Ned Flanders- the good-hearted Christian and rival of Homer Simpson- has been the Simpsons' neighbor since Day One. Aside from being a God-fearing Man of Faith and owner of various left-handed businesses (we need them more than you think), Flanders would gladly give the Good Word to anyone and give you the shirt and the Bible off his back. He's just an all-around good guy and sees the joy in everything. The incomparable Harry Shearer also voices him, and Matt Groening decides in Flanders' early development that his character should be a Christian, given the sweet nature of Shearer's voice.
While Flanders is perfect mainly, he has his hard edges, too. For instance, he doesn't seem to approve of anyone outside the Protestant religion and looks down on those who live different lifestyles that don't follow the Bible. He also tends to compact his anger, only to have it implode when overstressed or, on some occasions, annoyed by Homer. We all have that boiling point, and Flanders has his.
Having these flaws only makes Flanders that much more human, and we want that in a character. The traits manifest into a more rounded individual that others can relate to and dissect the multiple layers. Without Flanders, in my humble opinion, The Simpsons wouldn't possess the question of faith and a religious viewpoint. Besides, someone needs to put Homer in his place, other than his wife, Marge, and his three nosey kids.
Speaking of which, let's pivot to Flanders' two children, Rod and Todd. Like their father and mother, Maude, the boys see the joy in nearly everything and follow the Christian Faith. They're also more "modernized" than their parents, as Rod and Todd enjoy video games (of Christian value) and even dabble in light, nonoffensive swearing. But also, like their parents, the boys have hearts of gold and forgive those who traipsed on the "wrong" path from time to time. Bart Simpson is one of those characters Rod and Todd interact with the most, and although he's a bad kid, Bart has done his share of pranks over the years, including those on the Flanders boys.
Now that we glorified Ned Flanders and his existence to a degree, we're suggesting some Flanders-ristic episodes.
The best 12 Flanders episodes from The Simpsons
Everyone loves Ned Flanders right? So, we think you're going to love our Flanders episode picks.
- "Dead Putting Society" (season 2)
- "When Flanders Failed" (season 3)
- "Boy-Scoutz 'n da Hood" (season 5)
- "Homer Loves Flanders" (season 5)
- "Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily" (season 7)
- "Hurricane Neddy" (season 8)
- "Viva Ned Flanders" (season 10)
- "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily" (season 11)
- "I'm Goin' to Praiseland" (season 12)
- "Better Off Ned" (season 31)
- "Todd, Todd, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?" (season 31)
- "Manger Things" (season 32)
You can watch all of these Ned Flanders installments ad more on Disney+!