Nedward "Ned" Flanders Jr., commonly referred to by his surname, is a recurring character in the animated television series The Simpsons, voiced by Harry Shearer and first appearing in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire." He is the good-natured, cheery next-door neighbor to the Simpson family and is generally perceived as annoying by Homer Simpson, though there are numerous instances where the two are portrayed as good friends. A scrupulous and devout Evangelical Christian, he is among the friendliest and most compassionate of Springfield's residents and is generally considered a pillar of the Springfield community.
He was one of the first characters outside the immediate Simpson family to appear on the show, and has since been central to several episodes, the first being season two's "Dead Putting Society". As the series progressed, Flanders's religious fanaticism increased immensely, prompting the coining of the term "Flanderization" to refer to the phenomenon of exaggerating certain traits of a fictional character to the point of redefining the character around them. His last name comes from Flanders Street in Portland, Oregon, the hometown of Simpsons creator Matt Groening.
Characterization Creation
Ned Flanders, who was designed by Rich Moore, first appeared in the season one episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". The episode was the series premiere, but not the first episode produced.Silverman, David (2001). Commentary for "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", in The Simpsons: The Complete First Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox. The first episode in which Flanders and his family were prominent is season two's "Dead Putting Society", which also contained the first appearance of Maude and Rod Flanders.Jean, Al (2002). Commentary for "Dead Putting Society", in The Simpsons: The Complete Second Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox. The character was named after Flanders Street in Portland, Oregon, the hometown of Simpsons creator Matt Groening. Groening described the inspiration for Flanders as "just a guy who was truly nice, that Homer had no justifiable reason to loathe, but then did". It was not until after the first few episodes that it was decided Flanders would be a faithful Christian. Mike Scully noted that Flanders is "everything Homer would love to be, although he'll never admit it". Flanders had been meant to be just a neighbor that Homer was jealous of, but Harry Shearer used "such a sweet voice" and Flanders was broadened to become a Christian and a sweet guy that someone would prefer to live next to over Homer. Flanders is known for his nonsensical jabbering, such as "Hi-diddly-ho, neighborino" as a greeting. His first use of the word "diddly" was in "The Call of the Simpsons".Jean, Al (2001). Commentary for "The Call of the Simpsons", in The Simpsons: The Complete First Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
Development
Ned Flanders' religion was not mentioned in his first few appearances and in the first few seasons he was only mildly religious and his primary role was to be so "cloyingly perfect as to annoy and shame the Simpsons", whereas Homer Simpson has always hated Ned Flanders and always tries to undermine him. There has been a consistent effort among the show's writers to make him not just a "goody good and an unsympathetic person". In the later seasons, Flanders has become more of a caricature of the Christian right, and his role as a "perfect neighbor" has been lessened. For example, in some recent episodes Flanders has appeared to show rather prejudiced attitudes towards women, non-whites, homosexuals and people of religions other than Christianity, including allusions towards antisemitism in the season 13 episodes 'Scuse Me While I Miss the Sky and A Star Is Born Again. Though he only ever showed homophobic signs in non-canon episodes, notably "Frinkenstein" where he says "I'm running to find a cure for homosexuality".
Ned's store, the Leftorium, first appeared in "When Flanders Failed".Jean, Al (2003). Commentary for "When Flanders Failed", in The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox. It was suggested by George Meyer,Reiss, Mike (2003). Commentary for "When Flanders Failed", in The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox. who had had a friend who had owned a left-handed specialty store that failed.Vitti, Jon (2003). Commentary for "When Flanders Failed", in The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
There have been at least two occasions where Ned was not voiced by Harry Shearer. In "Bart of Darkness", Flanders's high-pitched scream was performed by Tress MacNeilleGroening, Matt (2005). Commentary for "Bart of Darkness", in The Simpsons: The Complete Sixth Season DVD. 20th Century Fox. and in "Homer to the Max", Flanders comments about cartoons being easily able to change voice actors and on that occasion he was voiced by Karl Wiedergott.
The Adventures of Ned Flanders The Adventures of Ned Flanders was a "series" of shorts starring Flanders, but only one episode, "Love that God", was produced. It appears at the end of the fourth season episode "The Front" because the episode was too short and the producers had already tried "every trick in the book" to lengthen it.Reiss, Mike (2004). Commentary for "The Front", in The Simpsons: The Complete Fourth Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox. Although the episode was scripted by Adam I. Lapidus, "Love That God" was written by Mike Reiss, Al Jean and Sam Simon.Jean, Al (2004). Commentary for "The Front", in The Simpsons: The Complete Fourth Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox. In the 34-second-long segment, which comes complete with its own theme song, Ned walks into Rod and Todd's room as they are praying and tells them it is time for church. He is upset when Todd replies that they are not going, until Todd reminds him it is Saturday, and Ned laughs at his mistake.
Most fans were confused by the short, but Bill Oakley and several other writers loved it so much that they wanted to do more. Later, Oakley and Josh Weinstein decided to produce an entire episode that was nothing but loosely associated shorts, which became the season seven episode "22 Short Films About Springfield".Oakley, Bill (2005). Commentary for "22 Short Films About Springfield", in The Simpsons: The Complete Seventh Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox. The Flanders/Lovejoy segment of that episode was written by David X. Cohen. "22 Short Films about Springfield" in turn inspired the Futurama episode "Three Hundred Big Boys".Cohen, David S. (2005). Commentary for "22 Short Films About Springfield", in The Simpsons: The Complete Seventh Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
Role in The Simpsons Ned is frequently portrayed as adhering closely to Christian teachings on charity, kindness, and compassion. He is shown participating in volunteer work, and places a strong emphasis on honesty. In one episode, he spends an entire day tracking down a Leftorium customer in order to return change that he had forgotten to give them.
In "Homer's Triple Bypass", he donates a kidney and a lung out of pure generosity to whomever needs them first. He also is a good neighbor to the Simpsons, regularly offering his assistance. Ned's dogged friendship inspires the loyalty of others; when his Leftorium shop appeared on the verge of bankruptcy shortly after it opened, Homer arranged a bailout with the help of many people in Springfield. Despite a meek outward appearance, Ned hides an exceptionally well-toned physique.
The Simpsons' good neighbor In the early years of The Simpsons, Homer Simpson generally loathed Ned, because Ned's family, job, health and self-discipline are of higher quality than he could ever hope to attain himself. Homer is often shown "borrowing" (stealing) items from Flanders, such as a weather vane, a camcorder, a diploma, a toothbrush and an air conditioning unit. Even the Simpsons' couch came from "the curb outside Flanders' house". Homer has since come to have a love-hate relationship with Ned, sometimes being his best friend, partly due to Ned's selfless tolerance of him, and other times treating Ned with complete disregard. Homer seems to genuinely care for Ned, despite still expressing and often acting on feelings of loathing. Nowadays, Homer seems to regard Ned as more of his best friend. An early running joke was that Marge considers Flanders to be a perfect neighbor, and usually sides with him instead of her husband, which always enrages Homer. In "Left Behind," Homer succinctly states, "[Flanders] makes me feel so damn guilty!"
Religiosity
Ned Flanders is genuinely well-meaning and good-natured, one of the few such people in Springfield. Firmly religious, sometimes even being portrayed as an overly friendly people person. He can be timid and something of a pushover. He is a Republican and a devout Evangelical Christian who strictly follows the Bible literally and is easily shocked when challenged on any point of dogma. This causes frequent calls to Reverend Lovejoy, even over minuscule things, to the point that Lovejoy has stopped caring and has even suggested that Flanders try a different religion. This was a running joke in the early seasons, but has been used less in the later episodes.Jean, Al (2003). Commentary for "Bart the Lover", in The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox. In the eighth season, the episode "In Marge We Trust" would examine the relationship between Lovejoy and Flanders, and shows the history of their relationship and how Lovejoy became increasingly uninterested in Flanders' problems. Flanders is shown to have a room in his house filled with memorabilia of The Beatles. He claims that this is because they were "bigger than Jesus".
Family and job Ned is a widower, having been married to the equally religious Maude. They had two children together, the sheltered and naïve Rod and Todd Flanders. In the eleventh season episode "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily", Maude died an untimely death in a freak accident involving a T-shirt cannon, leaving Flanders alone and grieving. While still married to Maude, Ned married Ginger, while on a drunken bender in Las Vegas. Ginger came to live with Ned and his sons for a brief period following Maude's death in a later episode, but she quickly grew tired of the Flanders' sickly-sweet personalities and fled. Despite his outward nerdishness, Flanders has also been connected romantically with a beautiful Christian-rock singer, Rachel Jordan, movie star Sara Sloane and eventually marrying local teacher Edna Krabappel until she died as well.
Ned got his diploma from Oral Roberts University in an unspecified field and worked as a salesman in the pharmaceuticals industry for the bulk of his adult life. Having saved much of his earnings, Flanders decided to quit his job and invested his family's life savings into a store in the Springfield mall called the Leftorium specializing in products for left-handed people. In the fifth season episode, "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song", Superintendent Chalmers fires Ned Flanders, who has become principal after Skinner being sacked, only because he freely expresses his religious views in the school. However in the Season 29 episode "Left Behind", owing to declining sales, the Leftorium had been downsized from an outlet to a kiosk, eventually going out of business alongside the Sears outlet at Springfield Mall. Left unemployed, Flanders returned to Springfield Elementary School, finding a new job as Bart Simpson's new teacher and substituting the void left by his deceased second wife Edna Krabappel, as well as honoring her life dream. Flanders remained Bart's teacher until the Season 33 episode "My Octopus and a Teacher", at which point the role was assumed by Rayshelle Peyton.