12 Greatest One-Off Simpsons Characters
5. Very Tall Man
At its peak, The Simpsons could be the smartest show on TV, weaving deft satire with pop cultural savviness and a razor sharp critique of the modern American family. Sometimes, though, all they needed to do was create a very tall character with a very silly voice and they’d have nothing short of gold.
The Very Tall Man shows up at the end of "22 Short Films About Springfield", one of the most gag-heavy episodes ever made, and pretty much steals the show. The sketch is beautifully simple - Nelson laughs at his hunched appearance driving an insufficiently sized car; the Very Tall Man chases the bully through the streets, and gives him a public dressing down and humiliation.
The beauty is in the voice, a daffy drawl beautifully performed by Hank Azaria. It’s a high concept episode, but its biggest laughs come from comically simple sources, like a big beanpole of a man exacting revenge on the town bully.
The Very Tall Man makes a few further background appearances, but there was really nowhere else to go with the character. He’s a one joke creation - but what a joke it is.