User blog comment:Bartman99/Season 26 Mystery Death Candidates/@comment-120883-20140514053826

Let it be Krusty's father if it has to be anyone. The rest are just too iconic.

1. Barney is Homer's best friend (even though he hasn't made many appearances and has been overshadowed by Lenny and Carl (Simpsons Ernie & Bert). Probably just to match Family Guy, since Cleveland got his own spinoff and Peter still has Quagmire and Joe.

2. Willie had a few friendly moments with the Simpson children and is kind of like a Hagrid mentor to Bart.

3. Krusty is beloved celebrity and one of Bart's greatest idols. Bart has saved his career too many times for him to just die. Plus he already faked his death once.

4. Abe is the only Simpson relative Homer has left, and one of the few elderly characters. Abe may be senile, but is a lot nicer than Marge's sisters.

I don't really care much for the thesbian-ish/judgemental Sideshow Mel, but he at least has a necessary role on The Krusty Show.