One of the longest-running animated sitcoms, The Simpsons, has seemingly said goodbye to another character. The makers of the show retired longtime character Duffman during the January 4 episode titled Seperance, a comedic take on the Apple TV+ series Severance. The character was first introduced in the Season 9 premiere The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson, which aired on September 21, 1997.
The makers did not kill the character, but Barry Duffman announced that his mascot persona, Duffman — known for his iconic “oh, yeah!” catchphrase and voiced by actor Hank Azaria — will no longer exist.
The character shared the news with the Simpson family — Homer, Marge, Lisa and Bart — after entering their home and shedding his disguise. He said, “The Duff Corporation has, uh, retired that character forever,” he said, adding, “All the old forms of advertising are now passé. Corporate spokesmen, print ads, TV spots — today’s kids can’t even sing the jingles.”
It is also worth noting that Duffman was not wearing his iconic costume — comprising a red cape, sunglasses and a belt decorated with Duff beer cans — in the latest episode. Instead, he was seen dressed in his civilian outfit, further indicating that the mascot character was officially gone.
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While many believe that The Simpsons is retiring the iconic character for good, several fans have also speculated that this could be a meta spoof, especially given that the episode was titled Seperance.
In an old interaction with Conan O’Brien in 2020, Hank Azaria had expressed that he “dreads” playing the character of Duffman. “There are certain voices I save, like Duffman will blow me out in a second. I have to save Duffman for the end and I actually dread it. Like, ‘Oh no, I got a lot of Duffman to do today. It actually does hurt. I’m not complaining; this is a very good job.”
