The Simpsons: Flanders Family

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In the animated series The Simpsons, the Flanders are a family consisting of Ned, Maude, and their two sons Rod and Todd.

Their home phone number is 555-8904.

Ned (short for Nedward) Flanders is voiced by Harry Shearer. Ned, along with the rest of his family, is a deeply devout Christian, and is often used to satirize the sheer niceness of doggedly upbeat born-again evangelicals. Homer once said that Ned is even holier than Jesus.

Ned has the habit of attaching "diddly" and other nonsense phrases to sentences ("Hi-diddly-ho"). He quit his earlier career as a pharmacist to open a store in the mall called The Leftorium, which specializes in products for left-handed people. Ned presumably named his sons Rod and Todd because both names rhyme with God. (An alternate theory on their names is that they are meant to rhyme with Maude, their mother, whom Ned worships to the point of idolatry.) Despite an outward appearance of exceeding meekness, Ned has an exceptionally well-built physique under his sweater-vest. This is even more impressive upon considering that Ned is actually a very young-looking senior citizen at the age of 60 as evidenced in the season 10 episode AABF06 "Viva Ned Flanders".

Ned was raised by two nihilistic beatniks whose terrible parenting skills made him a childhood terror. He was eventually put on an experimental eight-month spanking therapy program (the University of Minnesota Spankological Protocol) which taught him to suppress all feelings of anger.

Despite his firm religious beliefs, Ned is quite timid and often insecure. He is obsessed with following the Bible as literally as possible, "even the stuff that contradicts the other stuff" and is easily shocked when someone challenges his beliefs. This leads to his frequent calls to Reverend Lovejoy ("I... I think I'm coveting my own wife!") who gets increasingly frustrated with Flanders ("Ned, have you tried any of the other major religions? They're pretty much the same"). His sons are very sheltered and raised in an extremely strict climate of hardcore Christian morality. Most entertainment enjoyed by the family involves religion in some way. For instance, the family has at least five different Trivial Pursuit sets relating to different versions of the Bible.

There was a relative of Flanders who served in World War II. He was a superior to Sgt. Abe Simpson. (Note: When Abe threatened to report Pvt. Burns to Flanders, Abe indicates that his rank was commander, which isn't a rank in the United States Army).

Family

Maude Flanders was a devout Christian who attended Bible camp to learn to be more judgmental. She campaigned against Itchy and Scratchy with Marge. She died in a sporting accident — she was knocked off a grandstand when a volley of gift T-shirts shot from compressed-air cannons struck her while Homer was distracted from catching the shirts, due to finding a bobby-pin. Her dream of opening a Christian-themed amusement park was posthumously realized by the grieving Ned, who memorialized her with the motto: "She taught us the joy of shame and the shame of joy." It is rumored that Maude was killed off because her voice actress demanded more money, and was denied; other sources say the actress was tired of multi-state commutes for only occasional work.

Rod Flanders is voiced by Nancy Cartwright, while Todd Flanders is voiced by Pamela Hayden. In the earlier episodes they are shown as students of Springfield Elementary, but in the later episodes they are shown as being home schooled. They are also extremely insectophobic (particularly moths and ladybugs), a behavior probably learned from their father, as he considers an insect flying near someone an "attack." Rod also has diabetes. It has been implied that in the future, the two become homosexuals.

We also know that Ned has a very large extended family, as seen in his family reunion in the episode Lisa the Vegetarian. The two members mentioned are Jose Flanders and Lord Thistlewick Flanders, who seems to consider himself above the whole silly talking, and seems to be the only one in the family to do so. He replies to Homer's introduction with "Charmed," and only with prodding from Ned does he add "a googily...doogily."

The Greenbelt Christian arts festival sometimes runs a Ned Flanders lookalike contest in tribute to one of TV's best-known Christians.

Relationship with the Simpsons

The Flanders live next door to The Simpsons, and these two families could not be more different. The Flanders are well-kept, pious individuals. Constantly being harassed by The Simpsons, they have surprisingly gone through a lot. Homer was in one episode good friends with Ned, but became obsessed with spending time with him. At the end of the episode, everything was back to normal. When Bart and Lisa were taken into protective custody by child services from their 'unfit' parents, the Flanders were their foster parents, and almost went through with baptizing them, if Homer hadn't saved them. Bart tied with Todd in a ego-boosting golf tournament. Ned and Homer took a wild trip to Las Vegas, where, in their inebriation, married some waitresses. Even with all the crazy things that happen to them, the Flanders and The Simpsons have managed to live together for all these years.

"The Adventures of Ned Flanders"

The Adventures of Ned Flanders was a short that appeared at the end of the episode "The Front". Here, the Flanders dedication to religion and perfect family niceness is yet again highlighted when Ned almost scolds his kids, who refuse to get ready for church, only to soon realize that it is Saturday.

The short featured a theme song titled Everyone Loves Ned Flanders.

Hens Love Roosters

Geese Love Ganders

Everyone else loves Ned Flanders

Not me! (spoken by Homer)

Everyone who counts loves Ned Flanders!

"Everybody Hates Ned Flanders"

Everybody Hates Ned Flanders was a torch song Homer wrote in episode "Dude, Where's My Ranch?" In the beginning, Homer tries to write a Christmas song when Ned comes in and irritates him by trying to assist in the song. Homer then created the song which starts...

Everybody in the USA,

Hates their stupid neighbor,

He's Flanders and he's really, really laaaaame,

Flanders tried to wreck my song,

His views on birth control are wrong,

I hate his guts and Flanders is his name

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