Since the show first aired in 1989, The Simpsons has gone from an exciting new animated series to a cultural phenomenon, and now has settled comfortably into the role of a well-loved TV staple around the world. It’s a show that has become known for its blend of comedy with hints of drama and heartwarming moments, earning The Simpsons legions of dedicated fans that continue to watch every new episode, even well into its fourth decade on the air. Watching The Simpsons has become such a firmly implanted habit for many that it doesn’t seem likely to ever pass completely from society’s collective consciousness.
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Even for all of the show’s popularity, its reach isn’t infinite. On many occasions, The Simpsons has reportedly reached out to celebrities to appear on the show, only to be rejected. One of The Simpsons‘ funniest running gags is to poke fun at these celebrities anyway, even if they declined to get in on the joke. While it would seem that many stars would love to appear on the show, some celebrities simply weren’t willing to join in on the roasting that The Simpsons was planning to give them.
8) Prince
The tale of Prince’s reported rejection of a role in an episode written to be a sequel to “Stark Raving Dad” is one of the most tragic Simpsons character near-misses in the history of the show. The episode would have seen the return of Leon Kompowsky, who had previously been voiced by Michael Jackson, instead voiced by Prince and under the illusion that he was the “Purple Rain” singer. However, a mix-up with scripts led to a disagreement, and Prince’s role never came to fruition.
Though Prince never appeared on the show, that didn’t stop The Simpsons from poking fun at the music icon. He was first shown as part of Comic Book Guy’s community of nerds from chat rooms in “Radioactive Man”, and was later used as fodder in a Treehouse of Horror episode in which Homer killed various musicians, impaling Prince with his own guitar. None of the jokes made about Prince seemed to have been written in bitterness, and it’s a shame that he was never able to lend his voice to the show.
7) Michael Caine
One of the most memorable celebrity appearances from The Simpsons‘ golden era was that of James Woods as a fictionalized version of himself in “Homer and Apu”. However, the role wasn’t originally written with Woods in mind, but was first offered to screen legend Michael Caine. The English actor turned down the opportunity to voice himself on The Simpsons, and James Woods was approached instead, leading to his memorably comedic and self-aware performance.
The Simpsons‘ writers seemed not to have forgotten Michael Caine’s rejection of the show, however. “Burns’ Heir” saw Mr. Burns convince Bart that his family had forgotten him by hiring actors to play the other members of the Simpson family, with the actor hired to play Homer bearing a striking resemblence to Michael Caine. When he then speaks out of character, his accent can be heard, and it seems to be a clear impersonation of Caine’s distinct voice. It’s only a gentle parody of the actor, but it interestingly came just shortly after he declined to play a role in the show.
6) Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood has cemented himself as a Hollywood legend both in acting and directing, so it’s perhaps unsurprising that The Simpsons were keen to cast him in a guest role. The role in question was as the dentist, Dr. Wolfe, in “Last Exit to Springfield”. However, Eastwood turned the role down, and Wolfe was eventually voiced by Simpsons mainstay Hank Azaria. The Simpsons went on to poke fun at Eastwood on multiple occasions, parodying some of his famous roles.
Eastwood was gently mocked in two distinct ways after turning down the role of Dr. Wolfe. The first was via the character McGarnagle, a hard-boiled TV detective clearly modelled on Eastwood’s character Harry Callahan, of Dirty Harry fame. The second came in the season 9 episode “All Singing, All Dancing”, in which the Simpson family were disappointed after renting Eastwood’s musical western Paint Your Wagon. McGarnagle went down as one of The Simpsons‘ funniest minor characters, and the Paint Your Wagon sequence is fondly remembered as one of the last great jokes of the show’s golden era.
5) Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is one of the most influential musicians of modern times, and The Simpsons planned to celebrate that status by writing him into the season 7 episode “Homerpalooza”, as one of the musical acts at the Lollapalooza festival alongside prospective appearances from Neil Young and Courtney Love. However, Dylan turned the role down, as did Young and Love, and their parts were rewritten to facilitate Smashing Pumpkins and Cypress Hill instead. The show didn’t forget about the rejection, and later poked fun at Bob Dylan.
Season 16 episode “She Used to Be My Girl” featured a scene in which Bob Dylan was being interviewed by Springfield reporter Chloe Talbot. The interview sees Dylan answer a question regarding his faith in unintelligible mumbles in a joke aimed at his private nature and soft-spoken attitude. It doesn’t come across as mean spirited at all, but instead as a fun nod to a musician who once turned down the opportunity to lend his voice to the show by making his in-universe voice impossible to understand.
4) Quentin Tarantino
The Simpsons‘ season 8 episode “Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious” featured a cameo appearance from Quentin Tarantino, who appeared as the guest director of a special episode of Itchy and Scratchy. Tarantino was approached to voice himself, but upon reading the script, reportedly had various issues with his dialogue. This ultimately led to Tarantino being voiced by Dan Castallaneta in the episode, which served as a comedic examination of both Tarantino himself and his approach to filmmaking.
Even after Tarantino declined to appear in The Simpsons due to not liking his dialogue, the show went on ahead with their mockery of him. The Simpsons‘ take on Tarantino pulls no punches, and is a fairly accurate impersonation of his voice and frenetic explanations of his approach to violence when directing certain scenes. It’s an incredibly funny moment, and one that perhaps comes off as far cattier than it otherwise would have if Tarantino had simply lent his own voice to the role.
3) Richard Simmons
At the time season 5 episode “Burns’ Heir” was released, Richard Simmons was one of the most distinct television personalities in the world. The energetic and enthusiastic fitness guru was approached to play a robotic version of himself for the episode, and despite reported being initially excited about his potential role, he then turned down the script he was given. The scene involving the Richard Simmons robot was then cut from the episode, but was later shown in season 7 episode “The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular”.
“Burns’ Heir” is one of the most heartwarming episode of The Simpsons from the show’s golden age, and it’s plain to see that the hilarious scene involving the dancing, self-destructing Richard Simmons robot didn’t entirely fit with the rest of the story. However, its comedic potential won out, and after the deleted scene proved popular at conventions, it was released. A truly hilarious joke that makes use of a prominent pop culture figure in a strange and creative way, it’s just a shame that the robot ultimately wasn’t voiced by Simmons himself.
2) Multiple Former U.S. Presidents
Over the course of The Simpsons‘ unprecedented run, various presidents have passed through as the leaders of the United States Government. Equally, in that time, the show has mocked multiple U.S. presidents and former presidents, and on several occasions, has approached them to voice themselves. Reportedly, every living former U.S. president was approached to appear in season 4’s “Krusty Gets Kancelled”, while at various other times, U.S. presidents have been asked to lend their voices to the show only to decline.
The show’s response has always been fairly classy. The Simpsons has simply continued to poke fun at the politicians the same as it would any other celebrity, it was just forced to do so without their own voices. Notable examples of living former U.S. presidents who have appeared on the show voiced by others include Bill Clinton, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and Gerald Ford, among others. While the show has struggled to get the former presidents to lend their voices to the show, it certainly hasn’t stopped The Simpsons‘ writers from going in hard with their mockery.
1) Shirley Temple
There are many underrated episodes of The Simpsons that aired outside of its classic era, and some feature stories of celebrities turning down roles on the show. Shirley Temple, best known for her years working as one of the most prolific and famous child stars in Hollywood, was approached to voice a character on The Simpsons inspired by her real-life story. Unfortunately, she reportedly found the character, Vicki Valentine, to be a mean-spirited joke at her expense, and turned the role down, apparently offering some harsh words to the show’s writers in the process.
Regardless, The Simpsons went ahead with their parody of Shirley Temple. The episode presented Vicki Valentine as a former child star who has fallen from grace, and has resorted to teaching dance classes to children and casually eroding their self-esteem. Watching it back, it’s unclear if Temple was offended by Valentine as she exists in the finished episode, or if the writers added in a little extra unpleasantness in response to Temple’s rejection. Either way, she turned down the role, and The Simpsons chose to make fun of her anyway. It was a bold choice, and an incredibly funny one, too.
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