# What happened to Phil Hartman's Simpsons characters after his death?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-phil-hartmans-simpsons-characters-after-his-death/312321>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [July 13, 2005, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-phil-hartmans-simpsons-characters-after-his-death/312321 "2005-07-13T12:23:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-phil-hartmans-simpsons-characters-after-his-death/312321/1 "2005-07-13T12:23:14Z")

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I’ve only seen The Simpsons on DVD, so I’ve only seen the first five years. What happened to Hartman’s characters after his death? Did they disappear from the show?

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**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-phil-hartmans-simpsons-characters-after-his-death/312321/2 "2005-07-13T12:32:53Z")

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They just don’t show up anymore.

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**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-phil-hartmans-simpsons-characters-after-his-death/312321/3 "2005-07-13T13:03:13Z")

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Simpsons retired Phil’s characters (Lionel Hutz/Troy McClure).  
They also retired LunchLady Doris the Lunch Lady/School Nurse when Doris Grau passed away.

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**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-phil-hartmans-simpsons-characters-after-his-death/312321/4 "2005-07-13T13:05:46Z")

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Gil (the character based on Jack Lemmon’s pathetic salesman from _Glengarry Glen Ross_) now fills the role of “incompetent lawyer” that Lionel Hutz once played.

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**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-phil-hartmans-simpsons-characters-after-his-death/312321/5 "2005-07-13T13:31:17Z")

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> [@Big Bad Voodoo Lou](#):
>
> Gil (the character based on Jack Lemmon’s pathetic salesman from _Glengarry Glen Ross_) now fills the role of “incompetent lawyer” that Lionel Hutz once played.

I like the Gil character. But when he played the lawyer, it felt so hollow. ☹

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**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-phil-hartmans-simpsons-characters-after-his-death/312321/6 "2005-07-13T17:43:08Z")

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They sleep with the fishes.

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**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-phil-hartmans-simpsons-characters-after-his-death/312321/7 "2005-07-13T17:57:33Z")

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They retired Lionel Hutz, Troy McClure & Lunch Lady Doris; however, they do show up in the background from time to time. They just don’t speak anymore.