Longtime Simpsons voice actress Marcia Wallace, who voiced schoolteacher Mrs. Krabappel on the show, passed away at 70 last weekend, and yesterday night’s episode of The Simpsons included a special tribute to her. The episode, which coincidentally was about the death of a Springfield resident (not Mrs. Krabappel), began with a modified version of the opening credits’ chalkboard gag. Instead of writing the same phrase over and over on the chalkboard, Bart just writes, “We’ll really miss you, Mrs. K†just once and looks very sad.
The episode’s end credits featured a still image of Mrs. Krabappel sitting on her desk with the words “In loving memory of Marcia Wallace†on the chalkboard behind her. Krabappel then comes to life and does her trademark “Ha!†catchphrase. The producers and network’s planned to re-air the Krabappel-centric season three episode “Bart the Lover†at 7:30 before the new episode as a tribute to Wallace but the network wasn’t able to do so because of “technical issues.†Instead, they ran the season 22 episode “The Ned-Liest Catch,†which features a Ned Flanders/Mrs. Krabappel romance. Showrunner Al Jean has said the character of Mrs. Krabappel will be retired from the show.
Check out screenshots from the tributes below: