This ‘Simpsons’ Character’s Ethnicity Just Got Even More Confusing

Even after 36 years, The Simpsons is somehow still revealing new information about beloved characters we’ve known for decades. Like how we all just found out about Superintendent Chalmers’ seemingly insatiable libido. Well, this week’s episode uncovered more details of Moe Szyslak’s backstory, specifically, it shed some new light on his increasingly confusing genealogical history.

In “Abe League of Their Moe,” Moe is able to lure a wildly talented Macedonian baseball player to sign up to play for the Springfield Isotopes, beating out rival pitches from celebrities such as New York Mets fan Chris Rock and Danny Trejo, who’s working on behalf of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

How does this happen? Because Moe speaks Macedonian. The bartender reveals that he learned the language from his grandmother. This was back when he was an infant wearing a bread bag for a diaper, and she would accuse him of being a useless “leech” who contributes “nothing” to society.

Prior to this moment, we’ve gotten a lot of varying clues about Moe’s heritage, from his Polish surname, to the fact that his inner child speaks with an apparent Italian accent.

Then there was Season 23’s “Lisa Goes Gaga,” in which Moe claims that he’s “half monster, half Armenian.” There are also references to Moe’s Dutch ancestry, and he once noted that his grandfather was from Ireland. There’s also been the suggestion that Moe is an immigrant, since he’s seen writing a citizenship test while wearing a giant fake Wilford Brimley ‘stache in Season Seven’s “Much Apu About Nothing.”

Making all of this extra confusing, Hank Azaria based Moe’s voice on legendary New Yorker Al Pacino’s performance in Dog Day Afternoon. The Simpsons producers asked him to make it more “gravelly.” 

So sure, why not throw Macedonian into this cocktail of assorted lineages? And lest we forget that Moe’s father is a Yeti who lives on top of Mount Rushmore — at least according to his talking bar rag.