The Simpsons: 10 Classic Characters You’ll Never See Again

Speaking of Springfield’s school board, where would The Simpsons be without Principal Skinner?

The bureaucratic bookworm was always a strong cornerstone of the show, playing the perfect foil to the rebellious Bart and featuring in several moments that have become classic meme templates and viral hits. Naturally, he’s not going anywhere.

So let’s get into the controversy that is The Principal and the Pauper.

In this season 9 episode, a party in Skinner’s honour is crashed by a war veteran who claims to be the real Seymour Skinner. It’s then explained that the Principal - real name Armin Tamzarian - returned from Vietnam to tell Agnes Skinner of her son’s presumed passing but wound up pretending to be him instead to save the heartbreak.

The episode, memorably, finishes right where it began. Despite this revelation, the real Skinner (played by Hollywood mega star Martin Sheen) is tied up and sent out of town and Springfield agrees to never speak of it again, on threat of death.

Whilst this might’ve been a gag, it’s something that the show has pretty much kept to with very few exceptions ever since surely just because of the backlash. Fans hated the episode and it’s often called the end of the show’s golden era.

As such, the real Seymour Skinner will never be seen, heard from or likely mentioned ever again.