Difference between revisions of "Robert Underdunk Terwilliger"

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Robert Underdunk Terwilliger (better known by his stage name, "Sideshow Bob") is a killer, whose greatest foe is Bart. He is often seen, holding a knife. In the episodes, Sideshow Bob is featured, in wich he is repeatedly the target of the rake slapstick gag, (that is, stepping on a section of a rake, causing it to fly up and hit him in the face), causing him to declare rakes as his greatest foe "besides Bart Simpson". His hair is red and wild. He is 46 years old. His occupation was Krusty's sidekick (now, a criminal). He has a wife named Francesca Terwilliger, a father named Robert Terwilliger, Sr., a brother named Cecil Terwilliger, a son named Gino Terwilliger, and a nephew named Neil Tewilliger. Sideshow Bob also made a cameo appearance in "The Telltale Head." Sideshow Bob's catch phrase is "Ahhhhh rakes, my arch enemy.". He is voiced by Kelsey Grammer.

Character

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.

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) was an attempt to get back at him for making a 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 (if for no other reason than to make the Simpsons miserable).

Creation

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 "Krusty Gets Busted", and the animators tried to redo his scenes in "The Telltale Head" with the re-design, but did not have enough time.^[1] The script for "Krusty Gets Busted" called for James Earl Jones to voice Bob, but the producers instead went with Frasier actor Kelsey Grammer.^[2] Bob did not say anything during the first half of "Krusty Gets Busted" because the character always spoke with a slide whistle and when he finally did speak, it would be a shock to hear Grammer's voice.^[3] Grammer used his impression of Ellis Rabb, a man that Grammer had once worked for, for Bob's voice.^[4] 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.^[5] However, he did not appear in every season because the writers were not always able to think of reasons to bring Bob back.^[6]

Brad Bird first designed Bob for "Krusty Gets Busted". As the episode's animation progessed he made Bob sleeker, more urbane and refined, and worked with Grammer's voice.^[2] For "Black Widower", David Silverman updated the model to reflect the animation of Bird.^[7] 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.^[8]

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."^[4] The writers believe that Grammer has a great voice and try to create something for him to sing in each episode he appears in.^[5] Grammer usually comes in for table readings, although when he cannot, Greg Berger stands in for him.^[9] 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.^[10] 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.^[11]

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.^[9] The musical score for "Cape Feare" earned composer Alf Clausen an Emmy Award nomination for "Outstanding Dramatic Underscore - Series" in 1994.^[12] Bob's prisoner number is often 24601, which is Jean Valjean's prisoner number in Les Miserables.^[13] 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.^[9] The sequence has become known as the "rake joke" and has been referred to as being "genius in its repetitive stupidity".^[14]

Bob's brother Cecil made his first appearance in the eighth season episode "Brother From Another Series". He is voiced by David Hyde Pierce, who played Frasier Crane's brother Niles in Frasier, and Bob and Cecil's interactions were based on Nile's and Frasier's.^[15] Cecil reappeared in "Funeral for a Fiend" in season 19, along with their previously unseen father, who will be played by John Mahoney.^[16] It will be a Frasier reunion, as Mahoney played the father of Grammer and Pierce's characters in the series.^[17] Bob also has a wife named Francesca (voiced by Maria Grazia Cucinotta) and a son named Gino, both of whom were introduced in the season 17 episode "The Italian Bob".^[18]

Grammer recorded lines for Sideshow Bob for The Simpsons Movie,^[19] but the scene in which he was to appear was cut.^[20]

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."^[21]Wizard Magazine rated Bob as the 66th greatest villain of all time.^[22]

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.^[23] In a 2007 interview, Simpsons executive producer Al Jean listed Grammer as his second favorite guest star, saying "his voice is so rich".^[24] 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.^[25] 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."^[26]

The production staff on The Simpsons are usually excited about "Sideshow Bob episodes" as the writers consider them a treat to write,^[15] and the directors think they are always crazy and fun for them to animate.^[27]

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.^[28] In Entertainment Weekly's top 25 The Simpsons episodes ever, it was placed third.^[14] In 2006, IGN.com named Cape Feare the best episode of the fifth season.^[29]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.^[31] Grammer's performance of H.M.S. Pinafore was later included on the album Go Simpsonic with The Simpsons.^[32] The season seventeen episode "The Italian Bob" and its writer John Frink would win a Writers Guild of America Award in 2007 in the animation category.^[33]

Cape Feare

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".^[34] The second, released in 2002, shows in the prison uniform he wore in "Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming" and was a part of "wave nine".^[35] Bob was included as a level boss in the 1991 video game Bart vs. the Space Mutants.^[36]

• The Telltale Head (first non-speaking appearance): When Lisa and Maggie Sideshow Bob. He has a red Afro instead of spiked hair. Also Seen In The Mob Chasing Homer And Bart.
• Krusty Gets Busted: Sideshow Bob frames Krusty for armed robbery.
• Bart Gets an F (second non speaking appearance): He is seen in the crowd frolicing in the snow.
• Bart The Murderer (third non speaking apperance): He can be seen training in the same prison cell as Bart when he is imprisoned.
• Black Widower: Sideshow Bob is paroled and marries then tries to murder Selma.
• Lisa's First Word: He appears in this episode but he has blue hair.
• Cape Feare:He is paroled again and tries to murder Bart.
• Sideshow Bob Roberts: Sideshow Bob is revealed to be a political prisoner and is sent out of jail and tries to run for mayor
• Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming: Bob gets out of prison and tries to abolish TV from Springfield for ever and tries to murder Krusty using the Wright Brothers Plane.
• Brother from Another Series: Sideshow Bob is once again released from jail and works for his brother Cecil to build the Springfield Hydroelectric Dam, which later collapses and floods the town. Although Sideshow Bob didn't do anything, he (and his brother Cecil) went to jail again.
• Pokey Mom: He can be seen and is mentioned.
• Day of the Jackanapes Bob, after learning that any and all tapes about his role in Krusty's show, decides to brainwash Bart into becoming Krusty's assailant, but after learning that Krusty saved some footage of Sideshow Bob, and that he made an open apology about his treatment of him, he backs down at the last minute. He was originally going to
• The Great Louse Detective Bob is released from prison and is hired by Chief Wiggum to protect Homer Simpson from a serial killer, though he also desires to kill Bart as well.
• Mobile Homer (fourth non speaking appearence) Homer turns out to be Sideshow Bob in disguise in the opening sequence and tries to stab Bart.
• The Italian Bob The Simpsons go to Italy and meet Bob, his wife and their son.
• Funeral for a Fiend Bob pretends to die and makes it look like Bart killed him.
• Sex, Pies, and Idiot Scrapes(fifth non speaking appearance) he can be seen escaping from prison, hinting that he will return later in the season.
• Sideshow Bob appears in the all new opening sequence commencing, February 15th.
• Wedding for Disaster Bob returns in this new episode.

References