you call it Sunsphere or Wigsphere, the history of this Knoxville, Tennessee landmark is almost as strange as the structure itself.

Lots of people like television’s longest-running primetime show, “The Simpsons.” After all, this animated comedy portrays the absurdity of suburban life in a shockingly relatable way. But Knoxvillians have a special reason to love the sitcom: It saved the Sunsphere.


Standing 26 stories tall, the Sunsphere is a 600-ton globe perched atop a hexagonal steel truss structure. The glass panels of the orb are dusted in actual 24-karat gold, so the whole thing shimmers like a larger-than-life disco ball.


It was built in 1981, a time when puffy sleeves and big hair prevailed, and the Iranian Revolution upset oil distribution, leaving us all thirsty for renewable energy. Knoxville city officials kept this in mind when planning the 1982 World’s Fair, which was to be hosted downtown. To celebrate the origin of energy on Earth, organizers commissioned a local architecture firm to replicate the mother of all energy sources — the sun.


Four million dollars and countless labor hours later, the structure was unveiled on May 1, 1982. In the six months to follow, an estimated 60,000 visitors rode the elevator to the tower’s observation deck, which offered 360-degree views stretching all the way to the Great Smoky Mountains. Many also munched “Sunburgers” and sipped “Sunbursts” (rum and fruit juice cocktails) at the on-site restaurant.  

MADE IN TENNESSEE

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From the outset, the Sunsphere was a smashing success. But World’s Fair Magazine gave the tower a zero-star review and described it as scuzzy. “Gaze on it, but don't bother to go up in it,” editors scorned.


Plenty heeded that advice, and in the decades to come, the Sunsphere cycled through periods of disuse. Closures were so persistent that Matt Groening, the cartoonist behind “The Simpsons,” poked fun in an episode titled “Bart on the Road.”


Originally aired on March 31, 1996, the episode follows Bart (the family’s madcap son) and his friends as they illegally rent a car during spring break. Not sure where to go, they reference an AAA TourBook that praises Knoxville’s Sunsphere. The only problem? When they arrive, the golden orb has been converted into storage for a neighboring wig shop. The “Wigsphere” is such a disappointment that one of Bart’s friends throws a rock at the structure, sending the whole thing toppling down. Yikes.


From a PR perspective, wig-gate could have been a nightmare. But it actually did wonders for tourism. The sitcom’s superfans came out of the woodwork, desperate for their chance to see the so-called Wigsphere in person. Scroll “The Simpsons” subreddit, and you’ll find entire threads about pilgrimaging to Knoxville. Many users even crack jokes about turning the Sunsphere into an official museum for the show.

OBSERVATION DECK OF THE SUNSPHERE. photo BY PHOTO BY BRUCE MCCAMISH. 

Kim Bumpas, president of Visit Knoxville, confirms that fans “flock to the structure.” But she also wants to make one thing clear: Despite Bart’s experience, the attraction is still standing and open for business. In fact, you can tour the Sunsphere seven days a week for $1 per child and $5 per adult.


“Visitors come from all over the world,” Kim said. “Since reopening our fourth-floor observation deck in February of 2022, we have welcomed over 123,000 visitors from all 50 states and 57 countries.”


What’s more, the Sunsphere has a 4.5-star rating on Google. And, for the record, not one of the nearly 2,000 reviews describes the ginormous, golden orb as “scuzzy.”

OTHER APPALACHIAN LANDMARKS
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Lauren Stepp is a lifestyle journalist from the mountains of North Carolina. She writes about everything from fifth-generation apple farmers to mixed-media artists, publishing her work in magazines across the Southeast. In her spare time, Lauren mountain bikes, reads gritty southern fiction, and drops her g's.

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