, born Brockelstein, is a recurring
Fictional Character from the
Animated TV Series ''
The Simpsons '', voiced by
Harry Shearer . He is a local TV news "personality" for the fictional
KBBL-TV (Channel 6).
There are a few people who could be the inspiration and/or model for Brockman, including the late
Los Angeles news anchors
Jerry Dunphy and
Hal Fishman ,
Lloyd Robertson , and
Ted Baxter , the airhead news anchor from ''
Mary Tyler Moore '', played by
Ted Knight . He has also been seen to emulate both
Ted Koppel and
Walter Cronkite .
Kent Brockman hosts the Channel 6 weekday news (
Scott Christian is the weekend news anchor and Kent's fill-in) as well as ''
Smartline '', a local current affairs show and ''
Eye On Springfield '' which focuses mostly on
Springfield's entertainment news.
Brockman represents the worst of his profession; frequently judgmental, careerist to the point of absurdity, and more than willing to film and sensationalize a schmaltzy, emotion driven puff piece for the sake of a few extra ratings points. (As with most Simpsons characters, Brockman's ethics and competence vary according to the needs of the episode.) He has been seen throwing tantrums because he cannot find certain snack foods, and once blithely announced that the boom operator on his news programme was being fired the next morning (for which he took a clout on the head from the angry soon-to-be-ex-employee). He seems to command excessive levels of power within Channel 6, even having a segment of the news programme to air his own (usually highly
Reactionary ) opinions on current issues called ''
My Two Cents ''. Despite all of this, he has won a string of media awards, but is most proud of his unspecified trophy from
Del Monte . He was also a
War Correspondent during the
Vietnam War , the
Soviet War In Afghanistan , and the
Gulf War (although, as he just says "Iraq", he could have been referring to the
Iran-Iraq War ).
Brockman has a preteen daughter and a preteen son, and has jealously mentioned his sister, who is a
White House correspondent for
CNN . Brockman owns a
Collie named Jessica, whom he had
"fixed" , and drives a blue
Mercedes-Benz S420 .
In "
Dog Of Death ", Brockman won the multi-million-dollar ($130 million)
State Lottery jackpot and left the news desk while still on the air. But, he remained a news anchor because he was under contract, though he also admitted that he likes making $500,000-a-year. He also has a ongoing feud with traffic reporter
Arnie Pie , and has been shown to critizise Pie's reporting and also even chuckle when it was thought Pie had died in a hellicopter accident. He mentioned to Pie that he made some smart investments when Arnie complained about the size of Brockman's house.
He is also characterized by using news-speak in everyday language, for example, "This just in, go to
Hell !" In "
Tennis The Menace ", it was revealed that his "wit" is provided by a microphone, earpiece and a communications team in a nearby van. He has been seen, more than once, streching his face and removing wrinkles by clipping a clothes-pin to the back of his head. In addition to his news career, Brockman writes a column for
PC Magazine called "Making the Most of Your Modem." In
Homerazzi Brockman is revealed to have a "thing" for bondage.
In the movie, it is implied he frequently uses botox.
Brockman's most famous phrase, repeated in various guises on internet message boards and within popular culture is "
And I, For One, Welcome Our New Insect Overlords ". Another notable quote is "I've said it before and I'll say it again, democracy simply doesn't work".
In a flashback to the
1960s in the episode "
Mother Simpson ", we see that when he started out in television his name was and he can be seen wearing the Hebrew
Chai Symbol as a
Gold Medallion around his neck in the episode "Dog of Death" suggesting
Jewish ancestry. Interestingly, however, he also references the
Book Of Revelation in the episode
Marge On The Lam during an editorial in which he states women rebelling might lead to "anarchy of Biblical proportions" (he is promptly cut off by the station). Revelation is in the
New Testament , suggesting Brockman no longer observes Judaism.
Brockman has been shown to have no problem with using bad or otherwise offensive
Language on air, and a few times he has been fired for doing so. At one point, he was fired for using the
Acronym "
SOB " on air but was later rehired for unspecified reasons.
In the
Eighteenth Season finale and 400th episode , "
You Kent Always Say What You Want " he was initially demoted to weekend weather man, then fired for using a strong expletive on air. He was later given his job back to silence him with a 50% raise, making his new salary $750,000-a-year.
