8. Homer Was Originally Almost A Completely Different Character
Everyone knows Homer as the lovable and dim-witted Simpsons patriarch who can be a jerk sometimes but is ultimately a loving father and husband who means well. But before Homer took on the whole 'dog stuck in a person's body' persona that everyone knows and loves, his initial characterisation was considerably different. During the first couple of seasons, Homer was initially quite an angry and oppressive father who was worried about his family and was portrayed as somewhat of the straight man in the family. This was gradually changed as the show shifted focus from Bart and more towards Homer. By dropping his intelligence and making him more of a lovable and sincere dope, the writers could find a greater range of jokes and stories to tell that just wasn't possible with Bart. Even Homer's dopey voice was considerably different in the first season. Dan Castellaneta initially voiced Homer as a loose Walter Matthau impression but found that he couldn't sustain the voice for too long without losing the ability to talk. Castellaneta decided to change it up for the sake of his vocal cords and came up with Homer's distinctive voice when he decided to, as he put it, "let his IQ go".
My life story is nothing special. I haven't cured ebola, I'm nowhere near stopping terrorism, and I'm still working on that climate change problem.
Instead, all I've done so far is put a few hundred words together in an attempt to make people laugh.
You can follow me at @Fry_ying_pan but don't be offended if I don't tweet back. It's usually because I've spent too long trying to think up a witty response that the reply window has closed.
