{"id":411179,"date":"2026-04-26T03:23:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T03:23:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/411179\/"},"modified":"2026-04-26T03:23:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T03:23:09","slug":"3-great-classic-simpsons-characters-nobody-talks-about","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/411179\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Great Classic Simpsons Characters Nobody Talks About"},"content":{"rendered":"

While The Simpsons<\/a> has plenty of iconic characters in the show\u2019s main cast, the series also has a gigantic pileup of supporting characters who rarely get their due. Since The Simpsons is now officially the longest-running US scripted prime-time TV series ever made, it makes sense that the show has amassed a cast of thousands. The fact that the series is also a sitcom doesn\u2019t help, as it means that The Simpsons has introduced countless one-off gag characters and one-episode guest stars throughout its decades on the air.<\/p>\n

With almost four decades of The Simpsons<\/a> to date, it is a mammoth task to even catalogue the show\u2019s characters, let alone choose a favourite among them. However, there are a few notably great characters from the Golden Age of The Simpsons who rarely get their due in discussions of the series. Some supporting stars, like Ned Flanders, Seymour Skinner, or Ralph Wiggum, have become so popular in the show\u2019s fandom that they have numerous episodes focused on their character arcs. However, this trio of sorely underrated characters have not yet received the same treatment.<\/p>\n

Herb Powell<\/p>\n

\"Herb<\/p>\n

Originally introduced in season 2\u2019s \u201cOh Brother, Where Art Thou?\u201d, Danny DeVito\u2019s Herb Powell is Homer\u2019s half-brother. A successful businessman when he was first introduced, Powell was a far cry from the shady figures DeVito often plays onscreen. The sweet, ambitious businessman even asked Homer to help him design a new car, only for Homer\u2019s moronic car concept to end up bankrupting Powell entirely. Fortunately, season 3\u2019s finale \u201cBrother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?\u201d wrapped up the pair\u2019s shared story on a lighter note.<\/p>\n

Powell borrowed seed money from Homer to regain his fortune through a device that converted the babbling of babies into coherent speech. This adorable gadget soon saw Herb rise back to the top of the business world, although a throwaway joke decades later in season 24 saw his answering machine message say, \u201cI\u2019m poor again.\u201d While this was a funny nod to Homer\u2019s family, after The Simpsons season 37\u2019s early end<\/a>, the show should revisit Herb\u2019s storyline in earnest and reintroduce DeVito\u2019s character to a new generation of viewers.<\/p>\n

Jessica Lovejoy<\/p>\n

\"Jessica<\/p>\n

Voiced by screen legend Meryl Streep, Jessica Lovejoy was first introduced in season 6, episode 7, \u201cBart\u2019s Girlfriend.\u201d Despite the title, Jessica wasn\u2019t Bart\u2019s first love interest ever, but she was the first to earn an entire episode of her own, and what an episode it was. A hilariously dark story of manipulation and young love, \u201cBart\u2019s Girlfriend\u201d reveals that Lovejoy is a manipulative hell raiser beneath her sweet facade, and she is just as capable of wrapping Bart around her little finger as she is of fooling her father and the townspeople.<\/p>\n

This culminates in a brutally dark plot where Bart is almost framed when Jessica steals the church collection plate money until the true hero of The Simpsons<\/a>, Lisa, reveals the truth. Essentially a middle school spin on the classic film noir trope of the femme fatale, Jessica is as comically evil a character as The Simpsons ever introduced, and Streep is a scene-stealing blast in the role. Naturally, the star\u2019s busy schedule means that, while Jessica often appears onscreen, her dialogue has been almost non-existent since \u201cBart\u2019s Girlfriend.\u201d Maybe 2027\u2019s upcoming The Simpsons Movie 2<\/a> could tempt Streep into returning?<\/p>\n

John<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Season 8, episode 15, \u201cHomer\u2019s Phobia,\u201d sees Homer start to worry that Bart could be gay after the family befriends the local gay antique collector, John. As the title implies, \u201cHomer\u2019s Phobia\u201d mostly concerned itself with addressing Homer\u2019s homophobia and the ways it impacted Bart\u2019s upbringing, with the show winning the 1997 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program for this unexpectedly sensitive portrayal of bigotry brought to light. However, as valuable as the episode\u2019s progressive social commentary was, its cultural significance often overshadows the best part of \u201cHomer\u2019s Phobia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gay icon and legendary filmmaker John Waters plays John in the outing, and the camp antiquarian is one of the show\u2019s most memorable creations. From his passive-aggressive confrontation with Smithers to his endlessly quotable lines, John is a welcome injection of high camp into the world of The Simpsons, and the show consistently ensures that viewers are laughing affectionately with his eccentricities rather than turning him into a target for mean-spirited mockery. As a result, John joins Jessica Lovejoy and Herb Powell as one of the most underrated The Simpsons characters from the show\u2019s classic era.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While The Simpsons has plenty of iconic characters in the show\u2019s main cast, the series also has a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":411180,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[146,85,46,51891,35169,411],"class_list":["post-411179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-list-feature","tag-the-simpsons","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=411179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411179\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/411180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=411179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=411179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=411179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}