0054 - Dr J Loren Pryor (Patreon)

The evolution of the show's priorities is constantly on display in these early episodes. It's clear that a lot of thought was put into the world they were building, defining how the lead characters would interact with their surroundings, leaving room for a variety of conflict.

Sometimes these plans emerge organically. I have a feeling we have many examples coming up of characters who were created as one-dimensional joke delivery outlets, who later become fan favourites and appear many more times. Professor John Frink would be an example of this - a silly wacky scientist who over many years becomes an actual notable citizen of Springfield.

And at the other end, we have Dr J Loren Pryor.

I can see how a school psychologist would be a useful character to keep in the show's box of tricks. With two kids attending the school, you would naturally assume there would be plenty of opportunities for them to butt heads with this guy. The children encounter some kind of problem, this authority figure gets to put it into words for the audience. With Groening's sensibilities, I could even see how he could be used as a commentary on how we are not giving kids the treatment they deserve. Pryor is resented as somewhat competent, but I'm sure this would devolve with repeated appearances. In "Bart the Genius," he's an ally to Skinner, with both of them pitted against our main character, Bart.

Pryor appears a handful more times after this, filling that category of "recognisable but not significant", but ultimately is forgotten about. His most notable appearance after this in in season nine's "Lisa's Sax," in a flashback. Perhaps this was an intentional knowing nod, referring to this character as a thing of the past, no longer relevant in the "current" timeline of the show.

His first name is James, in case you were wondering.

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