is a fictional character in the animated TV series ''
The Simpsons ''. Along with
Lenny , Carl is not just
Homer 's co-worker at the
Springfield Nuclear Power Plant but one of his best friends since childhood, and he likes to call himself "an urban Lenny." He also attended Springfield A&M.
Carl is a handsome
African American , a
Buddhist with a
Master's Degree in
Nuclear Physics , fond of bowling and having a drink at Moe's. He is likely a
Liberal in terms of his politics, having described local talk show host
Birch Barlow as "a right-wing crackpot". He has stated in passing that he has a family and that he is Homer's supervisor, but he mostly keeps things to himself due to his uncontrollably abrasive tongue.
It is regularly hinted that there is a homoerotic element to the relationship between Carl and Lenny, although Carl seems largely oblivious to it. Lenny dreamily recalls carving "Mount Carlmore," a huge bust of Carl in the side of a hill, over "one wonderful summer." (Lenny says that he has never discussed it with Carl.) In another episode, various characters are depicted looking at the stars to "see into their souls." Lenny sees an image of Carl, and Carl sees an image of himself. In another episode Bart pays Carl and Lenny $1,000 to kiss, and the two later ask each other: "Hey, did we ever get that money?" (Although this was in
Behind The Laughter , ergo cannot be considered canon.) At times, Carl seems to be irritated with Lenny. When Carl learns that he is paired up with Lenny in a team-building exercise on a power plant retreat, his response is an annoyed "aw, nuts. I mean... aw, nuts."
Carl is married (or may now be divorced), because he was going to give his wife a Super Bowl ring for their anniversary. A few scenes have vaguely implied that he is married to Homer's neighbor Ruth Powers.
Carl was born, or at least raised, in
Iceland . But this is unknown since in one episode he states "I am so sick of people assuming I'm good at basketball just because I'm African American". (He then slam dunks the ball.)
Carl believes , and has fought over the quality of these movies with Lenny on at least one occasion.
He was a member of
The Sacred Order Of The Stonecutters , a secret society until the society was disbanded. Carl then joined the "No Homers" society
Mr. Burns appears to prefer Carl to Lenny, as Burns had Homer hurl
Pudding at Lenny once and then helped Carl when Homer threw pudding at him. People also seem to consider Carl with extra-respect, e.g. Marge who was impressed when she knew Rod and Todd Flanders had the same blood group as him ("Wow, Carl!"). Homer, although he can't sometimes distinguish Lenny and Carl (he had to write it on his hand: "Lenny = White, Carl = Black") seems to prefer Carl as well (''this'' is Lenny? I wanted the black guy!)
Carl is one of the few characters on the Simpsons who is not extremely stupid or strange. His role on the series is often that of a "
Straight Man " to Homer and his friends.
In the episode "
Principal Charming ", Carl's name is spelled Karl -- but, then again, Homer may not have known how to spell Carl's name properly, as he was using a ''
Terminator ''-like scanning device to find potential suitors for Selma.
In the episide "
The Dad Who Knew Too Little ", Carl mentions he suffers from severe
Schizophrenia .
Carl is about 5' 11" to 6'
