On Twitter, former Simpsons showrunner Josh Weinstein once shared an unused script in which Moleman leads a double life as an action hero in the mold of James Bond and has a twin brother named Etienne, and his alter egos get even more surreal. Moleman’s complexion has fluctuated inexplicably between yellow and brown, and Homer has described kissing his head as “like kissing a peanut.” Deepening the mystery, the seemingly meek Moleman “has been described as a great lover,” according to Jean, and his biography, which bears a photo of him sitting on a motorcycle, is titled Magnificent Bastard: The Life and Loves of Hans Moleman. So what does he do? Here’s where the plot thickens like Moleman-brand gruel: It’s established that Hans is the former mayor of Springfield, but he is seen working a variety of wildly different jobs, including hot-dog vendor, prison librarian, early morning radio DJ, and janitor at the nuclear power plant.
Meanwhile, while his license identifies him as a professional driver and he’s often seen driving commercial trucks, he never does so with anything approaching competence. In the season-four episode “Duffless,” Hans makes the startling claim at an AA meeting that alcohol has ruined his life and that he’s actually only 31 years old. In that first appearance, Moleman is referred to in the script simply as “KINDLY OLD GENT,” and an internal Simpsons memo from the time refers to him derisively as the “potato-looking man.” These days, Jean says, Groening “loves him as much as anybody.” So naturally, the writers decided to keep bringing him back. “At the color screening, Matt Groening stood up and said, ‘This should never appear on the show again,’” Jean recalls. “It really stood out as being kind of not a Simpsons regular design, almost like a mole, though in human form,” says Jean, who notes that Moleman was “a little contrived and a little weird” and didn’t look like a typical Simpsons human should. It turns out that Moleman’s peculiar appearance nearly got him axed right away.Īccording to Jean, The Simpsons has an internal rule set by the show’s creator Matt Groening that background characters shouldn’t look more unusual than main characters, and the odd-looking Moleman stuck out like a withered thumb. Speaking to Vulture, longtime Simpsons showrunner and executive producer Al Jean spoke fondly of Moleman and reflected on how the character came to be and how it nearly didn’t. It’s the first piece of bad luck of the many that would follow. Moleman first appeared in season two’s “Principal Charming,” where we see him struggling with the eye chart at the DMV while Patty and Selma Bouvier discuss their weekend plans before revoking his license. A feeble and nearsighted old man who often meets with an unfortunate end, Moleman has been appearing on the show for nearly 30 years and is easily one of the oddest background characters in the Simpsons’ vast chorus. There is no character in the Simpsons universe more mysterious, or more raisinlike, than Hans Moleman.