I did a dumb little article on the "Un-profiled Backround Characters of the Simpsons" with profiles on the little known/used characters, such as Mr. Largo, Ms. Hoover, and Janey.
The character I feel most sorry for is Janey, Lisa's African-American friend
. It took me awhile to find ANYTHING about her until I found out that her last
name is Powell, which, to my knowledge, was never mentioned in any episodes
(and besides, isn't that Herb's last name?).
In current episodes always say that Lisa has no friends. This is
untrue. Janey was her friend. Sure she put down Lisa's beliefs and aspirations
("You're weird, Lisa"), but she was there.In Bartman #1, Lisa mentions that
"Janey's mom is driving us all to Mt. Splashmore". Who is this "all"? Lisa's
friends?
Maybe they're no longer friends. I don't know. I just think that
instead of making more characters, the writers should pay attention to the
ignored characters they already have.By the way, last I heard of Janey was "Her shoes look Canadian" in the episode with he bully.