Difference between revisions of "Sideshow Bob"

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Robert Underdunk Terwilliger

Character Information Gender: Male ♂ Status: Unknown Age: 46 Hair: Red Occupation: Criminal Mastermind Relatives: Parents: Robert Terwilliger Sr. and Dame Judith Underdunk Brother: Cecil Wife: Francesca Son: Gino First appearance: The Telltale Head Voiced by: Kelsey Grammer v • d • e • h

Robert Underdunk Terwilliger (better known by his stage name, "Sideshow Bob"; also called "Sideshow Bob Roberts," "Sideshow Roberts," or simply known as just "Bob") is a self-proclaimed genius, member of the Republic Party, champion of high culture, former clown actor on The Krusty the Clown Show, criminal and nemisis of Bart Simpson.

Biography

Enough of Krusty's torment, Bob framed Krusty for armed robbery of the Kwik-E-Mart. After Krusty is arrested, Bob takes control of the show, introducing children to elements of high culture. However, Bob's reign is short-lived; Bart Simpson exposes the plan, Krusty is released, and Bob is sent to jail, but not before swearing vengeance on Bart ^[2].

During his time in prison, Bob won an Emmy for his role on The Krusty the Clown Show, but his award was confiscated by the prison guards. Bob took part in a prisoner dating service, and went into a relationship with Selma Bouvier, the aunt of Bart Simpson. After he was released from prison, he proposed and married Selma Bouvier, despite Bart's protests. As part of a scheme to inherit money she has invested in the stock market, Bob attempted to blow Selma up during their honeymoon. However, Bart again foiled the plan and Sideshow Bob returns to prison ^[3]. After being paroled from prison, Bob targeted Bart directly, threatening him repeatedly and forced the Simpsons to move to Terror Lake as part of the Witness Relocation Program. Bob followed them to their houseboat and, after subduing the family, prepared to kill Bart. He allows a final request, however, and Bart asks to hear the entire score of H.M.S. Pinafore. The delaying tactic lead to Bob's third arrest ^[4].

Bob was released from prison once again after conservative commentator Birch Barlows convinced the public that Bob was a political prisoner. After being released, he ran for Mayor of Springfield on a Republican Party ticket. He defeated liberal incumbent Joe Quimby in a landslide, and used his power as mayor to propose the demolition of the Simpsons house to make way for an Expressway, and sent Bart back to the First Grade. Bart and Lisa later discover that Bob rigged the election, leading to another incarceration ^[5].

During his prison sentence, he starts having a growing dislike of television, calling it mindless drivel. While doing community service at an Air Force Base before an annual air show, Bob escaped from his work duty and sneaks into a hangar in the base disguised as an officer, where he found a Nuclear device. During the air show, coincidentally being attended by the Simpsons family, Bob appeared on the television screens and threatened to blow up Springfield with a nuclear bomb unless the city stops broadcasting all television shows. When confronted by Bart and Lisa, the bomb is discovered to be a dud, and Sideshow Bob instead kidnaps Bart and hijacks the Wright Flier, planning to crash the Flier onto a shack where Krusty was broadcasting an impromptu TV show. However, the plan fails, and Bob returned to prison ^[6].

During yet another prison sentence, Bob took advantage of the prison's Christian outreach program, and appeared to be genuinely redeemed. Reverend Lovejoy declared him a changed man and recommended him for a work release opportunity. Bob is discharged from prison into the care of his brother Cecil, who was Springfield's chief hydrological and hydrodynamical engineer. However, the scheming Cecil, still smarting over his failed audition for Krusty, tried to frame Bob by sabotaging the Springfield Dam. Bob, Bart, and Lisa together stopped Cecil andd save the town. However, both brothers were sent to prison despite Bob's genuine innocence^[7].

When Krusty announces his retirement due to low ratings, Bob discovered from prison that Krusty has erased all of the early shows featuring Sideshow Bob. Bob is released from prison and developed a plot to kill Krusty. Using his new job as an intercom announcer at Springfield Elementary, he corners Bart in a shack off the school playground and hypnotized and brainwashed Bart, planned to use him as a suicide bomber during Krusty's final retirement show. However, when he overhears Krusty express regret about mistreating him, Bob decides to abort his plan, and although he is returned to prison for attempted murder, Krusty thanks him due to the fact that his show's ratings soar back up every time Bob tries to kill him ^[8].

After an attempt is made on Homer Simpson's life, Bob was released from prison to help find the culprit. When the mystery is solved, he returns to murder Bart. However, Bob finds he is "accustomed to Bart's face" and cannot do it ^[9]. Bob is not returned to prison and it is revealed in "The Italian Bob" that he has moved to Italy to make a fresh start. He is elected mayor of a village in Tuscany and marries a local woman named Francesca, with whom he has a son named Gino. The Simpson family, in Italy to retrieve a car for Mr. Burns, encounters him by chance. Bob welcomes them with hospitality on the condition that they not reveal his felonious past; however, a drunken Lisa jokes about Bob's criminal deeds, alienating Bob from his citizens. He, his wife and son swear a vendetta on the Simpsons. The entire Terwilliger family returns in "Funeral for a Fiend" in which Bob's father, Robert Terwilliger Sr., and mother, Dame Judith Underdunk, make their first appearances. Bob fakes his own death and locks Bart in the coffin, which he attempts to cremate at the otherwise empty funeral home as all the Terwilligers laugh maniacally. They are foiled and sent to prison. Bob briefly returned in the season 20 episode "Wedding for Disaster".

Character

Appearance

Tattoos

Sideshow Bob got various tattoos all over his body while in prison:

• Chest: The words, "Die Bart, Die" (which he pretends in court is meant to be German for "The Bart, The")
• Back: Bart's Head (decapitated) on his skateboard, with a speech bubble, saying, "Ouch, Man!"
• Knuckles: "Luv" (right hand) and "Hāt" (left hand)
  • ā is sometimes used as a long 'A' sound, so phoenetically the above is pronounced 'Hate'
• Upper Left Arm: Skull & Crossbones
• Upper Right Arm: Knife

The tattoos have generally not been shown since, though it has not been confirmed if they have been removed.

Personality

Sideshow Bob in a way-mirrors Hannibal Lecter - a psychopath, who could recite Shakespeare by heart, while stabbing you with his knife.

Sideshow Bob enjoys the finer things in life, including reading classical literature. Likely due to his upbringing, he has a passion for theatre, knowing Gilbert and Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore off by heart as well as Shakespeare's works. In contrast to his love of the 'higher pleasures', he despises television and other 'low class' things, which gives him a rather snobbish attitude. Ironically, in his time when he was a Master Criminal, he studied the uses of Dynamite, which would theoretically be considered low class.

Beneath the cultured gentlemen is the heart of a cold blooded killer; Bob is a man who thinks nothing of hurting others to get what he wants, even if this includes himself. Bob's primary motive seems to be revenge; his original crime (framing Krusty the Clown) was an attempt to get back at him for making a clumsy fool of Bob for years as his sidekick, and most of his other crimes have been attempts at murdering Bart Simpson for foiling him. However, he has made several attempts at acquiring money and/or power, such as when he tried to kill Selma Bouvier or run a campaign for mayor as a republican (if for no other reason than to make the Simpsons miserable).

Family

Bob has a brother named Cecil, who was jealous of Bob for stealing his role during his audition for the Krusty the Klown Show and tried to frame Bob for fraud ^[11]. His parents are Robert Terwilliger and Dame Judith Underdunk ^[12]. After moving to Italy and becoming mayor of a small Italian village, Bob had a wife named Francesca (voiced by Maria Grazia Cucinotta) and a son named Gino ^[13].

Enemies

Krusty the Clown

Sideshow Bob declared himself an enemy of Krusty, as his role on the Krusty the Clown show was regularly cruel and demeaning. Since framing Krusty for armed robbery, Bob has attempted to kill him a couple of times. They seemed to bury the hatchet, however.

Bart Simpson

He became Bart's nemesis after Bart figured out he had framed Krusty, getting him sent to prison. Ever since then, Bob has been obsessed with killing Bart, constantly plotting his revenge in prison. The first few times he was released from jail, Sideshow Bob would carry out a plan to murder Bart, or count it as a 'bonus' to one of his other schemes (the sole exception being when he was released under the prison Christianity movement, where he attempted to atone for his sins, and most notably does not desire to even hurt Bart at all). Eventually, he finally has Bart at his mercy, but lets him go as he has become "accustomed to his face ^[14].

Rakes

Bob follows the Simpsons to their new home after they became a part of the Witness Protection Program. When he clambers out from beneath their car, he steps on the end of a rake lying on the ground, causing it to fly up and hit him in the face. He turns away from it, only for the same to happen, as another rake is lying nearby. It turns out that there are many rakes in this area, as the event repeats itself for some time. He is repeatedly the target of the rake slapstick gag, causing him to declare rakes as his greatest foe "besides Bart Simpson".

Career

His occupation was to be Krusty's sidekick on the Krusty The Clown Show. He didn't even want the job: Bob accompanied his brother to the auditions, and unwittingly impressed Krusty enough to be hired on the spot. His job before this is unknown. He gave up on his sidekick job after he went to prison for framing Krusty, and has since become a master criminal (although the "master" part is spurious, as he has been repeatedly foiled by children. However, while being arrested the first time around, he is warning the adults to not look down on children as they were more intelligent than they appear as "they were smart enough to get me!", implying that Bart and Lisa may have had intelligence above most average kids.).

Behind the Scenes

Creation

Sideshow Bob's first appearance in Telltale Head

Sideshow Bob first appeared in the background of a scene in the season one episode "The Telltale Head". In that appearance, his design was more simple and his hair was round in shape. His first major appearance was in season one's penultimate episode "Krusty Gets Busted". Bob's design was updated for the episode, and the animators tried to redo his scenes in "The Telltale Head" with the re-design, but did not have enough time.

The script for "Krusty Gets Busted" called for James Earl Jones to voice Bob, but the producers instead went with Frasier actor Kelsey Grammer. Bob did not say anything during the first half of the episode, because the character always spoke with a slide whistle, and when he finally did speak, it would be a shock to hear Grammer's sophisticated voice. Grammer used his impression of Ellis Rabb, a man that Grammer had once worked for, for Bob's voice.

For season three's "Black Widower", the writers decided to have Bob return to get revenge on Bart for foiling his plan in "Krusty Gets Busted". They took the idea of the Coyote chasing the Road Runner, and had Bob always inserting himself into Bart's life. However, he did not appear in every season because the writers were not always able to think of reasons to bring Bob back.

Brad Bird first designed Bob for "Krusty Gets Busted". As the episode's animation progressed he made Bob sleeker, more urbane and refined, and worked with Grammer's voice. For "Black Widower", David Silverman updated the model to reflect the animation of Bird. Despite common fan belief that Bob was named after Terwilliger Boulevard in Portland, Oregon, he was actually named after the character Dr. Terwilliker from the film The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.

Development

In nineteen seasons of The Simpsons, Sideshow Bob has been heavily featured in ten episodes. Kelsey Grammer initially thought that Bob would be a one-time character, and calls him "the most popular character I've ever played." The writers believe that Grammer has a great voice and try to create something for him to sing in each episode he appears in. Grammer usually comes in for table readings, although when he cannot, Greg Berger stands in for him. Former Executive producer David Mirkin found Grammer a joy to direct as he was very funny, but noted that he hates doing the evil Sideshow Bob laughs. A rule for the early episodes that featured Bob was that there had to be a recap of his evil deeds in case the viewers did not remember them. The concept was dropped in later episodes.

Sideshow Bob's theme, which is used whenever Bob gets out of prison, was first used in the season three episode "Black Widower", Bob's second episode. It is based on the score of the movie Cape Fear, which was composed by Elmer Bernstein. The musical score for "Cape Feare" earned composer Alf Clausen an Emmy Award nomination for "Outstanding Dramatic Underscore - Series" in 1994. Bob's prisoner number is often 24601, which is Jean Valjean's prisoner number in Les Misérables. Another trademark for Bob is to step on rakes, a joke that first appeared in "Cape Feare". In that episode, Bob stepped on nine consecutive rakes, which the writers added to fill up time. The sequence has become known as the "rake joke" and has been referred to as being "genius in its repetitive stupidity".

Grammer recorded lines for Sideshow Bob for The Simpsons Movie, but the scene in which he was to appear was cut.

Reception

In a 2006 article, IGN.com ranked Bob in second position on their list of the "Top 25 Simpsons Peripheral Characters", citing that he is "a man of contradictions; his goofy appearance, complete with palm tree like hair, doesn't seem to match up to the well spoken and even musically talented maniac." Wizard Magazine rated Bob as the 66th greatest villain of all time.

Kelsey Grammer has received praise for his voicework and in 2006, he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for his performance as Bob in the episode "The Italian Bob". Grammer had previously won four in the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series category for his portrayal of Frasier Crane on Frasier. In a 2007 interview, Simpsons executive producer Al Jean listed Grammer as his second favorite guest star, saying "his voice is so rich". Mike Bruno of Entertainment Weekly called Kelsey Grammer one of "fourteen guest stars whose standout performances on TV make us wish they'd turn up in a Simpsons Movie 2". David Hyde Pierce was also included in that list. Ben Rayner of the Toronto Star listed "Cape Feare", "Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming" and "Brother From Another Series" as being among the best episodes of the series, saying "Forget Frasier, these are Kelsey Grammer's best roles."

The production staff on The Simpsons are usually excited about "Sideshow Bob episodes" as the writers consider them a treat to write, and the directors think they are always crazy and fun for them to animate.

Many episodes featuring Bob have been well received by fans and critics. "Cape Feare", the third episode to feature Sideshow Bob, is generally regarded as one of the best episodes of The Simpsons, and according to Matt Groening, people often include it among their top 10 favorites. In Entertainment Weekly's top 25 The Simpsons episodes ever, it was placed third. In 2006, IGN.com named Cape Feare the best episode of the fifth season. Vanity Fair called it the show's fourth best episode in 2007, as "this episode's masterful integration of filmic parody and a recurring character puts it near the top."[30] Associated Content chose the score for this episode to be 11th place of all of The Simpsons episodes. Grammer's performance of H.M.S. Pinafore was later included on the album Go Simpsonic with The Simpsons. The season 17 episode "The Italian Bob" and its writer John Frink would win a Writers Guild of America Award in 2007 in the animation category.

Cultural influence

Bob was made into an action figure, and two different versions were included as part of the World of Springfield toy line. The first shows Bob as he was on The Krusty the Clown Show, and was released in 2001 as part of the Krustylu Studios "Wave three play set". The second, released in 2002, has him in the prison uniform he wore in "Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming", and was a part of "wave nine".

Bob was included as a level boss in the 1991 video game Bart vs. the Space Mutants.

Behind the Scenes

• Although Sideshow Bob himself did not appear in the episode The Homer of Seville, a similar character, named Julia, appeared.

Appearances

Reference