David Cooper

0068 - Waylon Smithers

Added 2022-02-17 09:00:03 +0000 UTC

Of course, we all know that this isn't how Smithers appears in Homer's Odyssey, he looks a little more like this:

"Black Smithers" is one of the more infamous season one oddities. This was supposedly a simple colouring error, but it comes up quite a lot among fans as a piece of useless trivia.

Smithers is a character whose role is beefed up significantly as the show grows in popularity. Meant largely as a prominent lackey for Mr Burns, someone for Burns to talk to in scenes, he soon becomes someone crazy about Burns, and this evolves into being the most visible gay man in Springfield.

See, I don't believe this was entirely by design. I believe that early Smithers jokes were that he was attracted to Burns and only Burns, but as attitudes shift and having gay characters became less taboo in 1990s television, he became an outlet for the show to explore gay culture (not always in the best taste.)

So in this respect Smithers got a "promotion" of sorts, being thrust into the spotlight as Springfield's main gay man. To their credit, the show has a bit more of varied LGBT representation these days (as far as I can tell, I'm far from caught up,) but Waylon is beloved in many hearts for being among the first.

Personally my favourite Smithers is as the second last boss of the Simpsons Arcade Game, in which he maniacally throws bombs from beneath his long coat.