List of media personalities in The Simpsons
This is a List of fictional celebrities in the television show The Simpsons.
Bill and Marty
Bill and Marty, voiced by Dan Castellaneta and Harry Shearer, are two radio show hosts and deejays on Springfield’s own radio station KBBL. When they appear, they are usually seen (and sometimes only heard), when the Simpsons are listening to the radio. Marty is middle-aged and balding, while Bill is younger and has a full head of hair. The radio frequency of KBBL is 102.5 FM, and Billy is often seen with this on his clothes. They are responsible for giving Bart his elephant, Stampy, although they were surprised when Bart wanted Stampy, because they thought he would choose the other prize, 10,000 dollars. They can also be seen interviewing Spinal Tap on the episode “The Otto Show,” where they want the band to say “Nobody rocks like Billy and Marty on KBBL,” and “Rock-a-doodle-doo, you’re listening to Billy and Marty!” This might suggest that the two want to get their radio show more publicity.
Boobarella
Boobarella is an ample-chested vampire-looking woman, first seen in the episode “I’m Spelling as Fast as I Can.” She is well aware of her assets, and often makes reference to them on the rare occasion she appears on TV. "We'll be right back! Then you can see more of my booooooooobs!" In another episode, when asked a technical question by Kent Brockman, after a long pause she responds with "Boobs!" Her character is a takeoff of Elvira, a character made known by Cassandra Peterson, (who made many comments about her large breasts), herself a takeoff on Vampira. Her name is possibly a spoof of Barbarella. In “Homerazzi,” she is seen dating Duffman. In "Fraudcast News", it is revealed that she is the daughter of an employee in the nuclear plant's Accounting department.
Kent Brockman
Bumblebee Man
The Bumblebee Man, voiced by Hank Azaria, appears on a television show on "Channel Ocho" dressed in a bumblebee costume and does insane slapstick comedy. In the episode "Team Homer," his bowling shirt bears the name "Pedro". He works at the same studio as Kent Brockman.
Character traits
Bumblebee Man never takes off his costume, even when by himself; the sole exception is the episode "22 Short Films About Springfield", in which his private life is shown. In this short segment, he is portrayed as innately clumsy rather than simply acting as such. In the end, his house is destroyed and his wife leaves him, not wanting to deal with his maladroit nature any longer.
In "Bart Gets Famous", he speaks with an articulate British accent, but this was mentioned in an episode commentary as a mistake. In general, Bumblebee Man only speaks in simple, over-enunciated (and inaccurate) Spanish sentences. His catchphrases of choice are typically “¡Ay, ay, ay, no me gusta!” (“I don’t like it!”), “¡Ay, ay, ay, no es bueno!” (“That’s not good!”) and “¡Ay, Dios no me ama!” (“God doesn’t love me!”) Quite commonly, his phrases will be intentionally sloppy Spanish. For example, in the episode "22 Short Films about Springfield", there are several words used that are not real (woodpecker in Spanish is not "wudpequero"; it is "pájaro carpintero"). The crude Spanish was used so that English-speaking viewers would still understand what was being said.[1]
Character origins
Bumblebee is a caricature of "El Chapulín Colorado" ("The Red Grasshopper"), a character created and portrayed by Mexican television comedian Roberto Gómez Bolaños (aka "Chespirito"), and his show consists of simple skits, often involving heavy slapstick. In several DVD commentaries, the show's producers say that whenever they watched Telemundo, this character was always "on", and then they created Bumblebee Man, who is also always "on".
Capital City Goofball
The Capital City Goofball is the mascot for Capital City, he was voiced by Tom Poston. His appearance seems to have been inspired by the mascot of the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team, the Phillie Phanatic. The costume is a creature with a baseball body, with a blue Capital City T-Shirt, yellow arms and legs, a long flat-ended nose, tufts of fur at the side, a red hat with two springs, two costume eyes that look in either direction, and two more eyes that peek outside the mouth (the eyes of the person wearing the costume). The Capital City Goofball first appeared in the episode “Dancin’ Homer” and shared the stage with Homer. In "Bart vs. Lisa vs. the Third Grade" The Capital City Goofball represents Capital City in the state Congress; he spent 80 million dollars out of his own pocket to win the seat.
Scott Christian
Scott Christian (voiced by Dan Castellaneta) is a newsreader from the early seasons of the show. Originally, Christian and Kent Brockman shared the anchor desk equally, but eventually Brockman started to become the more commonly used anchor. In his final appearances, Christian was used mostly when Kent was in the field and an introduction was needed. His final speaking appearance was “The Boy Who Knew Too Much.”
Declan Desmond
Declan Desmond (voiced by Eric Idle of Monty Python fame) is an eccentric and skeptical British documentary filmmaker who has directed several films, including Do You Want Lies with That?, American Boneheads: A Day In The Life Of Springfield Elementary, Growing Up Springfield, and Ain’t No Mountain: A Blind Man Climbs Everest. His first appearance was in "’Scuse Me While I Miss the Sky". Growing Up Springfield is his most notable documentary. It follows the lives of the inhabitants of Springfield, starting when they were in third grade and continuing every eight years. It is a parody of Michael Apted’s Up! series. Desmond and his Growing Up Springfield series were featured in the episode “Springfield Up.”
Duffman
Duffman voiced by Hank Azaria, is the mascot and spokesman for the fictional Duff Beer company in The Simpsons. Within the series, he is a fictional character played by several people, and sometimes simultaneously. He is an athletic and smooth-talking corporate personality who wears blue and red tights, a red cape, white gloves, and the Duff logo emblazoned across his chest. The ensemble features a red hat, dark sunglasses, and a "utility belt" of beer cans around his waist. Duffman is generally known for his overly enthusiastic speech in which he refers to himself in the third person, complete with dramatic pauses and ending with a suggestive "Oh, yeah!" and pelvic thrusts. His theme song which plays at every corporate-sponsored appearance is "Oh Yeah" by Yello.
Character origins
Duffman is based on Budweiser's former mascot Bud Man. Duffman's catchphrase comes from the song "Oh Yeah", which the producers say became extremely popular after Ferris Bueller's Day Off and many advertisers started using it. As a result, the writers felt that the song and phrase "Oh yeah!" would be suitable for Duffman. Duffman's thrusts were first acted out by Brad Bird.[2]
Character traits
The Duff corporation does not publicly acknowledge that Duffman is only a fictional character, so as not to disillusion Duffman's "fans". Actors to portray him have been named Joe Duffman, Sid, Larry, and once, Barry Duffman.[3]
When Lenny mentioned that he had heard Duffman died of liver failure, Duffman scoffed "Duffman can never die! (Pause) Only the actors who play him!" This is a reference to real-life corporate mascots such as the Marlboro Man, who has been portrayed by multiple actors, two of whom have died of lung cancer. Though he is a corporate puppet of Duff Beer, some actors have displayed independent thought and conscience at times.
Gunter and Ernst
Gunter and Ernst, Las Vegas-style entertainers voiced by Harry Shearer and Hank Azaria, are obvious parodies of Siegfried & Roy: they speak with German accents, their act involves magic and white tigers, and one has black hair while the other has bleached-blond hair. The duo appear in the episodes “Viva Ned Flanders,” “$pringfield,” “The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons”, and “Jazzy and the Pussycats.”
In a case of fact following fiction, the 1993 episode “$pringfield” depicts the duo being savagely mauled by their trademark white tiger, Anastasia. Ten years later, the trained white tiger Montecore dragged Roy Horn off-stage by his neck during a performance at The Mirage.
Princess Kashmir
Shauna Tifton also known as April Flowers and Princess Kashmir is an exotic dancer. Using his toy spy camera at a restaurant, Bart catches Homer drunk and cavorting with a belly-dancer named Princess Kashmir. When he gets the photo developed, it is photocopied and distributed all over town, ruining Homer’s reputation and nearly wrecking his marriage to Marge, who kicks Homer out of the house.
Homer manages to apologize to Marge, but fearing that Bart may be learning a bad lesson about how to treat women, Marge demands that Homer introduce Bart to the Princess so he can learn that women aren’t sex objects. Shauna once dated Apu before his marriage to Manjula and was seen with his brother Sanjay. She is also a member of the Homewreckers bowling team, as seen in Team Homer. As an in-joke, she was seen dancing in the burlesque house in Bart After Dark (Homer went to pick up Bart from the house, but Kashmir’s dancing lured Homer in to watch). She’s also a regular on Springfield Squares. She's also appears in the angry mob of The Simpsons Movie.
Rachel Jordan
Rachel Jordan (voiced by Shawn Colvin) is the lead singer of Kovenant, a fictional Christian rock band. She is first seen in Alone Again, Natura-Diddily, when she befriends Ned Flanders after Maude’s death. She returns in “I’m Goin’ to Praiseland.” She stays at the Flanders' house with Ned, and leaves briefly after Ned attempted to mold her in the image of his deceased wife Maude. At the end of the episode, she returns and has a date with Flanders.
Krusty the Clown
Troy McClure
Arnie Pie
Arnie Pie, voiced by Dan Castellaneta, is a disgruntled helicopter traffic reporter for Springfield’s KBBL-TV (Channel 6). His segments are titled “Arnie in the Sky.” He has an apparent dislike of anchorman Kent Brockman, with whom he often gets into arguments on the air. Pye’s helicopter once crashed; he managed “Tell my wife I love—” before the live feed was lost. The incident was dismissed with a chuckle by the oblivious Brockman. However, he survived and has been seen in several episodes afterwards. “Arnie in the Sky” is most likely to be a play on words with the expression “pie in the sky” (not the TV series Pie in the Sky, as “Arnie in the Sky” pre-dates Richard Griffiths’ mystery-solving chef). When Kent was fired in "You Kent Always Say What You Want", Arnie briefly became the new head anchor. In some of the early episodes a similar character was referred to as "Bill Pie".
Sideshow Mel
Sideshow Mel, full name Melvin Van Horne (voiced by Dan Castellaneta), is Krusty the Clown's sidekick. He replaced Sideshow Bob after Bob was incarcerated for framing Krusty for robbery. Mel's hiring was never explicitly shown in the series. He first appeared in "Itchy & Scratchy & Marge", shortly after Sideshow Bob was sent to prison, filling the exact role that Bob once did. Little is known about Mel. He is a Cornell University graduate and an atheist (though he is occasionally seen at the Presbylutheran church). Sideshow Mel uses a slide whistle to communicate on camera. When not in character, Mel speaks in a grandiose British/Shakespearean accent (Castellaneta's play on Kelsey Grammer's character, Sideshow Bob) and owns poodles. Mel perpetually wears a bone in his hair which was revealed in "22 Short Films About Springfield" to be from a failed attempt to remove gum from his hair. In "Bart Gets Famous" it was revealed that Mel is lactose intolerant. In "Homerazzi" it was revealed that he was in a furious custody battle.
Sideshow Mel is often subject to abuse by Krusty, just as Sideshow Bob was before him. Events include 'Krusty's Slide', where he is forced into a mixture of laundry detergent and rancid Bearnaise sauce, another unseen one is in "Krusty Gets Kancelled" where he states that Krusty once poured liquid nitrogen down his pants and cracked his buttocks with a hammer.
Drederick Tatum
Drederick Tatum (voiced by Hank Azaria) has appeared in several episodes, most notably as Homer’s opponent in “The Homer They Fall.” Tatum, a former Olympic Gold medalist, first became World Heavyweight Champion after defeating Watson in the heavily promoted “Bout to Knock the Other Guy Out!” Tatum grew up in Springfield, recalling that “that town was a dump. If you ever see me there again you’ll know I really (bleeped)-up bad.” He later served time in prison after pushing his mother down the stairs. Upon his release, he was booked for a match against Homer Simpson, a small time boxer who had never been knocked out. He was managed during this time by Lucius Sweet, a vicious boxing promoter (and parody of Don King). Tatum’s criminal record has been referred to several times. Tatum is a parody of Mike Tyson, right down to his criminal record and high-pitched, lisping voice.
Mr. Teeny
Louis “Mr. Teeny” Toot, also known as Joseph Teeny and voiced by Dan Castellaneta, is Krusty’s trained monkey who frequently appears on the show. Like Krusty, he is a heavy smoker, and often seems depressed off-stage. He is sometimes seen as Krusty’s driver and butler. Teeny’s uncle was former head monkey at the ministry of tourism in Brazil. Three other monkeys have died while working for Krusty known by the same name. Krusty once said he missed the third Mr. Teeny and the current one couldn’t hold a candle to him. His mother’s name is Toot-Toot, and she refers to him as Louis when they are reunited in "Bart Has Two Mommies". Teeny also was a writer for the “Good Guy Awards” and quit after being insulted on-stage by Krusty. He is an immigrant from Brazil and has been deported but was returned. He wears a pink hat and bow tie but has also been seen in a tuxedo and golden encrusted thong.
Rainier Wolfcastle
Roger Meyers, Jr.
See also
- List of characters in The Simpsons
- List of one-time characters from The Simpsons
- List of recurring characters from The Simpsons
- List of guest stars on The Simpsons
- List of animals in The Simpsons
- Springfield Mafia
- Springfield Elementary School
- Springfield Elementary School students
Sources
- ^ Season 7 DVD Commentary - "22 Short Films About Springfield"
- ^ Mentioned in the audio commentary for "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson".
- ^ "Old Yeller Belly," The Simpsons.