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Waylon Smithers
The Simpsons character
First appearance
Created byMatt Groening
Designed byMatt Groening
Voiced byHarry Shearer
In-universe information
Full nameWaylon J. Smithers Jr.
GenderMale
OccupationConsummate executive and personal assistant to Mr. Burns at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant
Family
  • Waylon Smithers Sr. (deceased father)
  • Mrs. Smithers (mother)
NationalityAmerican

Waylon J. Smithers Jr., usually referred to by the names Mr. Smithers, or simply Smithers, is a recurring character in the animated sitcom The Simpsons, voiced by Harry Shearer. His first appearance was in the episode of "Homer's Odyssey", although his voice could be heard in the series premiere "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". He is the consummate executive and personal assistant of Springfield Nuclear Power Plant's owner Mr. Burns, and is usually treated unfairly.

Smithers's loyalty and devotion to Mr. Burns was inspired from how numerous Fox executives and staff members acted towards Barry Diller. Smithers's first name (Waylon) was derived from that of puppeteer Wayland Flowers.[1][2] The idea for Smithers's ambiguous sexual orientation came from Sam Simon. He proposed that Smithers should be gay and have an undying love for Mr. Burns. Smithers was colorized in his first appearance as black with blue hair.[3] Matt Groening, in an interview with TMZ, said that this was a mistake but the producers did not have enough money to correct it.[4]

Smithers is the loyal, obedient and sycophantic assistant to Mr. Burns, and the relationship between the two is a frequent running gag. In many ways, Smithers represents the stereotype of a closeted gay man. Numerous allusions and double entendres about his homosexuality are made, though some of the show's producers instead interpret him as a "Burns-sexual". In the season 27 (2016) episode "The Burns Cage", he officially came out as gay.[5]

Role in The Simpsons

[edit]

Mr. Smithers is Mr. Burns's devoted executive assistant. His father, Waylon Smithers Sr., worked for Burns until he died of radiation poisoning after saving Springfield from a potential nuclear meltdown when Smithers was a baby. Smithers began thinking of Mr. Burns as his commander shortly after his birth.[6] Up until 2016, he was not openly gay, but most people knew he was homosexual before he came out. It was revealed in a flashback that he was married to a woman once, but the two split up when Mr. Burns came between them.[7] Smithers is shown to have a passionate and deep love for Mr. Burns, and his sexual orientation has been characterized by the writers of the show as "Burns-sexual". "He deserves his time," says the writer of "The Simpsons" about Smithers's gay love story in 2021.[8]

Mr. Burns remained largely ignorant of Smithers's devoted adoration, much to Smithers's frustration. Mr. Burns himself has been involved with several women and, in "A Hunka Hunka Burns in Love", Smithers is noticeably disgusted when Mr. Burns starts looking for a female companion.[9] Burns, for his part, views Smithers as somewhat of a lackey, albeit a highly valued one for his competence. He has "rewarded" Smithers's devotion with the future "honor" of being buried alive with him after he dies.[10] Smithers has been shown to be somewhat dependent on his relationship with Burns. In "Homer the Smithers", Mr. Burns orders Smithers to take a vacation and Homer Simpson is hired as a temporary replacement. When Homer loses his temper and punches Mr. Burns in the face, Mr. Burns learns to become self-reliant and this results in Smithers being fired. Smithers decides that he needs to be Mr. Burns's assistant and eventually gets his job back.[11] In the season 27 episode "The Burns Cage", Smithers attempts to admit his love to Burns, who interrupts to reaffirm his contempt for his assistant.[12]

Smithers's official job at the power plant appears to be that of executive assistant, which he says is "actually about 2,800 smaller jobs",[11] responsible for monitoring employee attendance, and is often a disciplinarian and has won dozens of employee-of-the-month awards.[13] Smithers does appear to be one of the few people at the power plant who is seemingly competent at their job as opposed to the lazy, oafish underlings such as Homer Simpson and the senile Mr. Burns, who is often out of touch with the modern times. While some of his early appearances showed him to have a malicious side (he tried to get Homer fired over his insurance claim for a hair-growing product, and the only reason this failed is that Mr. Burns had sympathy for Homer due to his own incurable baldness and gave him his old job back), his overall characterization is fairly benevolent and he ultimately just wants the SNPP to run well. He has often hinted at wanting to be promoted to the position of executive vice president, but Burns has repeatedly squashed this dream, while whimsically bestowing the vice presidency on a dog.[14] Smithers has the largest collection of Malibu Stacy dolls in the world, and is the president of the Malibu Stacy fan club.[15] In "Werking Mom", Smithers makes a silent cameo as a drag queen named 'The Mysterious Waylon'.[16]

Character

[edit]
Smithers's initial (and only) appearance with a dark complexion, as seen in "Homer's Odyssey"

Mr. Smithers was partly based on how numerous Fox executives and staff members acted towards Barry Diller.[17] The idea for Smithers's orientation was pitched by Sam Simon, who proposed that Smithers should be gay, but the writers should never draw too much attention to it and should try to keep it in the back of their heads.[18] Jay Kogen said "Originally he was gay and black...But we thought it was too much so we just kept him gay."[19][2] The script for "Blood Feud" originally featured Smithers saying "Just leave me enough to get home to my wife and kids", but the line had to be cut for time.[17] Smithers is voiced by Harry Shearer, who is also the voice of Mr. Burns.[20] Shearer is often able to perform dialogue between the two characters in one take.[21] Dan Castellaneta occasionally fills in for Shearer at table reads and voices Smithers.[21] The name Waylon, coined by Mike Reiss, was first used in "I Married Marge" and comes from the puppeteer Wayland Flowers.[1][22][2]

Smithers made his first appearance in "Homer's Odyssey", which was the third episode of the first season, although he can be heard over a speaker in The Simpsons series premiere "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire".[23] In his first visual appearance in "Homer's Odyssey", Smithers was mistakenly animated with the wrong color and was made darker than most characters by Gyorgyi Peluce, the color stylist. David Silverman has claimed that Smithers was always intended to be "Mr Burns' white sycophant",[24] and the staff thought it "would be a bad idea to have a black subservient character" and so switched him to his intended color for his next episode.[17][2] Silverman retconned this error by saying that Smithers had a tan from a recent holiday in the Caribbean.[24] The first appearance of a yellow Smithers was "There's No Disgrace Like Home", the fourth episode of the first season.

Development

[edit]

Mr. Smithers's relationship with Mr. Burns has long been a running gag on The Simpsons. Smithers is an obedient and sycophantic assistant to Mr. Burns. There have often been strong hints about Smithers's true feelings for his boss, with one of the earliest references being in the season one episode "The Telltale Head".[18] Smithers's sexual orientation has often come into question, with some fans claiming he is a "Burns-sexual" and only attracted to his boss, while others maintain that he is gay.[25] During the Bill Oakley/Josh Weinstein era, they still tried to keep his sexuality unspoken and there was debate among the writers about his orientation. Al Jean, who thinks of Smithers as being a "Burns-sexual",[21] felt that had Mr. Burns been a woman, then Smithers would not be gay.[26] David Silverman, a former supervising director has said, "[Smithers] seems to be focused on one particular human, as opposed to anything beyond that. [Rather than being gay], he's sort of 'Burns-sexual'."[27] In a 2006 study conducted by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, it was determined that nine of the 679 lead and supporting characters on scripted broadcast television were gay or lesbian, but Smithers was not included. A list published in 2008 by the same organization included Smithers;[28] Patty Bouvier, Marge Simpson's lesbian sister, was included on both lists.[29]

Smithers dreams about Mr. Burns in "Marge Gets a Job". The censors had issues with the "lump in his bed", which was his knee.[30]

The debate is referenced in "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular", when the episode host, Troy McClure is answering viewer questions, and one that is asked is "What is the real deal with Mr. Burns's assistant Smithers? You know what I'm talking about." A montage of various clips that shows Smithers's lust for Mr. Burns follows, and in the end, McClure says "as you can see, the real deal with Waylon Smithers is that he's Mr. Burns's assistant. He's in his early forties, is unmarried, and currently resides in Springfield. Thanks for writing!"[31]

Several of the allusions to Smithers's sexuality have turned into battles with the network censors. For example, in Smithers's fantasy of a naked Mr. Burns popping out of a birthday cake in "Rosebud", the censors had not wanted Mr. Burns to be naked. Another example is "Marge Gets a Job", which has a dream sequence where Smithers is sleeping and Burns flies through a window. The sequence shows Burns flying towards him and Smithers looking happy, but originally it went on for a few seconds longer. It had to be trimmed down due to scenes that showed "Mr. Burns land[ing] in a particular position on Smithers's anatomy".[32] There were also issues with "the lump in his bed", which the animators said had been drawn as his knee, but the censors had misinterpreted.[30]

In the second season, the writers started to enjoy writing about Smithers and Burns' relationship, and the writers often pitched episodes with them as the focus, but many never came to fruition.[33]

Mostly in the early seasons, Smithers had a catchphrase, which comes from a recurring joke that Mr. Burns never remembers who Homer Simpson is. Smithers and Burns would watch Homer (usually over a security camera feed) and Burns would ask, "Who is that man?", to which Smithers would reply, "That's Homer Simpson, sir, one of your [drones, organ banks, carbon blobs, etc.] from sector 7G." Burns would invariably respond, "Simpson, eh?"[34]

In September 2015, it was confirmed by Jean that Smithers would come out to Mr. Burns in a season 27 episode.[35] Though in the end he never came out to Mr. Burns as his attempt was cut short. The episode, "The Burns Cage", was broadcast the following April and saw Smithers unsuccessfully try to move on from Burns.[36] A writer for British progressive magazine the New Statesman felt that the episode was a retcon, making a serious story about the character's homosexuality instead of the previous jokes and innuendo that were now considered homophobic.[37]

Reception

[edit]
Smithers's voice actor Harry Shearer

In 2004, The Simpsons producers announced that one of their characters was going to come out of the closet.[38] Speculation on who it would be was printed in newspapers throughout the United States and Canada (even claiming Smithers's "sexual orientation was about the worst-kept secret in Springfield")[39] as well as in Australia,[40] New Zealand,[41] Ireland, (the Irish Independent called Smithers "too obvious" a choice),[42] and the United Kingdom.[43] Despite Matt Groening joking that it would be Homer, the Boston Herald calculated the odds of several characters being gay, with Smithers at a million to one.[44] PlanetOut Inc. hosted an online poll in the weeks prior to the episode to determine based on "cartoon gaydar" who was gay on the Simpsons, with 97% of the respondents choosing Smithers. Jenny Stewart, the entertainment editor at the site said of the poll, "We've never had such an avalanche of people voting in any of our polls as we did on The Simpsons."[45] It was Patty Bouvier who came out.[46]

In a 2007 article, Entertainment Weekly named Smithers the 16th-greatest sidekick of all time.[47] They have also described Smithers and Mr. Burns as being "TV's most functional dysfunctional couple".[48] Star News Online named "Smithers' fey way" as one of the 400 reasons why they loved The Simpsons.[49] In a 2003 article, Entertainment Weekly named the two-part episode "Who Shot Mr. Burns?", in which Smithers was prominently featured, the series' 25th-best episode.[48] Gay.com ranked Smithers as the sixth-gayest cartoon character.[50]

Merchandise

[edit]

Smithers was made into an action figure, and four different versions were included as part of the World of Springfield toy line. The first shows Smithers in his normal attire with a picture of Mr. Burns at his feet and was released in 2000 as part of "wave two".[51] The second, released in 2002 as part of "wave ten", is called "resort Smithers" and shows him dressed as he was at the resort in the episode "Homer the Smithers".[52] In 2003, a series of figures exclusive to Electronics Boutique was released, and a set of one Mr. Burns figure and two different Smithers toys based on the episode "Rosebud" were included. One, called "Bobo Smithers" shows Smithers dressed as Mr. Burns's teddy bear Bobo;[53] and the other, known as "future Smithers", shows him as a robotic dog.[54] A "future Burns" was included in the set as a companion to "future Smithers" and depicts Burns as a robot as he appeared at the end of the episode.[55]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Goertz, Allie; Prescott, Julia (8 August 2016). "I Married Marge (with Jeff Martin)" (Podcast). Maximum Fun. Event occurs at 61:28. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d Reiss, Mike; Klickstein, Mathew (2018). Springfield confidential: jokes, secrets, and outright lies from a lifetime writing for the Simpsons. New York City: Dey Street Books. p. 103. ISBN 978-0062748034.
  3. ^ "Waylon Smithers from The Simpsons was originally black". OMG Facts. Dose. Retrieved 10 December 2015. [permanent dead link‍]
  4. ^ "'Simpsons' Creator Matt Groening Smithers Was Black By Mistake ... DOH!". TMZ. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  5. ^ McDermott, Maeve. "Smithers officially came out as gay on 'The Simpsons'". USA Today. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  6. ^ Maxtone-Graham, Ian; Moore, Steven Dean (December 9, 2001). "The Blunder Years". The Simpsons. Season 13. Episode 05. Fox.
  7. ^ Daniels, Greg; Baeza, Carlos (May 19, 1994). "Secrets of a Successful Marriage". The Simpsons. Season 05. Episode 22. Fox.
  8. ^ Clarke, Patrick (24 November 2021). "'The Simpsons' writer talks Smithers' gay love story: "He deserves his time"". Nme.com. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
  9. ^ Swartzwelder, John; Kramer, Lance (December 2, 2001). "A Hunka Hunka Burns in Love". The Simpsons. Season 09. Episode 08. Fox.
  10. ^ Richdale, Jace; Kirkland, Mark (April 14, 1994). "Burns' Heir". The Simpsons. Season 09. Episode 08. Fox.
  11. ^ a b Swartzwelder, John; Moore, Steven Dean (February 25, 1996). "Homer the Smithers". The Simpsons. Season 7. Episode 17. Fox.
  12. ^ Leszkiewicz, Anna (April 5, 2016). "The Smithers question: why do we keep retrofitting progressive narratives in pop culture?". New Statesman. London, England: Progressive Digital Media. Retrieved April 6, 2016.
  13. ^ Gewirtz, Howard; Kirkland, Mark (October 17, 1991). "Homer Defined". The Simpsons. Season 03. Episode 05. Fox.
  14. ^ Swartzwelder, John; Reardon, Jim (May 4, 1997). "Homer's Enemy". The Simpsons. Season 08. Episode 23. Fox.
  15. ^ Oakley, Bill; Weinstein, Josh; Lynch, Jeffrey (February 17, 1994). "Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy". The Simpsons. Season 05. Episode 14. Fox.
  16. ^ "BBC - Cult - the Simpsons: Season One Episode Guide - There's No Disgrace Like Home". www.bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 23 June 2003. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  17. ^ a b c Rhodes, Joe (October 21, 2000). "Flash! 24 Simpsons Stars Reveal Themselves". TV Guide. New York City: NTVB Media.
  18. ^ a b Jean, Al (2001). The Simpsons season 1 DVD commentary for the episode 'The Telltale Head' (DVD). Los Angeles, California: 20th Century Fox.
  19. ^ JayKogen (2012). "Jay Kogen Here. Long past SIMPSONS writer. I created many of your favorite and least favorite characters with the help of the original Simpson writers". Reddit. Retrieved February 19, 2013.
  20. ^ "Harry Shearer". Fox Broadcasting Company. Archived from the original on April 29, 2009. Retrieved October 27, 2007.
  21. ^ a b c Jean, Al (2002). The Simpsons season 2 DVD commentary for the episode 'Blood Feud' (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  22. ^ Reiss, Mike (2003). The Simpsons season 3 DVD commentary for the episode 'I Married Marge' (DVD). Los Angeles, California: 20th Century Fox.
  23. ^ Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire BBC. Retrieved March 2, 2007
  24. ^ a b McKenzie, Charles A.L. (September 2002). "Background Guide to The Simpsons" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on January 26, 2005. Retrieved October 25, 2007.
  25. ^ Turner 2004, p. 296.
  26. ^ Oakley, Bill (2005). The Simpsons season 7 DVD commentary for the episode 'Homer the Smithers' (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  27. ^ Carroll, Larry (July 26, 2007). "'Simpsons' Trivia, From Swearing Lisa To 'Burns-Sexual' Smithers". MTV. Archived from the original on December 20, 2007. Retrieved October 24, 2007.
  28. ^ Finn, Natalie. "LGBT Characters for 2008–2009". Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. Archived from the original on October 8, 2008. Retrieved November 6, 2008.
  29. ^ Finn, Natalie (November 7, 2007). ""Simpsons'" Smithers Part of Shrinking Minority?". E! News. Archived from the original on May 18, 2007. Retrieved August 22, 2006.
  30. ^ a b Weinstein, Josh (2005). The Simpsons season 7 DVD commentary for the episode 'The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular' (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  31. ^ Vitti, Jon (December 3, 1995). "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular". The Simpsons. Season 7. Episode 10. Fox.
  32. ^ Oakley, Bill (2005). The Simpsons season 7 DVD commentary for the episode 'The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular' (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  33. ^ Vitti, Jon (2002). The Simpsons season 2 DVD commentary for the episode 'Simpson and Delilah' (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  34. ^ Turner 2004, p. 164.
  35. ^ Holpuch, Amanda (September 28, 2015). "The Simpsons' Smithers to finally come out as gay, producer reveals". The Guardian. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
  36. ^ "The Simpsons handles Smithers's coming out with surprising subtlety". avclub.com. 4 April 2016. Retrieved 2016-04-04.
  37. ^ Leszkiewicz, Anna (April 5, 2016). "The Smithers question: why do we keep retrofitting progressive narratives in pop culture?". New Statesman. Retrieved April 6, 2016.
  38. ^ Susman, Gary (July 28, 2004). "I D'oh". Entertainment Weekly. New York City: Meredith Corporation. Archived from the original on December 26, 2008. Retrieved October 25, 2007.
  39. ^ Rayner, Ben (February 20, 2005). "We'll have a gay old time". Toronto Star. p. CO3.
  40. ^ "Queer eye for yellow guys". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney, Australia. February 22, 2005. p. 17.
  41. ^ "Simpsons in gay outing". The Press (Christchurch, New Zealand), February 15, 2005.
  42. ^ "Waylon Smithers". Irish Independent: August 7, 2004. Retrieved October 26, 2007.
  43. ^ Ayres, Chris (July 29, 2004). "Homer sexual mystery as Simpsons character outed". The Times. London, England. p. 9.
  44. ^ Perigard, Mark (July 27, 2004). "Scandal in Springfield; For a gay old time, Bedrock has nothing on 'The Simpsons' hometown". Boston Herald. Boston, Massachusetts: Digital First Media. p. 2.
  45. ^ Harris, Misty (August 10, 2004). "Is Smithers coming out of the closet?: Simpsons fans hitting the polls. Cartoon series promises answer in January, but what's the buzz on Batman and Robin?". The Gazette. Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Postmedia Network. p. D1.
  46. ^ Burns, J. Stewart; Kruse, Nancy (February 20, 2005). "There's Something About Marrying". The Simpsons. Season 16. Episode 10. Fox.
  47. ^ Gunatilaka, Timothy (July 28, 2004). "We're No. 2!". Entertainment Weekly. New York City: Meredith Corporation. Archived from the original on December 1, 2007. Retrieved October 25, 2007.
  48. ^ a b "The Family Dynamic". Entertainment Weekly. New York City: Meredith Corporation. January 29, 2003. Archived from the original on October 18, 2014. Retrieved October 25, 2007.
  49. ^ Hidek, Jeff. "400 reasons we love 'The Simpsons'". Star News Online. Wilmington, Delaware: Star News. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved October 25, 2007.
  50. ^ Peeples, Jase (March 24, 2011). "The 20 Gayest Cartoon Characters Ever!". gay.net. Archived from the original on January 2, 2013. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
  51. ^ "Waylon Smithers". Simpsons Collectors. Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2007-10-27.
  52. ^ "Resort Smithers". Simpsons Collectors. Archived from the original on 2006-05-24. Retrieved 2007-10-27.
  53. ^ "Bobo Smithers". Simpsons Collectors. Archived from the original on 2006-05-24. Retrieved 2007-10-27.
  54. ^ "Future Smithers". Simpsons Collectors. Archived from the original on 2006-05-24. Retrieved 2007-10-27.
  55. ^ "Future Burns". Simpsons Collectors. Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2007-10-27.
Bibliography
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