The Simpsons' Duff Beer mascot Duffman is retired in new episode

Movieweb reports that The Simpsons' latest episode has the series' Duff Beer mascot, Barry Duffman, announce he has been "retired" by the Duff Corporation.

The episode, titled "Seperance," a parody of Apple TV's Severance, opens with Barry trying to recruit Homer for a company called EOD (Enthusiasm on Demand) and includes Duffman saying, "The Duff Corporation has retired that character forever. All the old forms of advertising are now passé. Corporate spokesmen, print ads, TV spots. Today's kids can't even sing the jingles." The installment has Duffman navigating different personalities and by its end appears as Barry Duffman rather than the corporate mascot, a turn the episode implies could be permanent nearly 30 years after the character's debut in Season 9's "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson."

It is currently unknown whether audiences have definitively seen the last of Duffman. The show has made other permanent roster changes this season and previously: Alice Glick was killed off last November, which showrunner Tim Long told Entertainment Weekly was permanent, and the series retired Edna Krabappel after actor Marcia Wallace's death in 2013. The piece also notes Hank Azaria voiced Duffman and that Azaria in 2020 said he would no longer voice Apu Nahasapeemapetilon; Apu has since appeared only as a background character.

Key Topics

Culture, Barry Duffman, Duff Beer, The Simpsons, Seperance, Hank Azaria