Character: Waylon Smithers, voiced by Harry Shearer
First Episode: His voice could be heard in Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire (S01, E01-001), but his first physical appearance was in Homer's Odyssey (S01, E03-003). His first appearance in his current skin tone was in the next episode, There's No Disgrace Like Home (S01, E04-004)
Occupation: Executive Assistant to and Right Hand Man of C. Montgomery Burns, who owns the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant
General Demeanor
As Burns' assistant, Smithers is usually seen with Burns at all times, often informing Burns of affairs that are occurring outside of Burns' comprehension, notably modern-era things or, early on, identifying Homer Simpson whenever Homer is present. Professionally, Smithers is a stern yet understanding supervisor who is likely a major reason why the nuclear plant is still functional in some capacity.
Smithers' personal life is a completely different matter. Over the years, how writers have handled Smithers has varied greatly. Early on, it was heavily implied that Smithers was, well, smitten with Mr. Burns specifically, no one else. Later on, that affection was expanded to where Smithers was fully gay, completely repellent to women. That has been lessened somewhat to where Smithers is mostly attracted just to Burns, but there was an episode just a few seasons ago where Smithers opened up a gay bar with Moe. I think the most accurate portrayal of Smithers', hm, preferences is that while he does "prefer the company of men", he really prefers only the company of Mr. Burns.
Key Character Moments
The Rise of the Simpsons
As mentioned, Smithers' appearance varied wildly early in the first season, from no physical form (Ep001), to black (Ep003) to his now-standard yellow (Ep004). I'm assuming black Smithers didn't become a thing because a guy who was basically a servant to an old, white, rich man probably shouldn't be portrayed as black, you know?
Season 2's Simpson and Delilah shows Smithers' fondness of Burns for the first real time as Smithers tries to prevent Homer from usurping his position, something he'll have to do a few more times, for some reason, during the series. Smithers is featured much more in Season 2, as Mr. Burns has a lot of key roles in that season.
The Golden Age of the Simpsons
Its hard to find an episode that focuses on Smithers, as in many episodes he's simply a compliment to Burns and his escapades. There are a lot of episodes where Smithers is featured generously but usually in the same role (Burns' right hand man, implies to really, really like Burns, etc.).
A rare instance where Smithers is not with Burns is in the Season 5 episode Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy, where Smithers is a huge fan and collector of the Malibu Stacy dolls. Burns is not physically seen in this episode, but the writers couldn't help but throw in a Burns-related gag at Smithers' expense. After all, Smithers is quite good at turning (his computer) on.
The two-part Who Shot Mr. Burns duology was perhaps the biggest set of episodes for Smithers. In part one, Burns enacts a series of schemes too diabolical for even Smithers to stomach, but when Smithers voices his objections, Burns outright fires him. This leads Smithers to alcohol and depression, and when Burns is soon shot, Smithers becomes a lead suspect in part two. He did shoot a man, but it was Jasper, and only in his wooden leg. From there, Smithers renews his loyalty to Burns and helps the police in their search for the shooter.
The 138th Episode Spectacular has a couple of key tidbits regarding Smithers, first, this series of events:
Letter: "What is the real deal with Mr. Burns' assistant Smithers? You know what I'm talking about."
Troy McClure: "Ha ha ha, of course we do."
A series of clips showing Smithers' infatuation with Burns are shown.
McClure: "As you can see, the 'real deal' with Waylon Smithers is that he's Mr. Burns' assistant. He's in his early 40s, is unmarried, and current resides in Springfield. Thanks for writing!"
The episode also shows several alternate endings to Who Shot Mr. Burns, mainly different animations of people shooting Burns, but there was one full ending animated where it was Smithers who shot Burns, and his punishment as a result is a 5% paycut.
Later that season, in Homer the Smithers, Burns forces Smithers to take a vacation. Smithers gets Homer to take his place under the theory that Homer will be too incompetent to take care of Burns, leaving Smithers' job safe. However, Homer's incompetence actually teaches Burns self-reliance, enough to where Smithers is no longer needed and is fired. Smithers only gets his job back when a crazy series of events leaves Burns too injured to be self-reliant.
Season 8's Mountain of Madness puts the nuclear plants' workers in a forced teamwork scenario in the mountains, but with the plant having an odd number of workers, Smithers is left out and forced to work initially on his own, then with the 'help' of Bart and Lisa. Smithers also appears in Season 8's Homer's Phobia, where Smithers unexpectedly sees the openly gay John spending time with the Simpsons sans Homer, creating a rather awkward scene as it seems like ol' John gave Smithers a lie regarding his current whereabouts.
The Fall of the Simpsons
Smithers appears a lot here as well with Burns, but no episode really focuses on Smithers to any noteworthy extent.
Well, I say that, but Season 13's The Blunder Years, while technically dictator Al Jean territory, was one of Scully's last episodes as showrunner. In it, Homer's repressed memory of his uncovering a dead body leads to a supposed murder mystery where its revealed that Mr. Burns was responsible for the body being left where it was, but then reveals the true story: it's the body of Waylon Smithers Sr., the current Waylon's father, who sacrificed himself to stop a nuclear meltdown. Burns covered up the death and raised the younger Smithers himself, telling the boy that his father died from a tribe of savage Amazon women. I'm sure Smithers' preferences were unaffected by that story growing up!
Zombie Simpsons
As always, Smithers appears far more often than what I mention here, but usually as a secondary character to Mr. Burns and does not usually get any special notice in those appearances.
Season 13's Weekend at Burnsie's puts Smithers in a tight spot, as he and Homer smoke Homer's last medical marijuana joint, the two lose track of time and find Burns supposedly dead in his bathtub. With a major investors meeting imminent, the two prop up his body to attempt to hide the fact that he's seemingly dead. It works, kinda, but also Burns comes back to life thanks to those efforts and he punishes the both of them for not taking him to a hospital.
Season 16's Midnight Rx shows that Burns does care for Smithers at times. As an unintended consequence for dropping the plant's prescription drug plan, Burns learns that Smithers can no longer afford a key medication for his thyroid, which swells to absurd proportions. Burns decides to aid Homer and the others to procure the medicine needed, and he's able to save Smithers' life at as result in a sequence that is just cringe to the max to watch.
Zombie Simpsons HD
Season 21's American History X-cellent sees Burns going to prison for theft. Smithers takes over as the nuclear plant's owner and is initially much more fair to his workers. However, when he hears Homer, Lenny and Carl mock him for essentially being a sucker, Smithers hardens up and becomes a complete totalitarian at the plant, so much so that Homer and pals break Burns out of jail because he's a better option at this point.
In Season 22's The Fool Monty, Burns is believed to have killed himself. Looking for work, Smithers ends up as Dick Cheney's personal assistant, but is not fond of a man who acts kinda like Burns, but just isn't the same. Burns eventually returns and reclaims Smithers, who immediately agrees to go back with Burns.
Later in the season, as I mentioned earlier, Smithers opens up a gay bar with Moe (whose bar was floundering again, anyway) to prove to Mr. Burns that he isn't just a follower and that he can succeed without Burns. However, Smithers' success starts to waver when he doesn't like how Moe pretends to be gay because he actually becomes popular from it. He confronts Moe publicly later on and dares Moe to prove he's gay by kissing him, which Moe can only do later on, after the fact, when everything has already been lost.
Season 24's Dark Knight Court is weird. In it, Smithers helps fulfill Burns' [s]dreams[/s] delusions by helping him become a real-life Batman-like figure, by hiring the nuclear plant workers to be "villains" Burns defeats. He gives up when Burns turns down a plea of help from Lisa, shaming the old man for his contradictory behavior. Burns takes Smithers' words to heart and does help out later on.
Season 26's The Musk Who Fell to Earth sees Smither not trust Elon Musk at all, given Musk's lack of care regarding money, but Burns becomes so annoyed by Smithers he sics the hounds on Waylon. Later, when Musk costs Burns millions, proving Smithers' suspicions correct, Burns goes to apologize to Smithers by helping tend to his wounds, only making the problem worse.
Must Watch Episodes That Focus on Waylon Smithers
Simpson & Delilah
Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy
Who Shot Mr. Burns? Part 1 & Part 2
The Simpsons' 138th Episode Spectacular
Homer the Smithers
The Blunder Years (Season 13 Scully episode, I know, but I did enjoy it)
In Sideshow Bob Roberts, Smithers helps Bart and Lisa prove Bob rigged the election, going against Mr. Burns because Bob's ultraconservative views conflict with his "uh, choice of lifestyle."
ReplyDelete