A friend of mine had the good fortune to meet Matt Groening at his home in LA and asked him if he knew 'Father Ted'. Mister Groening, the man whom I have revered since I first fell in love with his comic 'Life In Hell' (you see? I knew him before anyone else!...is the point!...is the point there!...)  said sure, his cook was a fan.

No offense to his cook, but I am still collecting the pieces of my heart from the floor. What makes it even more galling is that, as a hello, I wanted my friend to point out that the scene in 'Father Ted' where Ted reassures Dougal about the afterlife and ends up freaking himself out, was a direct steal from a 'Life In Hell' strip.

"Tell him not to worry about it." said Groening.

Gah! No!...I'm trying to tell you that I am a true fan! Not a plagiarist! I've written jokes of my own, y'know!!!

Ah anyway, none of this goes any way to diluting my joy that an actual Kwik-E-Mart has opened in Burbank (just for a month, as a promotion for the movie). Hopefully, no-one will mistake it for a garish terrorist device and blow it up.

Tags: comedy, comics, simpsons