Van Houten family
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The Van Houten family (pronounced /vænˈhaʊtən/) is a family in the animated television series The Simpsons. The nuclear family consists of Bart Simpson's friend Milhouse and his parents, father Kirk and mother Luann. Of the three, Milhouse has the largest role within the show. All three look alike: cobalt blue hair, red coke-bottle glasses, and giant, softball-sized noses. They are some of the few characters (not including special celebrity guests) with eyebrows (though Luann's are revealed to be fake). The Van Houtens divorced in the eighth-season episode "A Milhouse Divided", but remarried in the nineteenth season episode "Little Orphan Millie".
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[edit] Nuclear family
[edit] Kirk
Kirk Van Houten sometimes called Milhouse's Dad is voiced by Hank Azaria. He is the father of Milhouse, and the remarried husband of Luann. He first appeared in Bart's Friend Falls in Love.
Kirk has been portrayed as a stereotypical middle-aged male loser and deadbeat dad. Much of Mr. Van Houten's character revolves around his extreme emotional depression after his divorce from his wife Luann. Luann got custody of Milhouse when they divorced, but Kirk has visiting rights and is often seen with Milhouse in later episodes. Much to his displeasure, Milhouse often addresses him as "Weekend Dad". Kirk suffers from the need to cry all the time after his divorce, even in good times.
The episode "Little Orphan Millie" established that Kirk is of Dutch ancestry. Kirk previously served in the U.S. Army, and graduated from Gudger College. Apparently Kirk's mother is of Greek orthodox ancestry as in episode from Season 19 "Husband and Knives" Milhouse says " But that's the money Yaya Sophia gave me for Greek Orthodox Easter!". He initially worked at his father-in-law's cracker factory, 'Southern Cracker' (the Dryyyyy Cracker), in middle management (Milhouse often bragged about it at the time). Later in the series, when Luann leaves Kirk, he is fired from the factory. According to Luann, Kirk was not a very good provider, and she had to stop to borrowing money from her sister or having to steal clothes from the church donation box.
Kirk reveals in the episode "I Am Furious Yellow", where he visits his son's school on career day, that he was currently employed as an assistant to the guy who puts fliers under people's windshield wipers. Kirk also had a job standing on the curb holding a sign directing people to a condo development and worked as a scarecrow protecting a soy-bean crop, which resulted in his eye being gouged by a crow. Since being fired from the cracker company, Kirk seems to be unable to maintain a steady job. He once shouted at Luann that she had to keep up the alimony payments she owed him, and he has been seen at the Springfield unemployment office, perhaps suggesting that alimony and unemployment benefits are his only steady sources of income. Kirk was put in jail in the episode "Pranksta Rap" for "kidnapping" Bart which he greatly enjoyed due to him being envied by women and fed three meals a day. Hank Azaria based Kirk's voice on his impression of Milhouse.
[edit] Luann
Luann Van Houten is voiced by Maggie Roswell. When Roswell left the show, she became a primarily nonspeaking character. However, Roswell has since returned. She first appeared in "Homer Defined".
Luann Van Houten is of Danish and Italian descent, as established in "Little Orphan Millie". She was born in Shelbyville, however moved to Springfield in early life. When younger, she had been to "Camp Land-a-Man", a camp to form girls into women, with Marge, Patty and Selma, Helen Lovejoy, and Cookie Kwan ("The Way We Weren't"). It is stated in "A Milhouse Divided" that she has a sister.
Luann was married to Kirk for several years and bore a son and remained in an unhappy marriage. After an argument over a game of Pictionary, she leaves Kirk after he remarks he can't draw "dignity", since he gave it up when he married her. Although Kirk found the new liberty of a single life tough, Luann uses her newfound freedom to live life on the fast lane. Luann began dating American Gladiator Pyro shortly after her divorce with Kirk (Pyro being a reference to real-life Gladiator Nitro) for several seasons, but was caught cheating on him with his best friend, Gyro. In Apu Nahasapeemapetilon's bachelor years, she had been one of his bachelorettes. In "Milhouse of Sand and Fog", its revealed Luann had also gone out with Disco Stu, disco dancing. As well, within the same episode, she also admits she had begun a relationship with Sea Captain.
In "Milhouse of Sand and Fog", when the Van Houtens are on the verge of reuniting, Bart and Milhouse hatch a scheme (in a parody of an episode of The O.C.) to get them to separate again (because Milhouse enjoyed both of them fighting over him). The scheme backfires, and nearly results in the separation of Homer and Marge Simpson. Bart and Milhouse try another hapless scheme by attempting to push a mannequinned version of Bart over a waterfall like in Mother Simpson. Since then, they are often seen together (although in a later episode, Kirk was seen with Milhouse at a single father's outing, showing he and Luann were still not married). As of Little Orphan Millie, they are remarried.
[edit] Milhouse
Milhouse Van Houten is the son of Kirk and Luann, and best friends with Bart Simpson, though Bart usually does not treat him with much respect. He is of average intelligence, but is often characterized as a nerd by his glasses and shy personality. He has a long lasting crush on Lisa Simpson.
[edit] Extended family
[edit] Grandparents
In "Bart Sells His Soul" Milhouse and his parents are forced to spend the night at his grandmother's house when their house is fumigated for potato bugs.
Milhouse's grandfather attends Grandparents Day at Springfield Elementary in the episode "Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in The Curse of the Flying Hellfish". This grandfather appears to be Kirk's father rather than Luann's father who runs the cracker factory. He also mentions that he has a new wife.
Interestingly, both grandparents introduced in the show have the same physical characteristics as Milhouse and his parents, making it more unclear just whose parents (Kirk's or Luann's) they are.
[edit] Norbert
Norbert Van Houten (who likes to be referred to as "Zack"), is the uncle of Milhouse, and of Danish descent. He has a strong hatred of Kirk because of his Dutch heritage. He only appears in Little Orphan Millie, where he takes care of Milhouse after his parents are lost at sea, though he does find and rescue them. He bears a resemblance to Indiana Jones, whom he dresses like.
