| J. Loren Pryor
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| Character Information
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Dr. J. Loren Pryor is the psychiatrist for the school district in which Springfield Elementary School is located.
Biography
Dr. Pryor is one of the few employees at Springfield Elementary School who seems to actually be qualified in his field. He does have a slight tendency toward gullibility, as Bart easily tricked Pryor into sending him to a school for gifted children.[1] Later, however, Pryor recommended that Bart repeat the fourth grade and refused to back off of his recommendation, in spite of Bart's protests.[2]
Dr. Pryor also seems to be prone to occasional absent-mindedness. When Bart was in kindergarten, Homer and Marge saw him to discuss problems Bart was having with adjusting to school. Pryor said it was due to Bart's "flamboyantly homosexual tendencies," and then corrected himself when he realized he was looking at Milhouse's file instead of Bart's.[3]
Pryor has had a much more uniformly positive influence on Lisa. On the same visit as when he accidentally disclosed the contents of Milhouse's file, Pryor spotted Lisa as a gifted child when she did a complicated puzzle and gave her age as "Three and three-eighths." He told Homer and Marge to nurture her gift.[3] Later, when Lisa went through a rebellious phase, Pryor determined that it was the result of a developmental condition and correctly advised Homer about how to help her through it.[4]
He took part in the world's tallest human pyramid record attempt.
Non-canon
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The contents of this article or section are considered to be non-canon and therefore may not have actually happened or existed.
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When Bart's and Lisa's arrangement to prank each other's teachers goes severely wrong, Lisa decides she has to kill Bart and chases him through Springfield Elementary School with a knife. At one point during the chase, Bart ducks into Dr. Pryor's office.[5]
Behind the Laughter
In recent years he has not appeared in many episodes. It is most likely because his role of being Principal Skinner's sidekick was taken by Superintendent Chalmers. His most recent speaking appearance being in season 22's "The Blue and the Gray" (though he has a brief cameo in "Brick Like Me"). As revealed in The Complete First Season DVD, Dr. J. Loren Pryor was based on the original drawings of Principal Skinner. The third DVD in the box set shows original character art under special features. Also, in the season 2 DVD commentary for "Bart Gets an "F"", it is revealed that Dr. J. Loren Pryor name is supposed to be a play of him prying into peoples heads.
Appearances
References
