Here’s a peculiar temporal quirk about long-running cartoon “The Simpsons”: Time seems to endlessly loop, but characters stay dead (spin-off episodes notwithstanding).
Lisa Simpson, the elder daughter of the family, has been a second grader for the entire 35-season run of the show, which would imply that “The Simpsons” is a cartoon that generally reverts to the status quo at the end of each episode — and it largely is.
However, after Lisa’s idol and mentor “Bleeding Gums” Murphy died in Season 6 of the show, the jazz musician has stayed dead all these seasons later.
It’s an odd dichotomy of permanence and impermanence on “The Simpsons,” but to the show’s credit, when it’s killed off characters, those characters have stayed dead.
The latest to join this fictitiously morbid list is one character that most “Simpsons” fans will probably recognize, but may not be able to name.
Mild spoiler warnings
On April 21, “The Simpsons” aired its 15th episode of Season 35, entitled “Cremains of the Day,” and the episode swiftly revealed that Larry, a barfly at the local Moe’s Tavern best identified by his baggy eyes, orange jacket and wispy hair, had died due to unknown causes.
Larry had been a staple of the Simpsons background, even if all of his actual speaking lines can be completely cataloged in a clip that lasts less than 30 seconds:
Every speaking appearance of Larry the barfly who was recently killed off on The Simpsons. pic.twitter.com/EWyarMuJDU
— John Hardel (@hardel_john) April 25, 2024
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“Cremains of the Day” offered a robust exploration of this minor character, including his up-until-now unknown last name (Dalrymple), a brief reveal of his mother, and the reveal that Larry considered the other local barflies (Homer Simpson, Barney Gumble, Moe Szyslak, Sam the other barfly) his closest friends despite never actually speaking much to them.
The death prompted swift responses online from people mourning the loss of the character to people acknowledging that they never knew Larry even had a proper name. The episode sparked a renewed interest in the series, as well (even the most ardent fans of the show have to admit that it is well past its prime).
Interestingly, several outlets have claimed that Dalrymple was an original, Season 1 Episode 1 character, but that doesn’t appear to be the case.
‘THE SIMPSONS’ has killed off Larry Dalrymple after 35 years.
He has been in the series since the first episode. pic.twitter.com/GTVLdMkEeF
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) April 24, 2024
As a rather large fan of all things Simpsons pre-2000, this writer went back and watched the first real episode of the series (the cartoon used to be a much shorter cartoon that was part of a larger sketch comedy variety show) and could not find Dalrymple.
No, it wasn’t until the third episode of the first season, titled “Homer’s Odyssey” that Dalrymple is briefly seen laughing with other bar patrons when Bart Simpson successfully prank calls Szyslak.
Since then, Dalrymple has periodically showed up in various minor capacities on the show.
(Humorously, Dalrymple is also notorious for showing up twice — a genuine animation gaffe — in the same shot in two episodes of the series.)
Larry Dalrymple is voiced by Harry Shearer, who voices several other characters, including one who is connected to perhaps the most infamous death in the series.
Shearer also voices Ned Flanders, whose wife, Maude, was killed by an errant barrage from a t-shirt gun at a race track in Season 11.
“The Simpsons” is currently in its 35th season, and is slated to air for at least a 36th season on Fox. There are currently no plans for a Season 37, but many fans are expecting it to happen.
