10 Weird Early Versions Of TV Characters You Totally Forgot About

The early seasons of The Simpsons feature a lot of little differences from the Season 4’s start of the Golden Era and beyond.

Amongst these are the design of Moe’s, Lou the cop being white, Smithers being black, Ralph having Nelson’s voice and little to no personality, and Bart being the central focus rather than Homer.

These are just for starters, and most Simpsons fans are well aware of these differences, and plenty more besides.

What isn’t mentioned often though is the bizarre first appearance of Lenny and Carl.

Lenny appears in the ninth episode of the show, Life On The Fast Lane, where Marge falls for her bowling instructor Jacques. Coincidentally, this was the first episode of the show to win an Emmy, though that has little to do with Lenny Leonard’s debut.

His partner in crime, Carl Carlson, appears one episode later in Homer’s Night Out. This time, it’s Homer’s turn to wreck his marriage as he’s caught dancing with Princess Kashmir.

What’s weird about their appearances is that their voices are flipped: Lenny talks with Carl’s voice, and Carl with Lenny’s. Considering how accustomed we are to hearing them now, rewatching Season 1 can be very strange.