Lenny and Carl = BFF

Lenny Leonard and Carl Carlson are a duo made in comedy heaven. Those unfamiliar with The Simpsons may consider Lenny and Carl as background characters, but I will go on the record to say that those fools are very wrong. Both characters have the capability to stand alone. The writers interweave the roles of these two characters on The Simpsons into a balanced tandem.

Lenny and Carl both work with Homer Simpson at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, Sector 7G. Patrick J. Crooks points out that in “Homer’s Enemy”, it is revealed that Lenny and Carl both have their masters degrees in nuclear technology. Despite failing remedial science 1A in high school, Homer simply showed up at the plant the day it opened and landed a job. (As safety inspector, of course.)

Marge Simpson offers Lenny advice when she does volunteer work for the First Church of Springfield. Lenny comes to her about a problem with lying to his best buddy, Carl.

Lenny Leonard: See, all along I’ve been telling Carl I’m married to a beauty queen. Now, he’s coming over for dinner.
Marge Simpson: Oh, Lenny, I’m sure he’ll like your wife no matter what she looks like.
Lenny Leonard: No, no, no, no, no, it’s worse than that. I don’t even have a wife. I just said I did to, you know, be a big shot.

The group of bar flies at Moe’s Tavern include Homer, Lenny, Carl, and Barney Gumble. During season nine in the classic episode “The City of New York Versus Home Simpson”, Homer, Lenny, and Carl get plastered at Moe’s. Barney is the designated driver. The three inebriated men do their best to sing the macarena in the backseat.

Lenny: Hey, let’s go to the girl’s college!
Carl: No! Playboy Mansion! Playboy Mansion!
Homer: It’s my car, and I say we’re going to the Lost City of Gold!

Recent allegations claim that Carl and Lenny might be in a homosexual relationship. Before The Simpsons‘ writers ran out of ideas, their relationship was based on their employment at the power plant. Lenny and Carl’s friendship flourished after years of labor at the power plant and many nights spent at Moe’s Tavern. Charlie Sweatpants, a contributor to the Dead Homer’s Society blog, discusses the fact that Lenny and Carl’s possible gay relationship wasn’t introduced until season eleven. The Dead Homer’s Society refers to newer episodes of the show as the Zombie Simpsons. He talks about Lenny’s Wikipedia page, specifically the “Relationship with Carl Carlson” section. Mr. Sweatpants states:

Over the next two and a half lengthy paragraphs the various times a possibly homersexual (sic) relationship between them has been been (sic) implied or joked about are meticulously cataloged.  Each instance is matched with a footnote to the episode in which it occurred, the earliest episode referenced is the Season 11 finale (Behind the Laughter), which was broadcast on May 21, 2000.  Everything else is from Season 13 or later. In other words, the bizarro hijinks of Lenny and Carl occur 100% after the start of Zombie Simpsons, Wikipedia said so.

This fan believes that Lenny and Carl’s friendship is a testament to bromances, before the word even existed. Lenny and Carl’s relationship could be considered the original animated bromance. These men have offer hilarious one liners and provide sound advice for Homer when he needs direction. Although considered periphery characters, Lenny and Carl stand firm as two of the most popular characters on the show.

References:
Crooks, Patrick J. (February 6, 2000). Homer’s Enemy: Did You Notice?. Message posted to http://www.snpp.com
Sweatpants, Charlie. (October 10, 2009). In Which I use Wikipedia To Prove Something Of No Importance. Message posted to http://deadhomerssociety.wordpress.com
Wikipedia. (October 12, 2009). Lenny Leonard. Message posted to http://www.wikipedia.org