Every Time The Simpsons Retired A Character (& Why) | Screen Rant
Despite persistent rumors The Simpsons has never actually retired the controversial character of Apu, but who have they put out to pasture? After over 30 years on the air, it’s understandable that The Simpsons has changed a lot since its first episode, the Christmas special “Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire.” Over the years, the series has grown from a relatively straightforward, crass family comedy into an anarchic, inventive, critically acclaimed phenomenon, and eventually into the more conventional sitcom of the most recent 20 seasons.
Since the series began decades ago, Springfield’s first family has been the subject of critical acclaim, critical scorn, and the occasional controversy. Shifting attitudes toward race and representation onscreen have led The Simpsons to recast a handful of notable characters who were originally voiced by white actors despite the characters being people of color. However, in cases like Apu and Dr. Hibbert, the recasting of these characters was no reason to retire them from the cast.
In fact, it is extremely rare for The Simpsons to permanently retire any character, despite the show’s long run meaning its list of named characters now extends into the thousands. As The Simpsons prides itself on ignoring canon as a freewheeling comedy wherein typical TV conventions do not apply, the show rarely formally retires characters, and on the rare occasion that they do it’s usually out of respect for a late actor who provided the character’s voice. That said, here is a comprehensive list of every Simpsons character who seems to be retired, along with an educated guess as to why they left Springfield.
The original weatherman of The Simpsons’ Channel 5 (home to Kent Brockman), Bill Pye appeared only once as an offscreen voice on the radio in the season 1 episode “Some Enchanted Evening.” Seemingly the more famous “Arnie Pye in the sky's" brother, he was briefly seen once but soon replaced by his more famous sibling. Voiced by Simpsons regular/Dr. Nick actor Hank Azaria, Pye was replaced by his Dan Castellaneta-voiced brother presumably because Bill didn’t have any memorable comedic angle to his character, unlike Arnie.
Many fans erroneously assume the death of an actor leads to the automatic retirement of their character on The Simpsons. However, this has not always been true, as proven by Don Brodka’s brief (admittedly mute) re-appearance in The Simpsons Movie. However, the late, great Rodney Dangerfield’s passing was the end of Mr. Burns’ son, Larry, the memorable one-episode wonder who was central to season 8 episode “Burns, Baby, Burns” (and later cropped up for a very minor cameo in “Realty Bites”).
Legendary SNL performer Phil Hartman voiced some of The Simpsons’ most beloved supporting characters in early seasons, and his untimely death led to their immediate and permanent retirement. Lionel Hutz and Troy McClure in particular were tricky propositions for the series since the sleazy lawyer and self-absorbed actor were both regular fixtures throughout early seasons, but neither reappeared following Hartman’s 1998 murder. Unlike most Simpsons character retirements, the show’s creators explicitly confirmed they would not be recasting Hartman's character. Season 10’s third episode “Bart the Mother” was dedicated to the memory of Hartman, as well as being the episode that featured the last appearance of his iconic character.
Voiced by Simpsons staple Marcia Wallace, the heavy smoking, sarcastic schoolteacher netted the veteran voice actor an Emmy for her work in season 3's surprisingly moving “Bart the Lover." Much like Phil Hartman’s characters, Wallace’s Krabappel was retired when her voice actor passed away in 2013. Unlike McClure and Hutz, though, Krabappel’s fictional death was addressed onscreen, with The Simpsons dedicating one of Bart’s trademark chalkboard gags to her with the single-line epitaph “We’ll really miss you, Mrs. K.” Later episodes featured a glimpse of her ghost in a non-speaking role and her mourning love interest Ned Flanders, further confirming the character’s permanent retirement.
Season 10 episode 12 introduced a pair of new guest stars to The Simpsons - horror icon Vincent Price and lovable loser Wally Kogen, with the latter voiced by comedy legend Fred Willard. Although the former may well appear again (as the grave can’t contain Vincent Price, according to his Simpsons appearance), Willard’s Kogen looks unlikely to reappear after the actor’s death. Kogen was already effectively retired by the series, having only appeared once after his debut in 2007’s “Eternal Moonshine of Simpson Mind."
Michael Jackson’s cameo character Leon Kompowsky was a memorable early guest star, with the prince of Pop playing an inmate at a psychiatric institution who thought he was… Michael Jackson. Originally Kompowsky was meant to reappear voiced by Prince, but this Simpsons episode never came to fruition. With both pop icons who were lined up to play the role now deceased, Leon Kompowsky seems doubly unlikely to reappear and as such can be assumed to be retired.
Although he’s made one mute cameo since appearing in “You Only Move Twice," supervillain Hank Scorpio still hasn’t returned in a speaking role on The Simpsons since his debut in an episode frequently listed alongside "Last Exit to Springfield" as one of the show's finest hours. The show’s creators have repeatedly kiboshed demands for a return from this fan-favorite, although he was initially intended to be the villain of the long-awaited Simpsons Movie. Instead another Albert Brooks character, Russ Cargill, took that role, and Scorpio remained in well-earned retirement.
Appearing frequently in the first few seasons of The Simpsons, Mr. Winfield was quite literally retired when he finished working in Springfield and moved to Florida with his wife. This occurred in season 4 and he hasn’t been seen since, so it seems unlikely the easily annoyed elderly neighbor will ever return. The likely cause of Mr. Winfield’s retirement is that the writers changed the tone of the series and created more room for zanier figures like Ned Flanders or even Homer's next irritable neighbor, former president George H.W Bush, at the expense of more conventional characters like Winfield’s curmudgeon.
The Simpsons was serious when they said the real Seymour Skinner would never return to Springfield, as it’s been decades and the character hasn’t cropped up again. For viewers who managed to forget the infamous “The Principal and the Pauper” (season 9, episode 2), this outing revealed the man known as Principal Skinner was an imposter and the real deal Skinner was a stern military veteran voiced by Martin Sheen. Of course, the trollish ending of the episode saw all of Springfield conspire to erase the events of the week’s adventure from their collective memory, resulting in The Simpsons returning to its status quo and another character being retired for good.
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