Grand Gulf Nuclear Station figured into filmmaker Morgan Spurlock’s tongue-in-cheek look at how the long-running Fox sitcom “The Simpsons” has affected American pop culture.

An hour-long documentary, “The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special: In 3D! On Ice!,” was first shown Sunday following an episode promoted as the series’ 450th show. To gauge how the Homer Simpson character has affected others in the nuclear industry — the animated TV dad works at the fictitious Springfield Nuclear Power Plant — Spurlock visited the Mississippi’s plant in November and interspersed about 90 seconds of interviews with plant workers and an industry analyst in the show.

Referring to the Claiborne County facility only as “the nuclear power plant in Port Gibson, Mississippi,” Spurlock described his visit as an attempt to see “if ‘The Simpsons’ does these uranium jockeys justice.” Scenes were shot inside a simulated control room at the plant during training classes, Jackson-based Entergy Nuclear spokesman Kelle Barfield said.

Barfield, who worked with producers of the special, said the utility knew the segment was a spoof of Homer’s character and was generally satisfied with the portrayal.

J. Scott Peterson of the Nuclear Energy Institute appears in the segment and helped set up the visit, Barfield said.

Homer Simpson “wouldn’t even pass the psychology evaluation to get into the pipeline to try to be a nuclear power employee,” Peterson tells Spurlock toward the end of the segment.

“The Simpsons” debuted in 1990 and in 2009 surpassed “Gunsmoke” as the longest-running American prime-time entertainment series. Spurlock’s 2004 docudrama “Super Size Me” was nominated for an Academy Award for best documentary feature.

The 42-minute special can be viewed on the Internet at www.fox.com.

Contact Danny Barrett Jr. at dbarrett@vicksburgpost.com