The Simpsons: 10 Greatest One-Time Characters
6. John
The Episode: "Homer's Phobia" (Season 8, Episode 15)
The Voice Actor: John Waters
In its heydey, nobody could beat this show for the way it tackled issues that no other shows were willing to consider, and "Homer's Phobia" is a prime example of that. The main plot of the episode saw Homer making friends with John, the proprietor of a campy store - Cockamamie's Collectibles Shop - only to later discover he's gay.
John, voiced by a perfectly cast John Waters (yes, that John Waters), is essentially playing a version of John Waters, but his turn here is incredibly memorable for a number of reasons... and it's not just dow to the gay themes and storyline.
Firstly, John feels less like a caricature and more like a real, three-dimensional person, thanks to Waters' natural line-readings and laissez-faire attitude. His appearance also cast everybody's favourite fictional family in a strange light: John felt very modern when he met the Simpsons in 1997, in a way that made the family almost seem archaic, Flintstones-esque, and it was refreshing to see these two worlds collide.
Though the subject matter was deemed controversial at the time, John - as a character - ultimately cemented himself as one of the show's great achievements.