0017 - Phil the Reporter (Patreon)

This is it: the LAST character from Bart the Hero. We did it people, time to celebrate in the streets.

I had to add that "may be Bill" caveat because the only way to watch these shorts is on YouTube, from old garbled recordings. I think Bart calls him Phil, so until we get a 4K restoration mastered from the original cels and recordings then that's the best we are getting.

One unexpected part of covering these shorts is encountering all these proto-characters. Functionally this character has no advantage over Kent Brockman, but Kent has yet to be invented, so we get this guy. You'll probably have noticed how few of the characters so far get any lasting legacy, but instead are replaced by more familiar versions. We don't need Burglar, we get Snake. We don't need police officer, we get Wiggum. We don't need Phil, we get Kent. But at this point, the world of Springfield has yet to find its feet.

Anyhoo, last chance to get all your Bart the Hero feelings out before we move on. We're actually approaching the end of the shorts entirely! Then only 33+ seasons and a movie to go. Oh my.

This post is part of my "Every Simpsons Character Ever" series. For a list of my rules in this project, click here.