Gil Gunderson
Gil Gunderson
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Character Information
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Gil Gunderson (usually referred to as Ol' Gil or Gil) is an unsuccessful and unlucky businessman of Springfield.
Contents
Biography[edit]
Gil seems to have attended Southern Illinois University, but ended up a few credits short of graduation.[1][7]
Gil has held many different jobs, all of which he eventually loses because something bad happens to him: For example, being shot in his first day as a bank security guard.[8]
Early in his career, Gil worked as a door-to-door salesman, selling Karpet King vacuums.[9] He was also the manager of a successful Razzle Dazzle's Pizza-Tainment Palace before getting arrested for smuggling drugs inside the animatronics.[10]
Gil frequently refers to himself in the third person ("C'mon, help ol' Gil out here!") and has a tendency to scat with a "ha-cha-cha".
He has several health problems, including bronchitis and a bad back. He's also a strong moocher, and is adept at piano singalongs.[11]
Among the large number of jobs Gil has had is real estate agent. When Marge started working as a realtor, Lionel Hutz told her, "Welcome to the big league, Marge. There's over fifty years of experience right in this room! And forty-two of those years are Gil's!", which seemed to imply that before he ran into Marge, Gil actually kept professions.[12] He used to be a car salesman, but he didn't sell any. He was almost going to sell one to Homer, but another salesman took his sale.[13] He has sometimes tried to be a lawyer, like when he assisted Marge with her anti-sugar campaign, one of his few successful jobs,[14] though it was not the same when Homer and Marge went to prison.[15] He once worked at the Kwik-E-Mart, but he slipped and hurt his leg.[16] He used to work at The Springfield Shopper, trying to sell newspaper subscriptions, but one of the customers on the phone told him to dance for it. Although that person couldn't see Gil, he danced anyway, desperate to sell something.[17] He tried pitching a product for Amway - a multi-level marketing company - during an AA meeting after supposedly losing three jobs in two days.[18] He was a "Coleco" computer salesman, asking the school to buy lots of computers to help "Ol' Gil".[19]
One of his most miserable jobs was one as a bank security guard, where he was shot several times by robbers just as he was entering the bank for his first day of work.[8]
Gil got a job as a Mall Santa, where he brought a Malibu Stacy out of the back room stock for Lisa as a Christmas present, but it was for Mr. Costington's daughter, so he fired him. The Simpsons let him stay in their house for one night, but he brought all his stuff in and made it into an extended stay. He got on the entire family's nerves, but Marge found herself unable to kick him out because she could not say "no" to him. After an entire year, Gil finally moved to Scottsdale because he got a job as a house salesman. Marge still had to say "no" to him, so the family went to Scottsdale to talk to him. There, they discovered Gil was actually successful at this job, as everyone acclaimed him. But when Marge finally confronted Gil and shouted at him because of his being so annoying, Gil's co-workers thought was a miserable man, so he was fired. Marge regretted her actions and offered to buy a house in Scotsdale so Gil could keep his job. This was successful and Gil celebrated Christmas with the Simpsons again.[11]
Another of the few successful moments Gil has enjoyed is when he won a crossword contest, but only because he fooled Lisa by making her take his glasses, which he didn't actually need.[3]
Gil has had several homes. He once lived at the Springfield Men's Mission (a hostel for down-and-outs) but was forceably ejected from the premises because he had overstayed the "six month occupancy limit." A defiant Gil walked straight into a shady organ donation clinic to sell his eyes for cash.[20] Gil used to live in a hot-air balloon, which was stolen by Homer and Marge. Gil's lone possession in the balloon is a hot plate (on which he still had two more payments to make).[21] Gil has also been living in a storage locker.[22] He was once seen climbing out of a sewer before remembering that he lived there.[23]
Gil once attempted suicide by hanging himself with Christmas lights. He appears later ice skating near Homer's house with the Christmas lights around his neck.[24] He attempts suicide again by jumping off a building, only to be accidentally saved by Bart using a window cleaning lift.[25]
Gil nearly hit Snowball V in his car (just before Lisa adopted her), missing her and hitting a tree instead. Lisa saw the near-accident as a sign of good luck and decided to keep the cat, but Gil was left with a smashed-up and burning car. He still danced around celebrating, though, saying that thanks to insurance he'd be eating that night.[26]
Relationships[edit]
Gil has been married before, mentioning that his wife would leave him if he "didn't start bringing in the green". Telephoning her, he learns that his wife remains unfaithful, despite saying it was over, by catching the voice of Fred on the other side.[13] They would later divorce as Gil asks Marge to drive him pass his ex-wife's house.[11] In "Homer and Lisa Exchange Cross Words", he mentions his wife Shirley passing two years prior, though it is unclear if he is lying in order to have Lisa pity him and gain the upper hand in the crossword competition.[3]
Gil has dated a grandmother, borrowing her granddaughter to attend Daughter and Me classes at the Springfield Kid Kennel, and likely breaking up after Gil loses her.[27]
Gil joined a conspiracy group looking for Slow Leonard, who had gone missing from the Springfield Zoo. Elizabeth Hoover was also part of the group. When the two both reached for a ball of Mrs. McClellan's Evidence Yarn, their fingers locked together and the two fell in love with each other. They then eventually got married, with the rest of the group being guests at the wedding. When they found out that Slow Leonard had been found, the group was going to disband, and Gil and Miss Hoover decided that their relationship wouldn't work. However, they then decided to give their relationship a go.[4]
Non-canon[edit]
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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. |
Gil has also been seen as a farmer. He had a thriving field of corn which would have yielded a bumper crop, but unfortunately, it was completely devoured by Homer's clones. The clones then ate Gil.[28]
In The Simpsons Road Rage, Gil appears as a pedestrian throughout Springfield and can be run over.
In The Simpsons: Hit & Run, Gil works as a car salesman and in all levels the player character can buy vehicles from him.
The Simpsons: Tapped Out[edit]
- This section is transcluded from The Simpsons: Tapped Out characters/Special characters. To edit it, please edit the transcluded page.
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Behind the Laughter[edit]
Gil is based on Jack Lemmon's portrayal of Shelley Levene in the 1992 film adaptation of David Mamet's play Glengarry Glen Ross: a nervous, middle-aged man with the inability to hold a steady job due to strings of misfortunes that tend to hit him at the worst times.
Foreign dubs[edit]
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Appearances[edit]
References[edit]
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Wikisimpsons has a collection of images related to Gil Gunderson. |
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Super Franchise Me"
- ↑ "Better Off Ned"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Homer and Lisa Exchange Cross Words"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Habeas Tortoise"
- ↑ "Girl's in the Band"
- ↑ "'Tis the 30th Season"
- ↑ "Sky Police"
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "I Don't Wanna Know Why the Caged Bird Sings"
- ↑ "My Way or the Highway to Heaven"
- ↑ "Do PizzaBots Dream of Electric Guitars?"
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 "Kill Gil, Volumes I & II"
- ↑ "Realty Bites"
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Marge Simpson in: "Screaming Yellow Honkers""
- ↑ "Sweets and Sour Marge"
- ↑ "The Frying Game"
- ↑ "Eight Misbehavin'"
- ↑ "Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner?"
- ↑ "Days of Wine and D'oh'ses"
- ↑ "Lisa Gets an "A""
- ↑ "Old Yeller-Belly"
- ↑ "Natural Born Kissers"
- ↑ "Day of the Jackanapes"
- ↑ "The Changing of the Guardian"
- ↑ "'Tis the Fifteenth Season"
- ↑ "500 Keys"
- ↑ "I, (Annoyed Grunt)-bot"
- ↑ "I'm Just a Girl Who Can't Say D'oh"
- ↑ "Treehouse of Horror XIII"
Lawyers
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| Gloria Allred • F. Lee Bailey • Michael Bennet • Blue-haired lawyer • Wallace Brady • Steve Bullock • Caroline • Ronald Chaporo • Marcia Clark • Johnnie Cochran • Roy Cohn • Clarence Darrow • John Delaney • Roberto Dinero • Alan Dershowitz • Albert Dershman • District attorney • Clarisse Drummond • Atticus Finch • Maxwell Flinch • Giggles • Kirsten Gillibrand • Ruth Bader Ginsburg • Doctor Gonzo • John Grisham • Gil Gunderson • Kamala Harris • Anita Hill • Sunny Hostin • Hotshot lawyer • Lionel Hutz • Jay Inslee • John F. Kennedy, Jr. • Francis Scott Key • Krusty's lawyer • Larry H. Lawyer, Jr. • Ben Matlock • Ally McBeal • Andrew McCabe • Mitch McDeere • Roddy McDonut • Brody McKenna • Madison McKenna • Mob lawyer • Robert Mueller • Ralph Nader • Rob Porter • Portia • Robert Reich • Janet Reno • Geraldo Rivera • Roger Sherman • Rashida Tlaib • Andrew Yang • Larry H. Zeeblezorp |
The Simpsons: Tapped Out characters
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