Oh, rats!
There are certain characters that become so ingrained in pop-culture that they seem to take on a life of their own. We all know that The Simpsons has fallen from grace, but at its peak, nothing could match its brilliance and hilarious cast of characters.
We reckon that in terms of gags-per-minute, nobody could top the utterly brilliant Hans Moleman.
Who doesn’t love an elderly old man that’s seemingly indestructible and tastes like a peanut?
Moleman is a pretty interesting dude when you think about it. Throughout the show, we learn that the former Mayor of Springfield had an affair with Lars Ulrich’s grandmother, was a sugar truck driver for a while and always carries a gigantic knife in his pocket – handy when his renegade group the ‘Mole People’ rise up from the underground.
This being said, despite his obvious qualities, no one’s gay for Moleman.
Throughout the history of The Simpsons, it’s his hilarious bad luck that makes him a TV great. Who else could survive all of the following; their car blowing up, the electric chair, being buried alive, left in an X-ray machine, catching on fire via the sun and having an electric drill planted into their brains?
All this without mentioning the fact that he got trapped by a pack of wild birds and needed “the biggest seed bell you have. No, that’s too big”
Yes, he’s pathetic and tragic but there’s also something that’s oddly lovable about Hans.
This being said, Moleman almost got his moment to shine in the iconic 22 Short Films About Springfield episode and it’s somewhat fitting that his moment of glory was taken away.
The Simpsons writer and producer Josh Weinstein has revealed that there was a deleted scene that featured Moleman being a badass gangster that beats the crap out of Fat Tony’s thugs.
One tantalizing page of the long crazy Moleman story we cut entirely from “22 Short Films” where the joke was he was acting out of character pic.twitter.com/WIphDbljQW
— Josh Weinstein (@Joshstrangehill) October 29, 2017
Had this scene been kept in the episode, who knows where Moleman’s career may have gone? He could have been the next Arnie, Bruce Willis or The Rock?
After all, he does have a violent side.
Then again, we all know that drinking has ruined his life. He’s 31 years old! Poor Hans, it’s obvious that this will always be his most memorable moment.
It works on so many levels.
