Gonzo and ChefRich highlights Ms. Krabappel’s impact on ‘The Simpsons’

GONZO GREEN: The world lost a truly great talent last Friday with the passing of Marcia Wallace, a brilliantly hilarious actor and voice artist, and an all-around eccentric, entertaining personality. A native of Iowa, Marcia was born in 1942 in Ceston, and graduated from Parsons College in Fairfield. After moving to New York City with only $148 to her name, Marcia eventually established herself as a successful actress, soon becoming a regular on the The Merv Griffin Show, and finding a breakout role as the sarcastic secretary on The Bob Newhart Show. Marcia was later a featured player on numerous game shows, including Match Game, Password Plus, Super Password, Hollywood Squares, The $25,000 Pyramid, and Win, Lose, or Draw. Her unique voice was instantly recognizable, and her personality was often as frank as many of her characters; never being afraid to speak her mind in a blunt and blaring way. Once on Match Game she ignored all the family-friendly answers to the show’s typical double entendres phrases, and famously answered “genitalia.” Keep in mind, seeing the word “genitalia” on TV in the 1970s was today’s equivalent of seeing a word like (EDITOR’S NOTE: Term omitted. Not even sure exactly what it means, but it would undoubtedly be extremely offensive to a lot of people.)

ChefRich: Good God.

However, Marcia Wallace’s most famous role was probably Mrs. Krabappel, Bart’s apathetic, snarky, cougar of a teacher on The Simpsons.

Not many of you are old enough to remember The Bob Newhart Show, but it actually holds a pretty solid place in my childhood. Growing up with my grandparents living so close to me, there were copious amounts of chances to sleep over at their place during the summers. And as you could expect, Nick At Night was prominent after Jeopardy and “The Wheel” finished up on the TV. So amongst M.A.S.H., Dragnet, and Happy Days, I can distinctly remember catching glimpses of Marcia as she sat behind the secretary’s desk as I munched on chocolate ice cream way too late at night. But I never placed that character and Mrs. Krabappel together, as I never really watched Newhart after the age of 8. However, Mrs. K actually played a bit part in my favorite Simpsons episode of all time, entitled “One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish.” Remember the sushi chef left and went to “date” that lady in his car? The person who caused his “skilled hands” to be “busy” was our fair maiden, Edna Krabappel.

Of course! An oft-repeated joke, Mrs. K was notorious for her countless lustful and brief flings with many of Springfield’s least eligible bachelors. Everyone knows of her longer term relationships with Ned Flanders and Principal Skinner, but she was also known to have dated (or something like that) Krusty, Sideshow Bob, Moe, Cletus, Comic Book Guy, both Lenny AND Carl, and Joey Kramer of Aerosmith, just to name a few. There were also passing references to Bart switching her birth control pills with Tic-Tacs, and a sultry little balloon striptease that Edna performed at the Springfield Elementary Talent show – all of which added to her promiscuous personality.

But like many of the supporting characters on The Simpsons, it isn’t always about having a stand-alone persona, but instead a character that can interact with the Simpson family and serve the needs of different episodes. Edna was a perfect foil to Bart’s schoolyard mischief (Telling him in “Kamp Krusty” to have a ‘D-lightful summer) and a leader amongst the teachers at Springfield Elementary (see “The PTA Disbands.”) However, on a deeper level, Mrs. Krabappel represented the very state of the current U.S. public school system. Once a spirited, optimistic, and enthusiastic entity, both are now downtrodden, worn-out, and lackadaisical. Marcia Wallace enabled the character to express all these traits, and placed her mark on over 100 episodes of the longest-running scripted show in television history.

I personally don’t believe in an afterlife, but I’d still like to think there’s a special little place for Phil Hartman, Michael Jackson, Rodney Dangerfield, Gary Coleman, and the rest of the deceased former Simpsons guest voices. If so, Marcia would be at the front of the pack, looking down on all of us, and saying “HA!”

In closing, we leave you with some words courtesy of Edna Krabappel; ones that we should always apply to our lives: “Life’s too short for fire safety, let’s go outside and pick wildflowers!”

(@chefrichBB) kissed the teacher?! EEWWWW!

(@Gonzo_Green) says, “Wait a minute: Bart’s teacher is named Krabappel? I’ve been calling her Krandall! Why didn’t someone tell me?! Aw, I’ve been making an idiot out of myself!”