Why The Simpsons Killed Off A Character After 27-Year Absence

In the “Simpsons” episode “The Yellow Lotus” (October 6, 2024), the titular family finds themselves staying at a high-end resort. Unbeknownst to the hotel staff, the Simpsons are squatting there, sleeping in a luggage suite that is being used by a very wealthy guest: the new wife of their old nemesis, Sideshow Bob (Kelsey Grammer). As “Simpsons” fans can tell you, shenanigans will inevitably ensue. Oh yes, and murder. Murder will possibly ensue. The episode begins with Home and Marge finding a dead body in the ocean.

As with most “Simpsons” plots, the explanation as to how our heroes came to be at the resort is a little convoluted. It seems that Marge (Julie Kavner) and Homer (Dan Castellaneta) have been investing in a timeshare for the last decade, having begun when Marge was still pregnant with Bart. When the time finally comes for the family to enjoy their timeshare vacation, they find their decade of investment has only earned them 20 minutes on the property. Hence, why they sneak back into the property and squat in the luggage storage suite.

This shady timeshare deal was, as seen in a flashback, orchestrated by Nick Callahan (Hank Azaria), a character who gave them a very hard sell, pretty much aggressively admitting that it was a scam. Homer and Marge, luckily, have a chance to confront Nick Callahan in the present, as he too is staying at the resort. He admits that it was a scam and that he has bigger and better scams going now. Homer and Marge are dejected that they cannot stop him. In a fit of karmic justice, however, Nick is savaged by a drugged-up otter. He does not survive.

Speaking with ScreenRant about “The Yellow Lotus” and other episodes in “The Simpsons” season 36, series producer Al Jean reminded readers that the now-late Nick Callahan was actually a returning character, previously seen in the episode “Realty Bites,” which premiered on December 7, 1997.

In “Realty Bites,” Marge is walking home (Homer bought a criminal’s car at a police auction and she refuses to ride in it) when she runs into Lionel Hutz (Phil Hartman) selling a home in the neighborhood. Marge gets the idea that she, too, would be a good housing saleswoman, and immediately moves to get her realtor’s license. She studies hard, gets her certificate, and secures a job with Red Blazer Realty, happy to be wearing the appropriate uniform. While being shown around the office, Marge is introduced to Nick Callahan, the ultra-cool star of the office. He says “Boo-yah” when he makes a sale, and has phone conversations with a fancy headset. “I thought those only existed in the movies!” Marge notes. Recall that the episode aired in 1997.

Al Jean, when overseeing “The Yellow Lotus,” noted that it would have more impact on the series if they were to kill a known character. Plus, in writing a parody of the popular genre-blending satirical series “The White Lotus,” a death was necessary. Okay, maybe Nick Callahan wasn’t exactly known, but he was at least a preexisting character. As Jean put it:

“We, this past week after the premiere, killed off Nick the Realtor from season 9 in ‘The Yellow Lotus,’ a ‘White Lotus’ parody. It’s kind of convenient because you have this thing like ‘The White Lotus’ where you know someone’s going to die, but it’s not going to be Dr. Hibbert, and it’s not going to be Sideshow Bob. So, it is a character — that guy Nick — but it’s also somebody that’s okay to lose because he hasn’t been on the show for 27 years.”

“The Simpsons” is typically ginger about death, permanently killing only the ultra-cool jazz musician Bleeding Gums Murphy and the square Christian homemaker Maude Flanders in the past (the assumed dead Dr. Marvin Monroe came back). Nick Callahan wasn’t exactly deeply beloved, or even really remembered, so it may be safe to assume he’s out of the show for good.

OR IS HE?

(Yeah, he probably is.)