usually referred simply recurring fictional character american animated sitcom simpsons voiced appeared episode homer odyssey voice heard series premiere simpsons open fire executive personal assistant owner burns devotion burns inspired numerous fox executives staff members acted idea ambiguous sexual orientation came proposed gay little attention drawn derived originally animated intended storyline purposes producers directors african american ultimately changed later episodes conflicting unknown confirmed reasons interview confirms animation director time originally drew black according plan changed yellow asked interviewer wasn kept way respond mistake assistant burns relationship frequent running gag simpsons ways represents stereotype gay man numerous overt allusions double concerning homosexuality producers instead interpret burns sexual season episode burns cage came gay role simpsons burns devoted executive assistant father worked burns died radiation poisoning saving springfield potential nuclear baby openly gay springfield gay village goes vacation male resort revealed flashback married woman split burns came shown passionate deep love burns sexual orientation characterized writers burns sexual burns remained largely ignorant devoted frustration burns involved women burns love noticeably disgusted burns starts looking female companion burns views somewhat albeit highly valued rewarded devotion future honor buried alive dies shown somewhat dependent relationship burns homer burns orders vacation hired temporary replacement homer loses temper punches burns face burns learns self reliant results fired decides needs burns assistant eventually gets job season episode burns cage admits love burns contempt assistant official job power plant appears executive assistant says actually smaller jobs responsible monitoring employee attendance won dozens employee month awards hinted wanting promoted position executive vice president burns repeatedly dream vice presidency dog largest collection dolls springfield president fan club character creation partly based numerous fox executives staff members acted idea orientation pitched proposed gay writers draw attention try heads said originally gay black thought kept gay script blood feud originally featured saying leave home wife kids line cut time voiced voice burns able perform dialogue characters occasionally fills table reads voices married comes appearance homer odyssey episode season heard speaker simpsons series premiere simpsons open fire visual appearance homer odyssey mistakenly animated wrong color darker characters color stylist claimed intended burns white staff thought bad idea black character switched intended color episode error saying tan recent holiday caribbean appearance yellow disgrace like home fourth episode season development relationship burns long running gag simpsons assistant burns strong hints true feelings boss earliest references season episode head sexual orientation come question fans claiming burns sexual attracted boss maintain doubt gay era tried sexuality mysterious debate writers orientation thinks burns sexual felt burns woman gay supervising director said focused particular human opposed gay sort burns sexual study conducted determined lead supporting characters scripted broadcast television gay lesbian included list published organization included lesbian sister included lists debate referenced simpsons episode spectacular episode host answering viewer questions asked real deal burns assistant know talking montage clips shows lust burns follows end says real deal burns assistant early unmarried currently resides springfield thanks writing allusions sexuality turned battles example fantasy naked burns birthday cake wanted burns naked example gets job dream sequence sleeping burns flies window sequence shows burns flying looking happy originally went seconds longer trimmed scenes showed burns land ing particular position anatomy issues bed animators said drawn knee second season writers started enjoy writing burns relationship writers pitched episodes focus came fruition early seasons comes recurring joke burns remembers burns watch homer usually security camera feed burns ask man reply sir organ banks carbon etc sector burns invariably respond simpson september confirmed come burns season episode episode burns cage broadcast following april saw unsuccessfully try burns writer british progressive magazine new statesman felt episode making story character homosexuality instead previous jokes arguably reception simpsons producers announced characters going come closet speculation printed newspapers united_states canada claiming sexual orientation worst kept secret springfield australia new_zealand ireland called obvious choice united_kingdom despite homer calculated odds characters gay million hosted online poll weeks prior episode determine based cartoon gay simpsons respondents choosing entertainment editor site said poll people voting polls simpsons came article entertainment_weekly named 16th greatest sidekick time described burns functional dysfunctional couple star news online named fey way reasons loved simpsons article entertainment_weekly named shot burns duo episodes prominently featured series 25th best episode ranked sixth cartoon character merchandise action figure different versions included world springfield toy line shows normal attire picture burns feet released wave second released wave called resort shows dressed resort episode homer series figures exclusive electronics released set burns figure different toys based episode included called shows dressed burns bear known future shows robotic dog future burns included set companion future depicts burns robot appeared end episode
Waylon Smithers