5. Zapp Brannigan Was Originally Written For Phil Hartman
20th Television
Sadly, a more tragic fact now.
Two of the greatest side characters in The Simpsons are Troy McClure and Lionel Hutz, both of whom were voiced by the late Phil Hartman. Hartman was a key member of Saturday Night Live throughout the nineties, and starred in numerous films.
Known for his dry delivery and impressions, Hartman had stolen several episodes on The Simpsons and so creator Matt Groening was determined to have him involved in his next show, which of course went on to be Futurama. Groening specifically wrote the part of Zapp Brannigan for Hartman, with the actor preparing to voice the character in 1998.
Tragically, Hartman was murdered by his wife that same year. The part of Brannigan then went to Fry voice actor Billy West, who channelled the late comedian's voice in his portrayal.
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
