Glenn Howerton’s ‘Simpsons’ Billionaire May be the Worst Character He’s Ever Played
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s Dennis Reynolds has creeped on strangers, trapped innocent people inside of a burning apartment and, for all we know, committed cold-blooded murder. But now, he’s arguably only Glenn Howerton’s second most despicable character, thanks to The Simpsons.
Howerton just guest-starred on the long-running animated series, not as himself, but as Peter Linz, a tech billionaire who makes Mr. Burns look like Ned Flanders by comparison.
This article not your thing? Try these...
The episode, “Bart 'N' Frink,” finds Bart becoming Prof. John Frink’s assistant. When Frink receives an invitation to a college reunion being thrown by his super-rich ex-classmate at a private island, he brings the entire Simpson family along with him to “Location Redacted” (they’re all forced to sign NDAs).
Linz’s home is, unsurprisingly, obscenely luxurious; there's even an entire mansion just for storing Christmas ornaments. And Linz, who wears the familiar fleece vest of Silicon Valley workers, brags that he only lives at the compound for four days a year. “And the actual owner is an offshore trust controlled by nominee directors, but you know,” he brags.
Even worse, when showing off the island’s scenery Linz explains, “I saw this view on a screensaver and I just had to have it,” adding, “ the indigenous people who lived here were not too happy.”
When a horrified Lisa asks what happened to the original inhabitants, Linz replies “Have you ever heard of eminent domain? Because the tribal elders sure hadn’t!” He then cackles maniacally prompting Lisa to observe that “these are the worst people in the world.”
We later learn that Linz ripped off Prof. Frink back when they were in college. It turns out that Frink pioneered the virtual assistant technology that turned his old friend into a billionaire. “Whenever a Siri or an Alexa almost understands what you want, that’s John’s technology,” one of their classmates informs Bart. “But it was Peter who got rich off of it.”
Without spoiling too much, it isn’t long before Linz sets his sights on another of Frink’s inventions, smart glasses that turn people’s real feelings into emojis. “After all, the Buddha teaches us: it’s impossible to be happy if other people are,” he reasons.
Say what you will about Dennis, at least he never forcibly relocated an entire community of people and hoarded billions of dollars in stolen wealth.
And we can all be glad that The Simpsons is now calling out the awfulness of the billionaire class, instead of lionizing its elite members.