10 Best Simpsons Characters Who Debuted After The Golden Age

Declan Desmond is a documentary maker who often films Springfield, seemingly because he enjoys the superiority he feels over town. Because of this, he’s clashed with Lisa on occasion, but he’s always provided laughs whether he’s the focal point or a bit part.

Desmond is voiced by Monty Python’s Eric Idle, but is himself a parody of David Attenborough. Twice his documentaries have been the driving force of the episode, but on other occasions he’s been used as a minor TV gag, really making him feel like part of the town. However, likely due to Idle’s schedule, his appearances are becoming more fleeting.

In his first major role, he’s filming ‘American Boneheads’, and we see many Springfield Elementary kids being interviewed to camera, a la The Office or Modern Family. Desmond’s humour usually comes from the editing (showing Milhouse talk about bringing an MLB star then striking out embarrassingly), or from sarcastic put-downs of his subjects.

When he returns to film Growing Up Springfield, we see the same formula applied to the adults. The whole episode is a fairly clever parody of Michael Apted’s Up series, and it’s a shame we don’t see more high concept stuff from Desmond.