Vents Magazine Music and Entertainment Magazine 
Related Articles
Hi-Diddly-Ho, Interneterino! We can imagine Ned Flanders, neighbor of Homer Simpson and the Simpson family, greeting you in such a fashion. Neighbors are staple characters in sitcoms. They can be wise, like Wilson on Home Improvement. They can be nosy, like Gladys Kravitz on Bewitched. And they can be nuisances, which is often how Homer views Ned on The Simpsons. Of course, the irony here is that, in anything, Ned should view Homer as the annoyance. That’s not our Neddy, though.
If you think of Ned Flanders, there are a few things that likely come to mind. There’s the mustache and sweater, of course. However, you also probably think of him as being extremely religious. He’s the most-devout Christian in Springfield, even moreso than Reverend Lovejoy. He shelters his kids and wouldn’t dare to go against the word of the Bible. In the early days of The Simpsons, though, this was not the case. In fact, going back and watching the first couple seasons of the show would give you glimpses of a Ned Flanders you would barely recognize today.
Ned’s original role was to be the neighbor Homer hated, but not because of anything wrong Ned had done. No, it’s because of everything Ned has that Homer doesn’t. Homer hates Ned because he’s envious of Ned’s financial situation, his loving family, his polite children, his well-maintained house. Flanders is also unfailingly nice, which is not something Homer could ever dream of attaining. This is, after all, a man who used to make it a habit of cartoonishly strangling his son Bart.
This is best exemplified by the season two episode Dead Putting Society. You may recall it as the episode where Bart and Todd Flanders go head-to-head in a miniature golf competition. Homer pushes Bart into the competition, and pressures him to win, solely because he wants to show up Ned. Why? Because earlier in the episode Ned invites Homer to his house so they can share a beer in his new rec room. To Homer, this is Ned showing off how well he has it, which sets him off. Ned asks Homer to leave, and then feels so bad about it that he writes a letter of apology, which Homer mocks.
This story culminates with Homer and Ned betting on their kids, with the loser having to mow the lawn in their wife’s best Sunday dress. When Bart and Todd decide they want to call it a draw, Homer insists this means both men have to do it. Homer is frustrated, but Ned actually finds the whole thing fun. In fact, he says that it reminds him of his fraternity days in college.
Inviting Homer over to have a beer in his basement rec room? Being in a frat in college? These do not feel like traits we associate with our pious Ned Flanders. That’s because that version of Ned did not exist in season two. It was an evolution of the character, one that was plausible but definitely an addition that was not there at first. Now, it’s been decades of Ned getting more and more religious, making an episode like “Dead Putting Society” feel almost jarring. Ned has always been a good neighbor to Homer, but it’s interesting to remember that he wasn’t always the devout Christian that he is today. The killer mustache was always there, though.
