Despite the fact that it was obviously grilled, upstate New York is responding to a not-so-glowing review from Sunday night's episode of "The Simpsons."

In the latest episode of the long-running Fox show, family patriarch Homer Simpson drives through upstate, calling it "the one place that can never decline ... because it was never that great," then singing a parody of the Frank Sinatra song "New York, New York" that lampoons a number of cities, including Buffalo, Utica and Niskayuna.

"There always remains work to be done but — dumb cheap shots aside — facts are facts: jobs are up, unemployment is down, millennials are coming back and it's clear that Poochie was an uncredited writer on that episode," Rich Azzopardi, a spokesman for Governor Andrew Cuomo, told the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.

The episode prompted a number of upstaters to invite the Simpsons, and the show's writing staff, back upstate.

Niskayuna Supervisor Yasmine Syed touted the town's neighborhoods and retail centers, as well as "our award winning school district, where Bart, Lisa and eventually little Maggie would receive a superior education to anything offered in Springfield." The New York State Fair invited the writing staff to the August 21-Sept. 2 fair.

The New York State Republican Committee saw it as an indictment of Gov. Cuomo's leadership.

Azzopardi fired back in a statement littered with Simpsons references.

“Ed ‘Mr. Burns’ Cox is clearly trying to block the sun in a feeble attempt to distract from the civil war in his own backyard. While there is more work to do, the facts are the facts and jobs are up, unemployment is down and millennials are starting to move back. Good luck with your race Ed,” he said. “I’m rooting for you for since your party hasn’t won an important race since Disco Stu was in style, I’m not holding out hope.”

You can watch the song here.

Upstaters might remember "The Simpsons" from such references as "steamed hams" being an Albany expression, and the Batavia meat packers' union ordering Marge Simpson's pretzels.