I think I spelled his name right. You know, Wendel, the sickly scrawny pale as hell kid that throws up on every bus ride? They just came out with his toy, but I don’t recall seeing him in any of the episodes for YEARS. Even in class shots, field day episodes, or auditorium shots. Are there any other “lost characters” in the Simpsons (an I’m not talking about those they got rid of when Phil Hartman died).
A wizard did it.
He clearly puked himself to death.
> Are there any other “lost characters” in the Simpsons (an I’m not talking about those they got rid of when Phil Hartman died).
Well, Bleeding Gums Murphy and Dr. Marvin Monroe are the obvious ones. (“They were never popular!”)
I know that a few characters like Lunchlady Doris were lost when Doris Grau passed away a few years ago. I don’t know about Wendel though.
Lunchlady Doris was phased out after the actress who voiced her part died.
How 'bout that German (Swiss?) kid? Is he “officially” dead?
German.
Uter.
Was killed by a mob from a historical reenactment village.
Despite that death and the jokes made since, he HAS appeared in subsequent background scenes! (I think I read this in the third guide to our favorite family).
What about Lewis? Bart’s black friend? He was in a few episodes with a couple of lines, now you really only ever see him in the background.
Or how about Mr. Largo, the music teacher? He is in the opening sequence, and I recall him having several lines early on, but eventually he disappeared.
The Unibrow baby has not been on for several years, nor has the Very tall man (that I remember, anyway). Both had at least a couple cameos each.
Oh, relax, kids, I’ve got a gut feeling Uter is around here somewhere.
After all, isn’t there a little Uter in all of us?
In fact, you might even say we just ate Uter and he’s in our stomachs right now!
Wait…scratch that one.
Anyone notice that “Acne boy” the kid who worked everywhere but usually at Krusty Burger was eventually replaced by the not quite as funny “Gil”? He’s the old guy with gray hair who gets fired from every job he works at.
Gil and “You’re So Greasy” Boy were contemporaries. Just recently they’ve been doing a lot more Gil, for whatever reason.
Gil’s gotta win sometime!
Oh man, Gil is one of my favorite characters of all time! In the kitchen design business, there are a thousand Gils, and I have been asked for a “quick loan till payday” by most of them:)
Case in point, I kid you not I watched the episode where Marge and Homer go streaking and end up escaping in the hot air balloon in the parking lot. As it takes off, Gil (working as a car salesman) has the following scene :
::balloon lifts away::
G “Oh man…I was living in that!”
::hot plate falls to ground and shatters::
G “Ohhh, I only had three payments left !”
The next morning, my coworker Les comes in wearing his customary candy striper shirt unbuttoned too far (button was missing) and shoes with holes in them and informs us that his hot plate caught on fire and he got thrown out of the motel for creating a hazard and could I loan him $250 till payday!
My other co worker and I who had both seen the episode, just started laughing uncontrollably.
As a post script to those who think me needlessly cruel, I finally got tired of his incompetency and demanded he be fired. He stiffed the optometrist in our strip mall for $500, then went on to a design firm in the Merchandise Mart where he convinced a client to write a $25K deposit check to him personally…He was gone faster than a Norwegian Blue!
I ran into him a few months back at a building products show and he said he had been in Belize:dubious: for a few years and asked me if I could loan him $500! I walked away with my hand on my wallet. This guy has been playing the “just divorced and needs some cash/living in a motel with crapola” schtick for 15 years!!! A dealer of mine confirmed he had the same experience with him back in like 1988…my episode was in 1999!
Gil was one of the few characters developed later in the run that really stuck. His cell phone cracked me up.
As for Mr. Largo, there was a great joke about how characters can be pushed into the background (and he walks by the Simpson’s window).
’Acne Boy’ is officially known as ‘the squeaky-voiced teen’. Lisa actually referred to him as that in the Superbowl ep.
For those who don’t know the character of Gil is based on Jack Lemmon’s character, Shelley ‘The Machine’ Levene, in the film Glengarry Glen Ross. He’s the quintesential desperate, but still genial, loser.
For my money, you just can’t get enough Cletus.
I’d like to see more of Johnny Tightlips. Always good for a laugh, that Johnny. He showed up on a couple of eps but has since not been seen.
There was that one episode where Skinner is talking to Uters parents and the mother is saying “Ve just vant closure”.
What happened to Eugene and Rusty?