Why The Simpsons Killing Maude Flanders Was A Mistake

Why The Simpsons Killing Maude Flanders Was A Mistake

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The Simpsons made a mistake when the show killed off Maude Flanders, only to later rehire her voice actor but leave the character permanently dead.

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Why The Simpsons Killing Maude Flanders Was A Mistake

Anarchic animated sitcom The Simpsons famously killed off Maude Flanders in one of the show’s only permanent deaths, but why was this story ultimately proven pointless? Despite the series running for over thirty years, The Simpsons has rarely killed off characters permanently. Over its 711 episodes, the canon character deaths on The Simpsons have mostly been relegated to one-episode guest stars or characters whose real-life actors have passed on, such as Bart’s teacher Ms. Krabappel.

This made it surprising when, in 1999, The Simpsons killed off a well-liked supporting character whose voice actor was alive and well at the time of the episode’s production. The reason that Ned Flanders’ wife Maude was killed off was initially unclear but has since been revealed by interviews and retrospectives. The reasoning behind the decision, however, eventually proved pointless, meaning The Simpsons supporting star died for nothing.

Since Homer’s do-gooder neighbor Ned Flanders was first introduced, the character was rarely seen without his wife Maude by his side. Almost as pious as Ned himself, Maude was a minor figure who nonetheless played a pivotal supporting role in most Ned-centric stories. Whether Bart was convinced that Ned had killed her in one of The Simpsons’ darkest non-Halloween episodes or the failure of the Leftorium had left her destitute, Maude’s character was central to the success of Ned Flanders and his family. Her willingness to stand by her husband made her a perfect foil to the more realistically imperfect Marge and Homer, and her holier-than-thou attitude offered a more snide and persnickety view of religious zealotry than Ned’s unthinking devotion to his faith. Maude deepened The Simpsons’ satire of Christian Americana, which made killing her off apropos of nothing an unwelcome surprise for many.

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Why Maude Flanders Was Killed Off

Why The Simpsons Killing Maude Flanders Was A Mistake

In 1999’s “Alone Again, Natura-Diddily” (season 11, episode 14), Maude is killed in an unexpectedly tragic accident involving a t-shirt cannon at a race track. Although not as despised as the much-hated ‘The Principal and the Pauper’, this outing was disliked by those who felt the sad story of Ned losing his wife and questioning his faith didn’t fit the tone of The Simpsons. The death is a sudden and surreal moment that many fans felt was engineered to boost ratings, which Simpsons producer Mike Scully later admitted was a factor in the decision. This approach backfired when a misleading promo for The Simpsons episode implied that Lenny would die by being hit with a stray tire, a gag that recreated a real-life tragedy that occurred only months earlier on Lowe’s Motor Speedway. However, the real reason for Maude’s out-of-nowhere demise was much more pointless in the long run.

Why The Simpsons Killing Maude Was Pointless

Why The Simpsons Killing Maude Flanders Was A Mistake

Although The Simpsons could afford celebrity guest stars, the budget for the series apparently did not stretch far enough for regular cast members when season 11 began. Between seasons, Maude Flanders’ voice actor Maggie Roswell moved from LA to Denver for family reasons, resulting in an untenable commute to record lines for The Simpsons. Roswell continued to commute to Los Angeles as required for some time but eventually was unable to commit to the weekly flights the work demanded. As such, Roswell asked for a pay raise to cover airfare and alternatively offered to record from her Colorado home, only for Fox to refuse and fire The Simpsons actor.

This resulted in her character’s death only for The Simpsons to rehire Roswell two seasons later, making Maude’s death pointless in the process. Since then, Roswell has played numerous Springfield citizens like Helen Lovejoy, Miss Hoover, and Luanne Van Houten. The actor was reintegrated into The Simpsons quickly upon her return, but Maude’s death was never reversed in the show’s canon. To this day, Ned’s character remains a widower, a tragic element that jars with his upbeat persona and unflappable optimism. The Simpsons did pair Homer’s neighbor with Ms. Krabappel, but this romance was short-lived when Marcia Wallace, the actor portraying Bart’s teacher, passed away and the character was summarily retired.

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Why Maude’s Death Didn’t Work

Why The Simpsons Killing Maude Flanders Was A Mistake

Maude’s death occurred around the time that The Simpsons was coming to the end of its Golden Age, an era that marked a shift in its tone. To the ire of some vocal fans, The Simpsons opted to lean into the cartoon-ier aspects of its heightened reality rather than the show’s more mundane, slice-of-life elements from season 10 onwards. This resulted in The Simpsons’ confusing continuity as the now openly surreal series started rewriting the backstories of its characters, changing the rules of Springfield’s internal reality, and generally allowing any absurdity in service of one-off gags. As a result, killing off Maude in such jarringly realistic circumstances made the Simpson family’s many over-the-top adventures immediately before and after “Alone Again, Natura-Diddily” ring much less true. How, for example, did Homer survive having his organs exposed by a badger only episodes later when a small fall killed Maude for good?

The Simpsons Bringing Back Maude Hasn’t Helped

The times that The Simpsons has brought Maude back, both as a ghost and in Halloween-episode reincarnations, have never worked well because of its now-zany tone. More recent seasons of The Simpsons killed off Ralph Wiggum only to then bring him back a week later, so addressing the fact that Maude is permanently dead despite her actor still appearing as other characters has never rung true for many fans. As Roswell is still available to voice Ned’s wife, Maude can still appear in flashbacks, alternate reality stories, the afterlife, and Halloween specials, meaning Ned’s wife has never really left The Simpsons.

This, combined with the non-continuity of The Simpsons, means there is no poignancy or effective emotional impact for her death. The canon of The Simpsons is flexible by nature, as the show is ultimately a cartoon with a goofy tone. However, killing off Maude made it clear that The Simpsons could permanently retire characters, only for her Treehouse of Horror appearances to contradict this. With no consistency from episode to episode, The Simpsons failed to make Maude’s death have any lasting impact.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/simpsons-maude-flanders-death-pointless-mistake-why/

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