Ned Flanders

Ned Flanders
The Simpsons character
Information
Voiced by	Harry Shearer
Gender	Male
Occupation	Owner of The Leftorium
Relatives	Children: Rod Flanders Todd Flanders Spouse: Ginger (annulled) Maude Flanders (deceased) Edna Krabappel (deceased) Parents: Mona Flanders (mother) Nedward Flanders, Sr. (father)
First appearance
The Simpsons	"Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire"

Nedward "Ned" Flanders, Jr. is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer, and first appeared in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". He is the good-natured, cheery next-door neighbor to the Simpson family and is generally loathed by Homer Simpson. A devout Evangelical Christian with an annoyingly perfect family, he is among the friendliest and most compassionate of Springfield's citizens and is generally considered a pillar of the Springfield community.

He was one of the first characters outside of the immediate Simpson family to appear on the show, and has since been central to several episodes, the first being season two's "Dead Putting Society". His last name comes from Flanders St. in Portland, Oregon, the hometown of Simpsons creator Matt Groening. When he was created, he was intended to just be a neighbor who was very nice, but whom Homer loathed.

In May 2015, Harry Shearer announced that he had quit the role and that the role would be recast. However, on July 7, it was announced Fox signed all of its main cast members, including Shearer.

Ned is a genuinely well-meaning good-natured person and is one of the few in Springfield to whom that description applies. Firmly religious, he can be timid and something of a pushover. He is a Republican and a devout Evangelical Christian who strictly follows the Bible literally and is easily shocked when challenged on any point of dogma. This has led to his frequent calls to Reverend Lovejoy, who has become increasingly frustrated with and uninterested in Flanders.

Ned grew up in New York and was the son of "freaky beatniks" who did not discipline Ned (as they did not think it was right) and let him run wild. Eventually they took him to Dr. Foster, a psychiatrist, who put the young Ned through the University of Minnesota Spankalogical Protocol, which involved eight months of continuous spanking. The treatment worked so well that it rendered Flanders unable to express any anger at all and resulted in his trademark nonsensical jabbering at moments when he was particularly close to losing his temper, causing Ned to unknowingly repress his anger.

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Wikipedia