Larry Dalrymple is no more. The frequent regular of Moe’s Tavern was killed off in a recent episode of The Simpsons and fans are quite upset with the death of the long-time character.

While speaking with Variety, The Simpsons co-executive producer Tim Long apologizes for the death of Larry but offers an explanation for why they did it. “I’m sorry if some fans are upset, but we really wanted to use Larry’s death as a way to show that even the most peripheral people in our lives have dignity and worth, and that we really shouldn’t take anyone for granted,” Long said. “To paraphrase Shakespeare, nothing became Larry’s life like the way he left it: drunk, lonely, and with a butt full of sapphires.“

Long continued, “To me, it’s sort of fitting that some fans are taking Larry’s demise as hard as Homer and his friends do. It’s just a measure of how much the show still means to people. I mean, nobody would have been upset if the Flintstones had killed off the Great Gazoo. If anything, they would have been thrilled. The episode is about a lot of things, but mostly it’s about the fear of death. Simpsons characters have always had unusually rich emotional lives, and this episode is really about their anxiety over ‘what comes next’ (and I don’t mean ‘Krapopolis’). What I think is bittersweet about this episode is that it took Larry’s death to make Homer and his friends appreciate him — and each other.“

The producer pointed out that while they “certainly didn’t kill the character off lightly,” Larry wasn’t exactly one of the show’s breakout stars. “I don’t remember any kids wearing a ‘Larry’ t-shirt of doing a ‘Larry the drunk lonely barfly’ dance,” he said. “It would have been cool if they had.“

Despite speaking very few times on The Simpsons over the last thirty years, Larry’s history on the series goes back to the very first episode. With his death, he joins the exclusive ranks of Simpsons characters who have been killed off, including Maude Flanders, Frank Grimes, Mona Simpson, and Edna Krabappel.

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