The Simpsons Producer Explains Killing Off Forgotten Character After 27-Year Absence (2024)

The Simpsons

The Simpsons Producer Explains Killing Off Forgotten Character After 27-Year Absence (1)

By Jeremy Dick

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The Simpsons Producer Explains Killing Off Forgotten Character After 27-Year Absence (2)

Another classic character from The Simpsons was recently killed off in the Season 36 episode, "The Yellow Lotus." As a spoof of HBO's The White Lotus, the episode needed to kill off a Simpsons character, so the show's producers chose someone who hadn't been seen on the animated series in nearly three decades.

The episode brings back Nick Callahan, a realtor who was first introduced in the Season 9 episode, "Realty Bites," in 1997. Though memorable for fans of classic Simpsons, the character is very minor, as he hasn't made any additional appearances in the 27 years since the episode aired. In "The Yellow Lotus," Nick finally returned to the series just to get killed off in the same episode. Speaking about the character's fate in an interview with Screen Rant, producer and writer Al Jean explains why Nick was the one who was chosen.

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The Simpsons showrunner Matt Selman says it was a mistake to even suggest that the running gag has ended.

"We, this past week after the premiere, killed off Nick the Realtor from Season 9 in 'The Yellow Lotus,' a White Lotus parody," Jean commented about the episode. "It’s kind of convenient because you have this thing like The White Lotus where you know someone's going to die, but it's not going to be Dr. Hibbert, and it's not going to be Sideshow Bob. So, it is a character — that guy Nick — but it's also somebody that's okay to lose because he hasn't been on the show for 27 years."

...it's also somebody that's okay to lose because he hasn't been on the show for 27 years.

The Simpsons has killed off many notable characters since its debut on Fox in 1989. In Season 35, the series wrote out Larry the Barfly, a background character who'd been consistently seen in Moe's bar since the first season of the show. In years past, the death of Maude Flanders was among the most memorable, while other killed off characters include Lisa's mentor "Bleeding Gums" Murphy; Homer's mother Mona Simpson; Krusty's father Rabbi Hyman Krustofsky; and family therapist Dr. Marvin Monroe. After the real-life passing of voice actor Marcia Wallace in 2013, her Edna Krabappel character was also given an off-screen death.

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17 Years Later, One Simpsons Story Got Everything Right About the Series

The Simpsons has produced a lot of great stories over its 36 seasons, but one widely beloved story captured all of the show's best qualities.

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The "Realty Bites," episode, which introduced the newly-killed-off character Nick Callahan, also happened to feature the final appearance of Phil Hartman's Lionel Hutz. Hartman, who voiced Hutz along with washed-up actor Troy McClure, was murdered five months after the episode aired. Both Lionel Hutz and Troy McClure have since had occasional appearances in the background, so the characters were not completely written out of the series.

The Simpsons Recently Returned for Season 36

The Simpsons is currently two episodes into its 36th season on Fox. The Season 36 premiere episode, framed as a "series finale," also made some waves with some major cameo appearances. This includes Danny DeVitro reprising his voice role as Homer's brother, Herb Powell. The "real" Seymour Skinner from the controversial Season 9 episode "The Principal and the Pauper" also made a brief appearance.

New episodes of The Simpsons are streaming on Hulu.

Source: Screen Rant

The Simpsons Producer Explains Killing Off Forgotten Character After 27-Year Absence (5)
The Simpsons

TV-14

Animation

Comedy

The satiric adventures of a working-class family in the misfit city of Springfield.

Release Date
December 17, 1989

Cast
Dan Castellaneta , Nancy Cartwright , Harry Shearer , Yeardley Smith , Julie Kavner , Hank Azaria , Pamela Hayden , Tress MacNeille
Main Genre
Animation

Seasons
36

Creator
James L. Brooks, Matt Groening, Sam Simon

Production Company
Gracie Films, 20th Television Animation, Fox Television Animation, The Curiosity Company

Number of Episodes
761
Streaming Service(s)
Hulu
The Simpsons Producer Explains Killing Off Forgotten Character After 27-Year Absence (2024)

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