The Simpsons Killed One Of Its Most Tragic Characters After A 35-Year Run
Contains spoilers for "The Simpsons" Season 35, Episode 15 — "Cremains of the Day"
It's time to pour one last Duff out for a real one.
During "Cremains of the Day," Larry Dalrymple — a barfly at Moe's who is best known for wearing an orange jacket — passes away while sitting upright on his stool. Larry had been a background character on "The Simpsons" since its very first season, though he rarely did more than react to the antics going down at Moe's. Moe Szyslak (Hank Azaria, whose voice for Moe has evolved over the years) only discovers that his longtime patron is dead because he doesn't move when he tries to kick him out of the establishment by pasting him in the face with a wet mop.
Guilt-ridden Homer Simpson (Dan Castellaneta), Lenny Leonard (Harry Shearer), Carl Carlson (Alex Désert), and the others attend Larry's funeral but quickly discover they know little about him, thus embarrassing themselves in front of Larry's mother. They learn that Larry considered all of them his closest friends, and she finds a drawing he made of himself with the entire Moe's gang taking a trip to Serenity Falls. Moe decides to lead a road trip to the locale to scatter Larry's ashes, but it soon devolves into chaos — and provides the guys with insight into Larry's secret life away from their favorite bar.
While Larry finally gets his day in the sun here, he's just one of a few Moe's patrons who have — or had — a blank slate in the show's narrative.
Larry isn't the only mostly voiceless character at Moe's
Several other background characters hang out at Moe's besides Larry, and they mostly haven't had any spoken lines while at the establishment. Some of them have been reused a number of times, but they're never as frequently seen as Larry was. While they're a part of Homer Simpson's backstory, he's never given them the time of day. There's actually a kiddie equivalent of the phenomena seen at Moe's; there are over a dozen notable background characters who appear regularly to fill out scenes at Springfield Elementary who don't even have official names.
While those students and barflies don't have names yet, perhaps someday they will. In any event, there's one barfly who does have an official name and has even had a couple of lines over the years — Sam, a green cap-wearing fellow who's often seen with Larry. While he hasn't ever carried any plot weight, maybe the show might center an episode around him — before it's too late and he becomes another big unanswered question related to "The Simpsons."