This video ended up taking a bit longer than I hoped, partially because of 2020 continuing to be 2020 (to put it mildly). But partially because Waylon Smithers is in 200+ episodes, so the research was pretty heavy this time around. Smithers' story ended up being kinda unusual, in that most of his action happened at the beginning and end, with a long drought in the middle. The Season 8 projects are up next, am starting the rewatch today!

Burns naming his queen after smithers was a standard gay joke - but also REALLY heartwarming at the same time

“Smithers there’s a rocket in my pocket!” “You don’t have to tell me sir.”

Don't forget that Smithers becomes a dog robot far in the future at the end of Rosebud.

3:54 the model of Smithers buried alive in Burns’ coffin might be the funniest single frame of animation in the entire series, just the look of horror on his face

"What's wrong with this country? Can't a man walk down the street without being offered a job!?"

I would like to suggest doing one about Mr Burns' blue-haired lawyer, he's an obscure character.

Smithers is my favorite character, he's such a blast whenever he's on screen, and his Lawful Evil dynamic with Burns' Chaotic Evil is unique and so much fun. The fact that he's in love with that 104 year old gremlin Mr. Burns and is really the only person in Springfield who genuinely cherishes him is both hilarious and depressing to me. I don't care for the new seasons, but I hope that when The Simpsons finally dies there's some happiness there for my boy Waylon Joseph Smithers Jr. Edit: Wow that's quite a bit of likes I guess in the spirit of full disclosure I should mention that I totally *do* want him to be with Burns, or at least that's what I wanted when I watched the classic seasons (their dynamic in the new seasons isn't as fun :/ )

Here's my suggestion for the next Simpsons Histories: do a place rather than a person. Shelbyville or Capital City. What do we know about these places? How are they portrayed? Is that portrayal consistent? Would you want to live there?

Smithers: Turn around Simpson Homer: no! I can't get in trouble if I can't see you Smithers (to Burns): I'm afraid he's got us sir

“I love you Smithers” “The feeling is more than mutual sir”

Smithers is a rather interesting outlier in the history of gay depictions and stereotypes because he's always had a single romantic interest in one man, Mr. Burns. He's not gay *for* Burns, but he is monogamously committed to him and not looking to play the field at all, whereas most other gay depictions were absolutely playing the field and getting in as many relationships as possible. The gay part seems not the starting point but rather a notable effect of the dynamic they were going for: taking the the sycophantic toadie that someone like Mr. Burns would absolutely have and stretching that relationship to its logical end; the ass kisser that wants to actually kiss that ass. His relationship is treated almost consistently as a joke, but it's an unclear mixture of not just "lol gay" but also that anyone would be in love with Mr. Burns specifically, a man who's the antithesis of virility and conventional attractiveness and also a terrible, terrible person. Then, of course, the classic Simpsons effect of making pretty much every side character grow into a three dimensional sympathetic study kicks in, and we even eventually start to explore the tragedy of the situation. I definitely feel the sadness noted in your video, and the big gap in usage really stung, but when you get down to it there's really no hope for the situation Smithers is in. At the end of the day, it's Mr. Burns, there's not going to be a happy ending there, but it's very real to see people yearning for the wrong person. This probably also contributes to why he took so long to come out and even then hasn't truly come out to Burns; it's a hard sell to believe any bit of that would go well with a man seemingly stuck in the 1910s, but to actually go out and confirm Burns as a homophobe would ruin his weird likeability that's core to his immense role in the series.

Simspons histories: Professor Frink would be a good one. He’s doesn’t appear that often nor for very long but always adds to an episode. A bit like Hans Moleman.

Honestly, I think Smithers was always one of the most three dimensional characters in the show. He can be good and evil. He can be the voice of reason, or completely depraved Golden Age Simpsons really made everyone come alive

What is the real deal with Mr. Burns' assistant Smithers? You know what I'm talking about.

I think Smithers is one of my favorite characters. He has been mishandled a lot, but as a companion to a huge presence like Burns he is second to none in the entire show. Shout out to his start up screen. It's a classic lol

My favourite Smithers 'straight-man' bit is from season 8 the old man and the Lisa Mr. Burns: Smithers, why didn't you tell me about this market crash! Smithers: Um, well... sir, it happened 25 years before I was born. Mr. Burns: Oh, that's your excuse for everything!

Duffman- NEEDS A HISTORY OH YEAH

"Uh, I'm allergic to bee stings. They cause me to uh... die." is my fav

One thing I find fascinating about Smithers' supposed future death scene in Flanders' Ladder is that by jumping into the power plant's cooling tower he will die very close to the location where his father died. There's something almost poetic about this tragic father and son pair both giving their lives to the same power plant and then dying (violently) inside it. (Not that I would consider anything in that death montage as canon, but it's an interesting thought.)

Mr. burns is like a drug to Smithers. It’s bad for you, but he loves it, he can’t quit it.

can we get kirk van houten yet? he just wants to borrow a feeling

“I’ll be in the car, dudes.”

Actually, in terms of obscure characters, how about Artie Ziff? He's weird in that he has a huge impact on the backstory of Marge and Homer's relationship, but has made appearances in the 'present' yet those are so few and far between it's easy to forget about him. That, and i don't think anyone likes him either.

*Mr. Burns: You know, the one where TheRealJims comes through your window (with a new video)?* *This Dream Sequence of a video:*

Hello TheRealJims. You're... quite good at turning... me on

I think Sanjay, Apu's brother, would be a good obscure pick. When you think about his presence in regards to Apu's backstory he really doesn't make any sense. His kids don't make too much sense either.

nobody has ever gone in depth about the barflies, sam and larry, and i've always been fascinated with them as background characters. and if anybody could do it, it's probably the guy who covered Just Stamp the Ticket Guy. or miss hoover. that's cool too.

They really did the dirty on Smithers. My favourite “jokes” in the earlier episodes were often just the unspoken ones of seeing them together outside of work doing some activity you would never in a million years think to do with your boss, whether it was spending thanksgiving together or passing an evening sitting on a park bench peeping at women through binoculars. You got the impression that they were both really lame (in different ways) and had nobody except each other, Smithers is kind of a jerk and Mr Burns is an all-round horrible person... but they actually seem happy together, inexplicably. That’s the funny, weirdly wholesome thing the Simpsons used to do so well. But in later episodes they seem more and more resentful and miserable, especially Smithers. It’s not funny any more, just kinda sad.

I can't believe you didn't mention the "But sir I'm FLAMING!" joke, as they make it clearly with Burns' almost 4th wall breaking stare at the camera that they're saying "That's right, ANOTHER gay joke! How original!" Also, since you want more obscure characters, why not do Inanimate Carbon Rod for the next Simpsons Histories?

Season 2 Smithers: "I can't hurt Homer Simpson!" Also Season 2 Smithers: "Now I got you, Simpson! Heh heh heh.."

"Sir, they're gaining on us! We'll have to drop something!" _(looks at Smithers)_ "It's been an honour serving you, sir." probably Smithers best moment

Of all the Simpsons Histories, I'm genuinely surprised to see that Principal Skinner hasn't been done yet.

(Very long text incoming, Sorry…) Smithers has always been - besides Mr. Burns - my favourite character. What I love the most about him is how all over the place his morals are. I definitely wouldn’t call it inconsistent, it’s just that he has his standards and lines that shouldn’t be crossed, but most of the time he genuinely seems to enjoy assisting this evil, old billionaire. I love how he’s outside of work basically a pretty kind, polite, rational, and helpful person, but with Burns he often gleefully and happily follows his evil orders; then there are times where he does it only reluctantly; other times he tries to convince Burns to use different means; and then you have the few times where he openly objects to and refuses an order (or works behinds Burns' back) even at the risk of losing his job (as in e.g. “Blood Feud”, “Sideshow Bob Roberts” or “Who Shot Mr. Burns? I”). I like how he can casually say “Who would you like killed?” when Burns is talking about cheating in “Homer at the Bat”, but then he also faces moral dilemmas whenever Burns goes a step too far. I’ve also always kinda enjoyed the more petty, smug and jealous Smithers in e.g. “Simpson and Delilah” or in the episodes where Burns was in love. I always liked the decision to make the reason for his loyalty and devotion to Burns to be genuine love and attraction, instead of e.g. money, status, power or career prospects. When you have a character that’s so much of a sycophant and bootlicker, brown-noser, ass-kisser, whatever you may call it, I find the former motives much more interesting and humanising (and funnier) than the latter. Like, being a yes-man to your boss can seem potentially pretty unlikeable - but to your crush? That’s much more relatable. I enjoy how divergent he can sometimes act, as said above, firstly in regards to his morals. But also, he’s very, very submissive and servile by nature (probably one of the few people in Springfield who are actually competent at and fitting for their job and - at least mostly - are enjoying it), but also I think he’s the second-in-command at the power plant? When he’s not acting as Burns' personal assistant but more as the SNPP’s executive assistant he can also show a bit of an authoritarian streak, especially when dealing with Homer, Lenny & Carl. And I like how he’s mostly this very orderly, matter-of-factly, sometimes a bit uptight (maybe not unlike Skinner) person, the “sober yin to my raging yang” as Burns put it, but then he also has his quirks (like being the world’s biggest Malibu Stacy dolls collector) and a bit more dramatic, emotional (like his mental breakdown in “Homer the Smithers”) and flamboyant side. Talking of that, I actually find it quite fascinating to have a gay character on a show exist from 1990 to now. How many queer characters have been +30 years on air? Especially on a show that loves its status quo so damn much, where characters don’t change and evolve much, but the times and RL world around them does, and so they do with them (e.g. if you compare Homer in “Homer’s Phobia” to “Three Gays of the Condo” to “There’s Something about Marrying”). It’s interesting how he went from a typical sycophantic yes-man (basically the stereotype/archetype/role he should represent) -> to being very obsessed with his boss -> to then being in love with his boss -> to then being “Burnssexual” (afaik there was some debate among the writers if Smithers should have a Single-Target-sexuality as TVTropes would call it or be generally gay) -> to then being a closeted gay man -> and then nowadays an openly gay man (who can also have once in a while a love interests besides Mr. Burns), who’s active in Springfield’s gay scene (and also confident and comfortable enough to do Drag). It’s nice to see him embrace his sexuality nowadays. You have really see and feel the LGBTQ+ jokes change over the decades (not just with his character, but in general). The early 00s and Season 11-20 was kinda the worst time for that (and I’m saying this btw as someone who enjoys a lot of later season episodes, and thinks the hate for anything >S9 is overrated/exaggerated, so I don’t want to generalize about all eps). I definitely agree with you that this was kinda the time where they wouldn’t know what to do with him (as opposed to S20, I’m very happy about the Smithers renaissance post-S20!), so he was often mostly there for gay jokes. And since it was the early 2000s, it was often very tired, dated, “edgy” and maybe poorly-aged gay jokes (I came out as gay in 2009/10, so I remember the cultural climate of that time). While in earlier seasons the joke first wasn’t even that he was gay, it was that he was attracted to BURNS of all people + the way his crush was very obvious to us through references/(sub)text/jokes/fantasies/innuendos/etc. while Burns was kinda-sometimes-more-oblivious-sometimes-less (depending on the episode). Later when the writers had settled on a more generally gay Smithers instead of being Burnssexual, the humour came more from him trying to stay closeted, while probably every single person in Springfield knew. At least for me, pretty much all these jokes still hold up very much (I’m saying this as a lesbian, maybe queer men will see it differently, but I find them as utterly hilarious as I did when I was younger). Nowadays, whenever the show has episodes that heavily feature queer plots and/or characters, I feel they want to laugh more with the gays than about the gays. In episodes like e.g. “Livin’ La Pura Vida” or “Marge the Lumberjill” or “Portrait of a Lackey on Fire” I have the feeling it’s more gay jokes written by gay people if you know what I mean. That being said, while I’m happy that we have gotten some pretty good Smithers-episodes post-Season 20 (and I really like that they had him interact with other characters than Mr. Burns like Moe or Marge! (after “Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy" and "Mountain of Madness" I always wanted to have him and the kids in an episode again)), I don’t like how kinda mean-spirited they’ve made the relationship between Burns and Smithers in the recent years (not always, but often). I don’t ship them or anything, but I’ve always really, really enjoyed their dynamic, especially when they would do like fun stuff together like money fights, running the power plant on their own, playing Rocket League with the town’s snow plows, eating chocolates together aso. And while there were always times where Burns was abusive to him (I never said it was a healthy relationship or anything! It’s pretty unhealthy and co-dependent. I’m talking here btw mostly about “cartoon violence”-like things like getting strangled (Burns’ heir), burned with tea (Brush with Greatness) or hit (A Star is Burns)), I feel like nowadays Burns is sometimes much more verbally and physically abusive and there is less camaraderie between them. I miss the times where Burns would ask Smithers how his weekend was (Homer Defined), genuinely wanted him to enjoy his vacation and see “lots of pictures” (Homer the Smithers), invite him to hang out with him in retirement (Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk), save his life (Midnight Rx) or Burns calling him “my dear friend” (Burns’ heir). I feel like nowadays they want to have Smithers be more independent of Burns and get a bit over this helpless pining, so he puts himself out more, is on dating apps, had boyfriends in Julio and Michael; all things I enjoy and very approve of. At the same time this show loves its status quo, so just like e.g. Selma is the “hopeful romantic and single woman who always falls for the wrong guys, marries them way too fast and is six times divorced”, Smithers will always be “the assistant in love with his boss”. I feel like they kinda want to have their cake and eat it, too. I wish they could find a way to have Smithers be more independent of Burns - if this is the route they want to go - while also not destroying this dynamic (After all the negative talk tho, I wanna say I love A LOT of +S10/20/30 episodes, especially Season 33 and 34 have been really good. And I really liked e.g. Burns advising Smithers to keep Michael in “Portrait of a Lackey on Fire” (I wish a bit this video came out after S33, so it could include this episode), because he got himself a billionaire boyfriend - and even one who pollutes the environment very badly -, so that’s a great catch in Burns’ eyes, lol). Anyhoo, I absolutely love your History videos and that’s definitely my favourite one, great work, Jim!

listening to someone say "smithers loves boobies" in that voice made my day thank you

Imagine how powerful Smithers would be if he had someone who appreciates him

Can we take a moment to appreciate how TheRealJims has been doing content like this for over 6 years? Keep it up!

I'm literally borderline obsessed with Waylon Smithers. (Not in a romanitc way.) I have literally 4,000 screenshots featuring him on my computer, lol.

The ending of the Simpsons movie is still my favourite Smithers joke because it's so unbelievably bleak.

"Say, I wonder if this Homer Nixon is any relation." "Unlikely sir. They spell and pronounce their name differently."

You should do a Simpsons Histories on the guy who says “Yessssss” really annoyingly

My favorite Smithers joke is when it's revealed he had been dating John from Homer's phobia. It's nice to know he has a life outside of Mr. Burns.

I always liked that Smithers was a Malibu Stacy fan and made a play about it. I never viewed it as a "gay thing", I think you can be a superfan of dolls and toys without being gay. Always thought that it gave the character more dimensions.

For whatever reason, Smithers' line of "Unlikely, sir. They spell and pronounce their names differently," is one of my favorites. Makes me laugh every time, and sums up the Smithers comedic "straight man" role as well as his total sycophant for Burns role as well

Characters you could do next: Jasper Beardly, Yes Guy, Ned Flanders or Disco Stu. I'd be happy with any of those!

9:22 wait a second, in this clip Smithers is roughly the same age as Homer. But in season 13’s ‘the blunder years’ Smithers is shown to be a baby when Homer was 12. Boy I hope someone got fired for that blunder

Mountain of Madness has probably my favorite depiction of Smithers, where he starts off as Burns' loyal assistant, then gets dumped and is forced to fend for himself, before going back to being loyal again. I love how Smithers gets legitimately wounded and pissed off over Burns' behaviour, only to happily return to his side at the end as if nothing ever happened. I also like the little moment in the trillion dollar episode where he prepares this lavish dinner for his boss, but when Burns gets snobbish and doesn't show the slightest bit of gratitude, Smithers quietly grumbles "Sometimes I don't know why I bother..."

Moe: and I'm pulling your favourite song out of the jukebox. Homer: * gasps * it's raining men? Moe: yeah, not no more it ain't. * throws record out of window, flies in to Smithers car and hits him * Smithers: Ow! Ooooh!

yeah that "i'm trapped in a man's body" line is definitely a product of the late 90's mindset of "all gay people secretly want to become a woman" it's so random

considering how little is focused on smithers in the series, it's genuinely strange to be so familiar with him.I feel like I barely even noticed his hair is grey until now.

Yeah, Smingers did it. Case closed. Now where's my hat? I'm going to the outhouse.

I reckon, for all characters, living in a 'status quo' reliant world/show, is a curse. If only they (Fox executives, or somebody, ANYBODY else) had greenlit Matt Groening's 'Springfield Tales' idea. It would have given way to a boundless world of characters and expansive, creative, experimental storylines.

i think id like to see Groundskeeper Willy. There seems to be a lot about him and at the same time not a lot about him also

I think a Kent Brockman episode would be quite interesting. Like he's in a lot of episodes. But has like no development

I’m still hoping to see a Simpsons Histories on Sideshow Bob someday.

“I think women and sea men don’t mix” “We know what you think” My all time favorite conversation in the history of the show

''You shall be buried alive with me...'' ''Oh...'' ''Goody''

The whole "maybe Smithers is Trans" thing is definitely just an artifact of the way certain segments of society tended to completely conflate the two things at various points in history. Depending on when it happened, it was either a fairly progressive view or a moderately offensive one that indicates the person in question probably stopped learning things about Gay people back when it was (or from someone that did, I guess). In the 50s? It was the view advocated by a lot of straight advocates for the male homosexual community (most of them women), dating back to some of the earliest studies on the subject back in Shockingly Progressive parts of pre-Fascist Germany. In 2006, when that episode aired? There's really no excuse other than the entire writer's room being old enough to be the out-of-touch grandparents of their target demographic.

Do next Marge's mother, She's the source of many of her traumas

I think one of my favorite gay jokes is the "but sir I'm flaming" but only because Burns gives that look to the audience to confirm that the writers know how forced the gay jokes are

I would love to see Smithers and Julio get back together! It'd be really endearing to see him in an actual loving relationship. And it does hurt seeing Burns be so dismissive or outright mean to him. Some jokes just hit that soft spot for me. With my only real reaction being "... Damn... sorry Smithers..."

Simpsons Histories: Seymour Skinner.

Drag Smithers got me acting unwise

"But she's got a new hat!" and knowing that Smithers isn't too square to smoke a "reminder" with Homer is pretty cool You are also my hero Jims you really are

As for the next character you should do for Simpsons Histories: MAKE WAY FOR WILLIE!!!

I wish Smithers could stop his love of Mr. Burns, just so he could have more layers of plot.

I love the deadpan delivery on some of these narrations: ''Moe kisses him anyway........it was okay.....'' XD

I love the village people joke because of how absurd it is and how happy he looks, the village people guys drown and some how he gets away in time i guess haha

This legit brightened my day when I first saw it. One of my favorite channels talking about my favorite character. It also made me sad. I hate the direction they took his character, but, you know. You win some you lose some.

Simpsons Histories: Do Blue-Haired Lawyer. I honestly don't know why. Just do Blue-Haired Lawyer.

Smither's fight with Homer is one of the funniest things I've seen on the show.

He's an underrated character. He has some of the best lines of the series and he works with nearly every other character as a foil.

my favorite smithers joke is the "714 names" joke "nuts to this, i'll just get homer simpsons"

I think a Squeaky-Voice Teen Simpsons History would be nice.

I would love to see Mr Burns himself, as he plays one of the biggest roles of the Simpsons family tree. He’s always shown getting in the way of Abe Simpson and even further back. But for more obscure character, I like to see Sideshow Mel

Drag Smithers is pretty cute though

I want to see the next simpsons histories episode on comic book guy

Yes, Richard and Lewis, the true stars of the show! Also, my favorite Smithers episode is Mountain of Madness where he is stuck with Bart and Lisa the whole time. That's a dynamic I wish they returned to more often.

A minor character that I'd like to see a video on is Snake. He doesn't get too many appearances but the ones he does get are usually pretty great. He's also one of only a handful of characters who I would classify as "Evil" which is pretty neat.

I love how respectful this video is in every way

Don't forget Smithers also made Homer head bee guy.

"ive been waiting 25 years for this moment" :ride of the valkeries plays: "waterloo..." "sorry sir i must of taped over that"

The fact that Mr.Burns was responsible for not only Smithers fathers death, but also Homers mothers exile, and Abe simpsons bitter attitude towards life is really interesting.

I like Smithers. As you pointed out, he's a good straight-man character. It's easy to project onto him in a way Lisa doesn't make possible. I love the idea that he kills himself when Mr. Burns get married.

"...inventing Rocket League with Mr. Burns.." Dang you caught me off guard with that one 😂

Now that you mentioned it. Duffman would be interesting because "Duffman can never die. Only the actors who play him".

Oh my goodness it's Smithers day! Didn't know how much I wanted this until I saw that thumbnail, hahah.

I'd like to see Maggie as your next one. She's gone through a few phases as the show's progressed, especially after Who Shot Mr Burns. She is in probably every episode so a lot of research might be needed, but then again she very rarely does anything of note.

Amazing work condensing down a character with such a long and detailed history within the show. On the DVD commentaries, Bill Oakley said the idea for Smither's being obsessed with Malibu Stacey is not because he was gay. Oakley's wife was big barbie collector and made him attended conferences with her, where he would meet grown and often straight men who collected barbie dolls. Oakley wanted to have a character to be in this mould because he thought it was funny, and I guess since Smither's had no real background, Oakley seized the opportunity. Though personally, I would of gone with Moe, I look that era of moe jokes where outside the bar he's different character, reading to sick children at the hospital etc.

Every single screenshot with Julio was the funniest thing I'd ever seen-- Julio is so _clearly_ a modern character design, with a unique and detailed head and body shape and a number of little details to make him just that little bit more realistic... ...and smithers is a season 1 character who has literally undergone maybe one stylistic change in the show's entire lifespan it looks INSANE when they're next to each other

After watching this episode, it really made me appreciate Smithers as one of the more important players in the show that doesnt need too much time in the spotlight. He gets things going and thats what i appreciate about him. That said, i'd really like to see how you would do a simpsons history of Lenny and Carl, Sideshow Bob or Sideshow Mel.

....And then Smithers became The Gay Stereotype: The Character.

"His first on screen appearance as black smithers" got a chuckle out of me

"You're flying the plane sir." "Excellent."

A new SImpsons Histories? Already? Yes!

doing the status quo thing for decades has a weird effect on the show. smithers is ultimately a tragic character, but as the straightman to burns' wacky antics he can complement him while pushing the story along. as the series runs on and on it becomes clear how stagnant smithers' character is so they flanderized him into this gay joke. i guess there's worse candidates for that - there's some easy comedy in the juxtaposition between smithers' reserved demeanor and your flamboyant gay stereotype but again, you can only tap that well for so long. i think the show's admitted at least once that burns needs smithers more than smithers needs burns - and while their relationship still borders on abusive you could see this as an act of compassion. i don't have any expectations for this show moving forward but i hope he gets a more respectful sendoff than flanders' ladder. yeesh. also it's sycophant, not syncophant. boooo. boourns.

It’s great to see this handled so respectfully even in reference to a show like the simpsons.....thank you for acknowledging that he (and we) deserve better than a running joke who’s frequently miserable

I love Mr. Smithers. Although all the gay jokes did go over my head as a kid, I always enjoyed Mr. Smitheri's dry sarcasm and felt bad that no one would ever give him the time of day (that no one being Mr. Burns really). And it makes me wonder why Mr. Burns has kept Mr. Smitherse around for so long.

Getting a notification that you've uploaded is always a special occasion where I stop what ever I'm doing to watch 💛👍

a few days ago I was thinking about how it would be cool to see a review on this guy, and here it is