Moe Szyslak (lost unaired original Christopher Collins dialogue of The Simpsons character; 1989)

Moe Szyslak in the Season 1 episode "Some Enchanted Evening".

Status: Lost

Moe Szyslak is a long-running character on the animated sitcom The Simpsons. He is the owner of Moe's Tavern, a bar which is frequently attended by Homer Simpson and his friends. He is also well known for being on the receiving end of many of Bart Simpson's prank calls to his Tavern, often ending in Szyslak threatening physical violence if he ever finds out the caller's identity. A lesser-known aspect of Moe is that he was not originally voiced by Hank Azaria but by G.I. Joe voice actor Christopher Collins. Collins recorded lines for Szyslak for two Season 1 episodes until Moe's dialogue was later dubbed over by Hank Azaria. None of Collins's original dialogue has ever been publicly released.

Background

Christopher Collins was born on August 30, 1949, in New Jersey. He was best known for voicing Cobra Commander in the G.I. Joe animated series. He also voiced Starscream in the original Transformers animated series and appeared in a variety of roles on such shows as Star Trek, The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine. Collins died due to complications of a cerebral haemorrhage on June 12, 1994, aged 44.

Collins voiced Mr. Burns in the Season 1 episodes "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire," "Homer's Odyssey," "There's No Disgrace Like Home," and "The Telltale Head", before being replaced by Harry Shearer. He also originally voiced Moe Szyslak for the Season 1 episodes "The Telltale Head" and "Some Enchanted Evening". According to his replacement, Hank Azaria, he was not aware there was originally a different voice actor for Moe until years later. Azaria also claimed series creator Matt Groening recalled he got along nicely with Collins and praised his voicework, but noted other key crew members despised him. Among those who failed to get along with Collins included series co-creator Sam Simon, which likely contributed towards Collins's brief stay on the show. Azaria later summarised in a 2018 GQ interview "Think about how awful—that guy could have been on The Simpsons his whole life. Lesson to you kids: Always be nice!".

Availability

None of Collins's recordings of Moe Szyslak have ever been made public. Factoring in the crew's dislike of working with him and his death, it is likely the dialogue will never be made public. There is a possibility it could be featured in an Anniversary episode or a documentary about The Simpsons but no such official confirmation has yet been made. The recordings most likely reside in Disney's archives as Disney bought Fox in 2017 for $71 billion, with the deal being finalised on March 20, 2019.

Gallery

Videos

GQ interview where Azaria discussed Christopher Collins being the original voice actor for Moe (4:23-4:57).

“Some Enchanted Evening” DVD Audio Commentary discussing the change in Moe's voice actor (5:40-6:10).

See Also

• Al-Shamshoon (partially lost Arabic adaptation of "The Simpsons" Fox animated sitcom; 2005)
• Currys "We Can Help" Spots (partially found "The Simpsons" Sky One sponsorships ads from British electronics retailer; 2009-2010)
• Fox Kids "Bartcasting" (partially found "The Simpsons" promo on children's program block; 1996)
• Season Six Alternative Packaging Program (lost audio from phone number based on "The Simpsons" animated TV sitcom; 2005-2011)
• The Simpsons (partially found deleted scenes of Fox animated sitcom; 1989-present)
• The Simpsons (partially found scripts for unproduced episodes of Fox animated sitcom; 1990s)
• The Simpsons: Bart vs. the Space Mutants (lost prototype of Game Gear port of platformer; 1991-1992)
• The Simpsons Game 2 (lost build of cancelled platform game sequel; 2011)
• The Simpsons: Hit & Run 2 (lost builds of cancelled action-adventure game sequel; 2007)
• The Simpsons Movie (partially found alternate versions and deleted scenes of animated comedy film; 2007)
• The Simpsons "Some Enchanted Evening" (partially found original pilot of Fox animated sitcom; 1989-1990)
• Who Shot Mr. Burns? (partially found 1-800 COLLECT The Simpsons Mystery Sweepstakes commercials; 1995)

External Links

• Wikisimpsons page on Christopher Collins.
• The Simpsons Wiki page on Christopher Collins.
• IMDB page for Christopher Collins.