Hans Moleman is one of The Simpsons' most consistent gag magnets -- a silly throwaway character who can be killed off and reappear an episode later, perfectly fine. He's only gotten a little true characterization over the years, as the show treats him with a loose sense of continuity. Sometimes he's elderly, sometimes he's young, sometimes he has a family, sometimes he's alone -- the character is completely in service to whatever situation makes his pitiable and exhausted existence darkly comedic.But in some episodes from the Golden Age of the show, the character almost got an unexpected extra layer of development. Select scenes would have given him a harsher (and even more hilarious) edge that might have changed his trajectory -- only for these scenes to get trimmed from their respective half-hours. Here's how The Simpsons nearly made Hans Moleman into one of Springfield's toughest characters, but instead left that on the cutting room floor.
Hans Moleman's Regular Role in The Simpsons
Hans Moleman is one of Springfield's most consistent joke characters, often appearing solely for the sake of a gag. A prototype of Moleman appeared in the original Simpsons shorts in The Tracey Ullman Show, before he became a recurring presence during Season 2. Almost every time he appears on screen, something goes wrong for Moleman -- up to and including death. Similar to Kenny from South Park, none of these fatal developments can bring him down for good.
As explained by longtime The Simpsons writer Tim Long in a retrospective for Vulture, Hans Moleman has steadily become a living reminder that even the best of times will have a downside. But he also speaks to the series' underlying theme of not giving up on life regardless of the challenges it throws. Yet the creatives behind The Simpsons have come close to subverting this by turning Moleman into a much tougher and cooler character, only to decide against it at the last minute.
How The Simpsons Almost Turned Moleman Into a Hero
The Simpsons Season 7's "22 Short Films About Springfield" was an anthology that focused on various minor characters of The Simpsons going through their average days. Writer Josh Weinstein revealed on Twitter that one sequence would have seen Moleman get a concussion from Rainier Wolfcastle and gain a new personality -- quickly becoming an action hero. After defeating Wolfcastle and stealing his car, Moleman would have beaten the consistently villainous Fat Tony at cards, confronted his evil twin brother and even met God, only to return to normal. It's a fun sequence due to its sheer absurdity, coupled with Moleman's established history as Springfield's most feeble citizen. But given the already stuffed episode, Moleman's adventure was cut.
That was only the first time Moleman got to be aggressive, only for the incident to get deleted. At the conclusion of Season 8's "Brother From Another Series," the money and gun dropped by Sideshow Bob's brother Cecil would have ended up at Moleman's feet. Although he quickly thanked God for the cash, Moleman would then take the gun, point it upwards and threaten God to give him more. Both noments highlight just how effective Moleman could have been if he was played for some edgier laughs.
Instead, the character has retained his bleak and pitiable existence, which only became sadder after the revelation that he used to be more important while serving as Springfield's mayor. The closest he's ever gotten to a respectable position since was a throwaway reveal that he's king of the Mole People in Season 11's "Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder." If Moleman had gained that harsher edge, other episodes might have highlighted a fascinating dichotomy for the character. Instead, Hans Moleman remains one of Springfield's most regular punching bags.
The Simpsons airs Sundays at 8:00 p.m. on Fox and streams on Disney+ and Hulu.