| Moe Szyslak
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| Character Information
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Moe Szyslak is a character voiced by Hank Azaria and previously by Christopher Collins. Moe is the proprietor and bartender of "Moe's Tavern", a Springfield bar frequented by Barney Gumble, Homer Simpson, Carl Carlson, Lenny Leonard, Sam, Larry and others.
Role in The Simpsons
Moe is the owner, and except for a few instances where temporary help is hired, the only employee of Moe's Tavern. His most loyal customer is Barney Gumble, with other regulars including Homer Simpson, Lenny Leonard, Carl Carlson, Sam and Larry. Moe is notoriously cheap with his customers, refusing to give them free drinks, or throwing them out when they are out of money. He also wants his customers to drink as much as possible, as then their tab will grow larger. Once, when Homer asked Moe where the dart board was, Moe said, "we're phasing out the games, people drink less when they're having fun."
Moe generally serves Duff beer on tap, having little knowledge of liquors or wines; the liquor bottles visible behind the bar are said to be "painted on," and in one instance, he unknowingly sells an 1888 bottle of Château Latour for a few dollars. In one case, he wonders if gin and tonic mix.Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag Further inspiration was drawn from comedian Rich Hall, an acquaintance of The Simpsons writer George Meyer. Hall considered being the basis for Moe "an honour."[1] Moe's surname "Szyslak" was revealed in "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One)", the writers found the name in a phonebook and gave it to Moe so that he would have the initials M.S., and hence could be a suspect in the Burns shooting.[2] He was designed by Dan Haskett.[3]
Moe was the first voice Hank Azaria performed for the show, replacing Christopher Collins who had voiced the character in several previous episodes. At the time of his audition, Azaria was doing a play in which he had the part of a drug dealer, basing his voice on Al Pacino in Dog Day Afternoon. He used the same voice in the audition, and was told by Matt Groening and Sam Simon to make it more gravelly, with it becoming the voice of Moe. Groening and Simon thought it was perfect and took Azaria over to the Fox recording studio. Before he had even seen a script, he recorded several lines of dialogue as Moe for the episode "Some Enchanted Evening".[4][5]. Also in earlier seasons he was seen with black hair instead of his current grey hair.
Real name
In Flaming Moe's, his hired waitress Collette calls him "Morris". Yet, in The Springfield Connection, Homer discretely hints that Moe's official name is "Momar" and Moe cringes with humiliation. It can be suggested that Momar is his real name and he just simply told Collette to call him Morris, because he figured she'd think it was a stupid name or he was being arrogant.
In Video Games
In The Simpsons Road Rage Moe is a character that you can unlock later in the game and drive him. In the brief video when you select his car you can see that he is smuggling a panda, which can be seen in an episode You can also pick him up as a passenger while driving as another character. In the Entertainment District (the second location) you start off right next to his bar.
Appearances
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References
- ↑ Will Parkhouse. "TV gossip - Inspiration for barman Moe revealed"Orange. Retrieved on 2007-10-26.
- ↑ Oakley, Bill. (2005). The Simpsons season 6 DVD commentary for the episode "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One)" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
- ↑ Silverman, David. (2001). The Simpsons season 1 DVD commentary for the episode "Bart the Genius" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
- ↑ Template:Cite interview
- ↑ Azaria, Hank. (2004). The Simpsons The Complete Fifth Season DVD commentary for the episode "[Homer's Barbershop Quartet]]" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
External links
Episode – "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" 
– The Simpsons Movie 
Comic story – The Amazing Colossal Homer 
