Smithers

Waylon Joseph Smithers, Jr. (better known as "Mr. Smithers" or simply "Smithers") (born December 25, 1954) is a recurring character on The Simpsons. He is also a minor character in The Simpsons Movie. 
Smithers is Mr. Burns' deeply devoted personal assistant, executive, and self-proclaimed best friend. Burns, however, rarely views Smithers as worth any sort of genuine warmth or care, and much of the humorous dynamic between the two characters comes from this tension. Early on in the series it was established that Smithers has a powerful crush on Burns.
Smithers is the highest-profile gay character on the series; he officially came out in "The Burns Cage," though most people in Springfield (and fans of the show) were well aware before this. 
Smithers is generally portrayed as a nerd, someone awkward, uptight, and fragile. He is allergic to bee stings and has hypothyroidism, both of which can kill him. He is also lactose-intolerant. He has Springfield's largest collection of Malibu Stacy dolls.
==Biography==
When Smithers was a baby, his father, Waylon Smithers, Sr., was Burns's assistant until he died of radiation poisoning after saving Springfield from a potential nuclear meltdown.The Blunder Years Smithers never learned the true cause of his father's heroic death until Mr. Burns ended up telling the truth to the Simpsons family years later (due to Homer reliving mental trauma during his childhood from accidentally discovering Waylon Smithers Sr.'s half-decayed remains while diving into a watering hole and Smithers walking in just as Mr. Burns was telling them the truth), with Burns instead claiming Smithers Sr. was killed by amazonian warrior women. Young Smithers wore spectacles even as a baby. In high school, he was a target for bullies (including Homer Simpson),Bye Bye Nerdie while he was the announcer for the high school gymnastics competition, giving particular emphasis on the male gymnasts over the female gymnasts.Bart Star Eventually, he became Burns' personal assistant.
As a (not very well) closeted gay man, Smithers has had a crush on Burns for as long as he has worked for him, but Burns is almost always oblivious. Smithers was once married to a woman, but it fell apart when she wanted to have sex with him, and also referred to Mr. Burns as "awful". At one point it was implied that Smithers was linked romantically to John, the owner of Cockamamie's thrift shop.Homer's Phobia After coming out he later dated Julio, although Smithers's continuing feelings for Mr. Burns interfered with their relationship.The Burns Cage Aside from his heavily implied homosexuality, Smithers was also implied to have at least some gender confusion and transvestite tendencies, as when smoking weed to allow Homer to not violate his vow of never smoking it again, Smithers ended up cross-dressing as Julie Garland and suggesting that Homer pose as Mickey Rooney of 60 Minutes fame until Homer's reference to where Mickey Rooney came from had him realize that Mr. Burns (who had earlier left to take a bath after sweating) had been gone for over an hour,Weekend at Burnsie's and his asking for bottles of estrogen from Marge during a drug sale claiming it was for "a friend trapped in the body of another friend" (which is implied to be his way of avoiding directly stating that he wanted them for himself),We're on the Road to D'oh-where and also his asking Kim Basinger for a copy of the red pumps that she used in LA Confidential, which was implied to be so he could use them to dress up as her.When You Dish Upon a Star
Smithers collects Malibu Stacy dolls, was implied to be a frequent attendee of the StacyCon at San Diego, writes a newsletter about the doll,Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy and was the author of a Malibu Stacy stage musical that played in New Mexico; he played Stacy's boyfriend. In the episode "Lisa the Skeptic", when the people of Springfield believe that an apocalypse is upon them, Smithers takes the opportunity to show Mr. Burns how he feels and kisses him. However, when it becomes apparent the 'apocalypse' was just a hoax, Burns still remains oblivious to Smithers's feelings, while Smithers covered up his actions by claiming it was a sign of respect. He also came close to coming out to Mr. Burns during the Do What You Feel Day festivities in the episode "Bart's Inner Child", though he quickly covered himself by claiming he meant that he loved the Hawaiian shirt Mr. Burns was wearing at that time, and then privately lamented that he should have came out to Mr. Burns in the boat house earlier. Despite his crush on Mr. Burns and several times coming close to coming out, he also was shown to be horrified when someone implies they know his sexual orientation, as evidenced by the episode "The Springfield Files", when Mr. Burns, when asking Smithers what he was doing on the weekend, he said "something gay, no doubt", causing Smithers to stammer and be taken aback by the question until Mr. Burns revealed he meant the antiquated definition of gay that meant doing something fun or happy (apparently being unaware of the definition change to be a euphemism for homosexuality), with Smithers then laughing nervously after confirming Mr. Burns's question.
In "Future-Drama", Bart comes across Smithers and a blonde woman at Burns' mansion. Smithers reveals that he is straight as long as he keeps injecting himself with hormones every ten minutes.Homer vs. Dignity He once owned a Yorkshire Terrier named Hercules. When Mr. Burns convinced Sideshow Bob to run for mayor, it was Smithers who revealed to Bart and Lisa a clue that would lead them to the truth about Bob's not-so-honest victory in the mayoral election, hinting that his reasons were due to Sideshow Bob planning on enacting policies that were oppressive to his orientation. He intended to supply them with the information anonymously, although his efforts were spoiled by Homer Simpson driving up and then activating his headlights.Sideshow Bob Roberts
In 1995, when Burns tried to steal oil from Springfield Elementary, although Smithers nominally had Mr. Burns' back, he secretly was disgusted with what Mr. Burns was doing, even going as far as to, after surveying the closure/damages to the Springfield Retirement Castle, Moe's Tavern, and Springfield Elementary as a result of his slant drilling operation, sarcastically "congratulate" Mr. Burns for wiping out his "enemies" in thinly veiled contempt, and when Mr. Burns attempted to block the sun from Springfield after stealing oil from the elementary school, Smithers objected and was fired. This drove him into a nightmare of alcohol abuse and Comedy Central viewing. He was the main suspect in the subsequent shooting of Mr. Burns, but he was cleared due to it becoming clear that, as he had been watching Pardon My Zinger at the time of the shooting, he couldn't have been the one who done it. However, he did, in a drunken stupor, shoot Jasper in his wooden leg while trying to rush home to watch his favorite TV show. No charges were pressed in this case, mostly because Jasper already forgot about it. After Burns is shot, Smithers goes to church where he admits to God he is not a Catholic, although he did try to march in the Saint Patrick's Day Parade. Chief Wiggum was listening due to it being a police trap and arrested Smithers, who was later exonerated.Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part Two) He also went behind his boss's back earlier, although a lot more reluctantly, regarding Sideshow Bob as aforementioned. Similarly, after Mr. Burns rejected Smithers' feelings for him despite the latter coming out to him, Smithers quit on Mr. Burns and, due to having come up with the traps in Mr. Burns' office in the first place, also outwitted Mr. Burns by not only dodging all the trap doors Mr. Burns placed in his floor, but also manipulated him into dropping himself.
In "Midnight Rx", Burns cancels his employees' prescription medication plan. After a while, Smithers' thyroid starts to swell because he can't afford his medication. Burns accompanies Homer to Canada in his airplane in order to get Smithers's medicine before he passes on.
Smithers' official job at the power plant appears to be that of executive assistant, which he says is "actually about 2,800 smaller jobs",Homer the Smithers responsible for monitoring employee attendance, is often a disciplinarian and has won dozens of "Employee of the Month" awards.Homer Defined He has often hinted at wanting to be promoted to the position of executive vice president, but Burns has repeatedly squashed this dream, while whimsically bestowing the vice presidency on HomerSimpson and Delilah and a dog.Homer's Enemy
He was once, however, made the CEO of the Nuclear Power Plant in Burns' stead when Mr. Burns was arrested for stealing paintings from an art museum, a position that is arguably better than vice president, although he hints that he didn't want the job. He initially tried to be an employee-friendly boss, but after overhearing a conversation between Lenny, Carl and Homer while meeting at Moe's Tavern that revealed that they were abusing his employee-friendly nature to in essence goof off, he became a worse CEO than Mr. Burns (even going as far as to release wolverines in the house instead of hounds). He eventually gave up on the position willingly after Burns was released by Lenny, Carl and Homer.American History X-cellent
Smithers has the largest collection of Malibu Stacy dolls in the World and is the president of the Malibu Stacy fan club. As such, he also implies that he is a regular attendee at the annual StacyCon at San Diego in Airport Hilton with his statement of "Hello, Malibu Stacy Fans. I'll be seeing you at StacyCon '94 at San Diego Airport Hilton."
It was implied once that something laid eggs in Smithers's brain and was considered serious enough of a medical issue that Mr. Burns, who had himself been discharged from the Mayo Clinic with a clean bill of health (relatively speaking) apologized to Smithers about his news, with Smithers himself stating that, since he considered the mere fact that even one egg was laid in his brain was "too many," he would "prefer not knowing" how many eggs were in his brain.The Mansion Family
Aside from his suspected shooting of Mr. Burns, as well as any acts he did on Burns' behalf, he also did a very bad thing in a park during the night at one time while Chief Wiggum had been on patrol, although the latter did not arrest him during this time. Wiggum later alluded to this incident when Smithers was unable to wear a hat despite one of the old laws mandating that he wear a hat during the day time, citing that if he didn't arrest him for "that night in the park", he certainly wouldn't have arrested him for what was implied to be a misdemeanor by comparison.The Seven-Beer Snitch
Although he is the sidekick of one of the biggest villains on the show, Smithers has a relatively friendly relationship with the Simpson family. He gets along well with Lisa as well as willingly aided her in tracking down Stacey Lovell,Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy and is good friends with Marge,The Last Traction Hero with whom he has a lot in common.
==Other appearances==
===The Simpsons Arcade Game===
Smithers acted as the main antagonist of The Simpsons Arcade Game by Konami, where he abducted Maggie (due to her taking a diamond that he had stolen during a heist at a jewelry store). After a prolonged chase (including initially losing his quarry in the mountains before retrieving her via a hot air balloon), Smithers proceeded to fight them in Mr. Burns's office, using various bombs. After being defeated, he reveals lots of bombs in his coat, only to express shock when they are lit, exploding and presumably killing him, or at the very least severely injuring him. Mr. Burns, who had been watching the entire fight from a painting and who had orchestrated the heist (and by extension, the kidnapping), then proceeded to personally deal with them in a mecha, although he was soundly defeated.
===The Simpsons: Bart vs. the World===
Smithers was responsible for ensuring the art contest on The Krusty the Clown Show was rigged in Bart's favor as part of Burns' murderous vendetta against the Simpson family, and also reminded him that he wanted the Simpsons wiped off the face of the Earth. He was also tasked with contacting each family relative of Mr. Burns for the various locations in the tour, and also cutting ties with each of his family members (in particular, crossing Abomnible Snow Burns from the Christmas card list and writing Ramses Burns out of his will, in particular being bequeathed his salad bowl). He later proceeded to arrive with Mr. Burns when the latter was forced to arrive on the show to personally congratulate Bart, and got pelted with cream pies alongside his boss.
===The Simpsons Road Rage===
Smithers doesn't actually have any speaking roles, although he does appear in the opening scene where he is at City Hall near the speech podium as Mr. Burns gives his speech unveiling the Nuclear Powered Megabuses. He is also seen during game play where he acts as the driver for Burns' limo.
===The Simpsons: Hit & Run===
Smithers appears in the first level, where Homer has to deal with him twice. The first time, he was to oversee an inspection at Sector 7G, Homer's workplace, for a worker evaluation. Homer ended up destroying his car via the Plow King (which he borrowed from Barney). He later ended up driving away when Homer tried to find Mr. Burns, with Homer needing to race him to Burns Manor so he could extract a confession from Mr. Burns regarding the emergence of mysterious satellite vans. However, upon Homer learning they were actually pizza vans and Burns had absolutely nothing to do with the vans at all, Smithers was ordered by Burns to release the hounds on him, and presumably fire him in the event Homer had been one of his employees.
He later appears as the bonus level character for the final level, "Flaming Tires." Homer begs for his help regarding the "frightening, odd, godless fascinating stuff" that is occurring in town, but Smithers declines as he has to do errands for Mr. Burns, even though those errands were occurring the same time as a brunch date with someone (Smithers implies that this was typical). Homer then proceeds to aid him in finding various items for Burns. The first being Alan Porterhouse's keep-em-up Sock Garters (Mr. Burns' favorite brand), which Burns needed due to his socks pulling at his ankles for several days. He then tasks him with finding "Dr. Wunderstein's Tooth Powder" (which Mr. Burns needs despite not actually having teeth anymore due to it making him feel young again when rubbed against his gums, with Smithers implying he only does it because he loves Mr. Burns and not because he enjoys the activity, to Homer's disgust). After that, he then tasks Homer with finding the vinyl record "Yes, We Have No Bananas" (according to Smithers, Burns needs it to bolo the exercise every morning, specifically to ensure his muscles don't fall off the bone). Unlike other characters, Smithers does not actually state he'll help Homer via a call, though they nonetheless unlock "his" vehicle, Mr. Burns' limo.
===The Simpsons Game===
He appears in the ending of "Lisa the Tree Hugger", where he drives Mr. Burns' limo and apologizes for the loss of the woodcutting industry, and also proceeds to phone some of Burns' goons to beat up Al Gore to make him feel better.
Smithers appears during the Mob Rules level, where he is one of the members "recruited" into Marge's mob protest against Grand Theft Scratchy: Blood Island throughout the level. It is heavily implied that he only participated in the mob because he thought it was meant to be a mob trying to bring about gay marriage, or at least something in honor of Mr. Burns.
He, or at least sailors modeled in his likeness, were also prevalent in the final mission for the Medal of Homer level as enemies. According to Sergeant Abe Simpson, the Smithers sailors that act as the crew for the U.S.S. Reel Crazy aircraft carrier served "neither god nor country -- they fight for love". Similar to the main timeline Smithers, the sailors had a fanatical amount of loyalty to Private Burns, as he gave an order to "defend our fearless leader" as well as declaring for Homer and Bart's surrender and "Mr. Burns for ever!" Some of Homer and Bart's dialogue indicated that one of the sailors was in fact Smithers' grandpa. Unlike his implied grandson, however, it is heavily implied that these Smithers sailors were not homosexual, as Bart when interacting with them will sometimes yell "Your grandson's lifestyle will sicken you." The World War II Smithers make a final appearance in the Game Over level as one of the icons God uses to defeat the Simpsons as the family destroy his Praystation.
=== The Simpsons: Tapped Out ===
Smithers is unlocked at the Executive Lackey Pt. 2 Quest, once you place down the Burns’ Manor building, you will unlock “Smithers.”
==Sexuality==
Smithers frequents Springfield's gay section. He is arrested for trying to obtain opium for Mr. Burns while in Morocco. Burns says to Homer "I've never seen someone take to a Turkish prison so quickly."Three Gays of the Condo Smithers once went on vacation to a male-only resort.Homer the Smithers He is passionate about Mr. Burns and has at least occasional fantasies about the older man. In one, Burns appears flying through Smithers's bedroom window as a large predatory bird, or jumping out of a birthday cake and singing "Happy birthday, Mr. Smithers".Marge Gets a Job When Smithers powers up his computer, the screensaver is clearly a de facto nude Mr. Burns saying "Hello Smithers. You're quite good at turning me on".
On one occasion, Smithers is forced to go to Dr. Nick's "no questions asked clinic", having apparently put something in his butt which was now stuck there.My Sister, My Sitter Smithers has declared his love for Burns on some occasions, such as kissing Mr. Burns on the lips after saying "Oh, what the hell!", believing the world was ending, later explaining it to him as "merely a sign of my respect".Lisa the Skeptic Smithers once said; "I think women and seamen (semen) don't mix".Treehouse of Horror III
Burns himself has been involved with several women, much to Smithers's frustration, such as Marge Simpson's mother, Jacqueline Bouvier, Marge herself, and Gloria. He was disgusted by strippers who danced in front of him in a strip club. Smithers was noticeably disgusted when Burns started looking for a female companion.A Hunka Hunka Burns in Love Burns, for his part, views (and refers to) Smithers as a lackey, albeit a highly valued one for his competence and toadying. He has "rewarded" Smithers's devotion with the future "honor" of being buried alive with him after he dies.Burns' Heir Smithers has been shown to be somewhat dependent on his relationship with Burns, like the occasion when Burns orders Smithers to take a vacation and Homer is hired as a temporary replacement. When Homer loses his temper and punches Burns in the face, Mr. Burns learns to become self-reliant and this results in Smithers being fired. Smithers chooses that he needs to be Burns' assistant and eventually gets his job back. For all his sycophantic devotion to Mr. Burns, Smithers has been willing to challenge him on some occasions. When he opposed his employer's various evil schemes, Burns fired him. As a result of his firing, Smithers became a "hideous drunken wreck"Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One) and when Mr. Burns was shot later, Smithers thought he might have done it while he was drunk. When it was proven that he had not, Smithers seemingly forgave Burns and demanded that the culprit be brought to justice, offering a reward for the capture of the perpetrator. A lesser demonstration of this challenging him was when he aided the Simpson children in giving a vital clue towards how Sideshow Bob won the mayoral race, with his reasoning behind this being implied to be disagreement with Sideshow Bob about restricting those of his "sexual lifestyle."
In Squeam, Smithers plans to ditch his own "gay ways", and is the main guy who dresses up like ghost face along with Lovejoy every 15 seconds. It reveals he loves Fox shows and hates that they got canceled and kills Lovejoy by accident. He is later killed by the real killer and falls on Lovejoy as if kissing.
As seen on Professor Frink's future machine, at age 43, Smithers has to inject himself with some concoction every 10 minutes with a syringe to be heterosexual (upon taking the injection he waves his arms in the air and shouts "I loves boobies!").Future-Drama At age 50, he thawed out Mr. Burns and had his seventeen stab wounds to the back cured. He attended Lisa Simpson's wedding with him.Lisa's Wedding At age 1035, Smithers's head is on a robotic dog body and follows Mr. Burns's head everywhere.Rosebud
Smithers appears in The Simpsons Arcade Game as the first boss of the final level, as well as one of the main antagonists. Smithers, presumably under Mr. Burns' command, broke into a jewelry store to steal a diamond. As he and his fellow henchmen were making their escape, he (quite literally) bumped into the Simpsons family, causing him to lose the diamond, and for Maggie to catch it. Due to this setback, Smithers ends up kidnapping Maggie, and, after a few misadventures, he makes it back to the Nuclear Power Plant, although not without the Simpsons family following him. He then fights the family, remarking "Welcome to my world!" He lobbed several explosives at the family. When sensing that he would soon lose, he opened his cape, revealed to be filled with explosives, cackling maniacally only to react in shock as he discovers that the explosives had activated, causing him to be caught in the explosions. For unknown reasons, Smithers in this game actually sounds much higher pitched than in the regular series (most of the other characters usually have more or less the same voices in the game).
In The Simpsons Game, level "Lisa the Tree Hugger", Smithers was involved in Mr. Burns's plan of trying to cut down the entirety of Springfield Forest, and is comforting him about doing better next time when the plan fails due to Lisa and Bart's interference, as well as phoning some goons to beat up Al Gore. In Mob Rules, he appears as one of the people Marge can use to protest the sales of the Grand Theft Scratchy video-game to minors, although it's implied that he had a different aim in mind for doing the mob protest, including trying to celebrate gays. In Medal of Homer, a squad of sailors resembling Smithers protects Private Burns on board his personal naval carrier where he protects the stolen paintings from the village of St. Capitulons. According to Abe Simpson during the briefing for the level, the sailors in question fight neither for country nor for God, solely for love.
left|thumb|Smithers with black skin and blue hair, as seen in "Homer's Odyssey"
Waylon Smithers was partly based on how numerous Fox executives and staff members acted towards Barry Diller. The idea for Smithers's orientation came from Sam Simon, who proposed that Smithers should be gay, but the writers should never draw too much attention to it and should try to keep it in the back of their heads. The script for "Blood Feud" originally featured Smithers saying "Just leave me enough to get home to my wife and kids," but the line had to be cut for time. Smithers is voiced by Harry Shearer, who is also the voice of Mr. Burns. Shearer is often able to perform dialogue between the two characters in one take. Dan Castellaneta occasionally fills in for Shearer at table reads and voices Smithers.
Smithers made his first appearance in "Homer's Odyssey," which was the third episode of the first season, although he can be heard over a speaker in The Simpsons series premiere "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire".Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire BBC.co.uk. Retrieved on March 2, 2007 In his first visual appearance in "Homer's Odyssey", Smithers was mistakenly animated with the wrong color and was made African American by Gyorgi Peluce, the color stylist. David Silverman has claimed that Smithers was always intended to be "Mr. Burns's white sycophant," and the staff thought it "would be a bad idea to have a black sub-subservient character" and so switched him to his intended color for his next episode. The first appearance of yellow Smithers was "There's No Disgrace Like Home", the fourth episode of the first season.
Smithers's relationship with Mr. Burns has long been a running joke on The Simpsons. Smithers is an obedient and sycophant assistant to Mr. Burns. There have often been strong hints about Smithers's true feelings for his boss, with one of the earliest references being in the season one episode "The Telltale Head". Smithers's sexual orientation has often come into question, with some fans claiming he is a "Burns-sexual" and only attracted to his boss, while others maintain that he is obviously gay. During the Bill Oakley/Josh Weinstein era, they still tried to keep his sexuality difficult to pigeon-hole. There was debate among the writers about his orientation. Al Jean, who thinks of Smithers as being a "Burns-sexual", felt that had Mr. Burns been a woman, then Smithers would not be gay. David Silverman, a former supervising director has said, "[Smithers] seems to be focused on one particular human, as opposed to anything beyond that. [Rather than being gay], he's sort of 'Burns-sexual'".
"Waylon Smithers" is actually an anagram of "Wants him sorely". In a 2006 study conducted by the "Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation", it was determined that nine of the 679 lead and supporting characters on scripted broadcast television were gay or lesbian. Smithers was not included among these nine characters, and it caused a mild online controversy. Patty Bouvier, Marge Simpson's lesbian sister, was included on the list. The debate is referenced in "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular", when the episode host, Troy McClure is answering viewer questions, and one that is asked is "What is the real deal with Mr. Burns's assistant Smithers? You know what I'm talking about." A montage of various clips that shows Smithers's lust for Mr. Burns follows, and in the end, McClure says "as you can see, the real deal with Waylon Smithers is that he's Mr. Burns's assistant. He's in his early forties, is unmarried, and currently resides in Springfield. Thanks for asking!"The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular
Several of the allusions to Smithers's sexuality have turned into battles with the censors. For example, in Smithers's fantasy of a naked Mr. Burns popping out of a birthday cake in "Rosebud", the censors had not wanted Mr. Burns to be naked. Another example is "Marge Gets a Job", which has a dream sequence where Smithers is sleeping and Burns flies through a window. The sequence shows Burns flying towards him and Smithers looking happy, but originally it went on for a few seconds longer. It had to be trimmed down due to scenes that showed "Mr. Burns landing on a particular position on Smithers's anatomy". There were also issues with "the lump in his bed", which the animators had been drawn as his knee, but the censors had misinterpreted. He also dressed up as a drag queen once.Werking Mom
In the early seasons, Smithers has an occasional catchphrase, which comes from a recurring joke that Mr. Burns never remembers who Homer is. In some scenes, Smithers and Burns would watch Homer over a security camera Burns will ask, "Who is that man?", to which Smithers would reply, "That's Homer Simpson, sir, one of your [insert drones, organ banks, carbon blobs, etc.] from sector 7G."
In the second season, the writers started to enjoy writing about Smithers and Burns's relationship, and the writers often pitched episodes with them as the focus, but many never came to fruition.
In 2004, Simpsons producers announced that one of the characters was going to come out of the closet. Speculation on who it would be was printed in newspapers throughout the United States and Canada (even claiming Smithers's "sexual orientation was about the worst-kept secret in Springfield,")Rayner, Ben. "We'll have a gay old time." The Toronto Star: February 20, 2005, pg. CO3; retrieved October 26, 2007. as well as in Australia,"Queer eye for yellow guys." The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, Australia): February 22, 2005 LOCAL; pg. 17; retrieved October 26, 2007. New Zealand,"Simpsons in gay outing." The Press (Christchurch, New Zealand), February 15, 2005. Ireland, (the Irish Independent called Smithers "too obvious" a choice)"Waylon Smithers." Irish Independent: August 7, 2004; retrieved October 26, 2007. and the United Kingdom.Ayres, Chris. "Homer sexual mystery as Simpsons character outed." The Times (London), July 29, 2004, pg. 9; retrieved October 26, 2007. Despite Matt Groening joking that it would be Homer, The Boston Herald calculated the odds of several characters being gay with Smithers at a million to one.Perigard, Mark. "Scandal in Springfield; For a gay old time, Bedrock has nothing on `The Simpsons' hometown." Boston Herald; July 27, 2004, pg. 2; retrieved October 26, 2007. PlanetOut hosted an online poll in the weeks prior to the episode to determine based on "cartoon gaydar" who was gay on the Simpsons, with 97% of the respondents choosing Smithers. Jenny Stewart, the entertainment editor at the site said of the poll, "We've never had such an avalanche of people voting in any of our polls as we did on The Simpsons."Harris, Misty. "Is Smithers coming out of the closet?: Simpsons fans hitting the polls. Cartoon series promises answer in January, but what's the buzz on Batman and Robin?" The Gazette (Montreal): August 10, 2004 p. D1. After the guessing, it was Patty Bouvier who came out.There's Something About Marrying
==Reception==
In a 2007 article, Entertainment Weekly named Smithers the sixteenth greatest sidekick of all time. They have also described Smithers and Mr. Burns as being "TV's most functional dysfunctional couple". Star News Online named "Smithers's fey way" as one of the four hundred reasons why they loved The Simpsons. In a 2003 article, Entertainment Weekly named the Who Shot Mr. Burns? duo of episodes, in which Smithers was prominently featured, 25th best episode.
Smithers was made into an action figure, and four different versions were included as part of the World of Springfield toy line. The first shows Smithers in his normal attire with a picture of Mr. Burns at his feet and was released in 2000 as part of "wave two". The second, released in 2002 as part of "wave ten", is called "resort Smithers" and shows him dressed as he was at the resort in the episode "Homer the Smithers".
In 2003, a series of figures exclusive to Electronics Boutique was released, and a set of one Mr. Burns figure and two different Smithers toys based on the episode "Rosebud" were included. One, called "Bobo Smithers" shows Smithers dressed as Mr. Burns's teddy bear Bobo; and the other, known as "future Smithers", shows him as a robotic dog. A "Future Burns" was included in the set as a companion to "Future Smithers" and depicts Burns as how he appeared as a robot at the end of the episode.
==Trivia==
*Marge once disguised herself as Smithers in the episode "At Long Last Leave"; later in the same episode, Mr. Teeny did the same thing.
*Slithers is a parody and a pun on Smithers; he appears in "Treehouse of Horror XII".
*He co-owned Moe's Tavern in its gay version Mo's in "Flaming Moe".
*He has a superhero alter ego Kid Sourpuss.
*He has a Handgun
*He is 35 years old.
*He is right-handed.
*He is a .
*He was revealed to be allergic to bees when he was stung by a bee in "22 Short Films About Springfield".
*He needs to take medication for his thyroid, or else he will die, as seen in "Midnight Rx".
*He is lactose intolerant, which is revealed in "The Kid is All Right".
*His birthday has been largely inconsistent. In "The Old Man and the Lisa", he implies that he was born in 1954 when he tells Mr. Burns, regarding why he didn't warn him about the Stock Market Crash on September 1929, that the event in question occurred "25 years before [Smithers] was born." However, in "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular", the joke answer for Smithers' issues had him mentioning that he was in his "early forties", which, due to the episode airing in 1995, implied a birth date of between 1950 and 1955, and in recent episodes, he was stated to be born in 1960. In The Blunder Years, when Homer found Smithers' father's corpse when he was twelve, it is implied that Smithers was born in 1967 or 1968 (given the fact that the night before, Homer and his friends stated that the power plant just opened). 
*Ironically regarding his sexual orientation, he is a fan of Malibu Stacy despite some of her phrases coming across as flirting and her being attracted to men.
*Smithers makes a cameo in the Harvest Moon manga where he appears as the driver of Mayor Theodore. 
*He shares the same surname as Hubert H. Smithers, a character from Archie Comics who is the butler of Archie's girlfriend, Veronica Lodge.
*Smithers was originally black with blue hair, as seen in Homer's Odyssey. This was changed to his usual yellow skin with gray hair later in the series.
==Gallery==
==Appearances==
==External links==
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Category:Homer's workmates
Category:Burns family
Category:Juniors
Category:The Simpsons Wrestling
Category:Mr. Burns' Friends
Category:Ex boyfriends of Selma Bouvier
Category:Homer Simpson's friends
Category:Republicans
Category:Smithers family
Category:Characters that wear Glasses
Category:Bart Simpson's Friends
Category:Lisa Simpson's Friends
Category:Marge Simpson's friends
Category:Villains
Category:Ex-Husbands
Category:Divorced characters
Category:Smokers
Category:NRA members
Category:Right-wingers and conservatives
Category:Main Villains
Category:Anti-Heroes
Category:Homer's enemies
Category:Gray Haired Characters
Category:Characters who swap voices
Category:Lawful Neutral
Category:True Neutral
Category:Villains Gone Good