With one of the most impressive catalogue’s of side characters of any show its incredible how so many of them on The Simpsons actually stand out. That’s the case for Martin Prince, the uber smart 4th grader who loves being in the limelight, since he never really gets many lines but always finds a way to make an impression.
After the passing of Russi Taylor (the voice of Martin) its still unclear what will happen to this character. For a quick breakdown of how the show has dealt with this you can click here.
But for now we’ll take a look back at some of Martin’s more memorable moments from the show.
Phantom of the Opera
In season 6 we were treated with one of the best episodes of the series in ‘Lisa’s Wedding.’ It was a flash forward episode where we got to see the future of Springfield via Lisa’s wedding. When the invite reaches Principal Skinner (who’s still working at the school) he and Ms. Hoover remark that Martin was killed in a science fair explosion a long time ago. The scene then cuts to an older Martin who’s now living underneath the school as the Phantom of the Opera. This was great because it was a bit unexpected but also kind of line with the characters theatricality.
Birthday Party
In season 8 we got the juicy affair between Edna Krabappel and Principal Skinner in ‘Grade School Confidential’. Martin invites his classmates to his birthday party and proceeds to give Nelson an invitation. Nelson swipes the invite while rasping his tongue leading to a funny little exchange. It’s later at this party, which ends up being really boring, that Skinner and Krabappel hook up.
Gruel
The first episode of season 4 ‘Kamp Krusty’ has all the kids go to the titular camp only to find out that it’s not actually all fun and games. In fact, the camp is divided into two with a neighboring ‘Image Enhancement Camp’. Martin gets placed here but sees right through the name telling his lesser spotted father ‘spare me your euphemisms! It’s fat camp for daddy’s chubby little secret!’ in a fantastic piece of Martin verbosity. Then later, when Bart overthrows the camp and frees the Image Enhancement side Martin gladly raids the camp for their gruel.
Team Discovery Channel
This one comes from one of my personal favorite episode from season 6 ‘Lemon of Troy’. Here the kids venture into neighboring Shelbyville to retrieve their lemon tree. While there the boys split up with Martin and Nelson being paired up and having this classic exchange.
Queen of Summertime
Season 6 certainly has some good episodes as this next one comes from ‘Bart of Darkness’. With Springfield going through a heatwave Bart and Lisa convince Homer to get a pool but Bart breaks his leg attempting a dive. Martin, determined to be popular, constructs a bigger pool and proclaims he’ll be ‘Queen of Summertime’ before quickly correcting himself to ‘King’.
In the end, his pool becomes too full and breaks open causing everyone to leave. Nelson pulls his pants down as a final insult and in one of the best final shots Martin sings Summer Wind alone as the sun sets.
Let me know if I missed anything or if you have another favorite Martin moment and make sure to keep it locked on TGON for all your news, reviews and analysis.
