Dave Shutton is a journalist who works for The Springfield Shopper. He wears a fedora similar to those worn by reporters of the 1940s.
His main appearance was in the Season 2 episode Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish, where he was the reporter who helped Bart and Lisa expose the story of the Nuclear Power Plant poisoning the water and creating Blinky, the three-eyed fish. In the Season 3 episode Radio Bart, he was the reporter who first heard "Timmy O'Toole" in the well.
Kent Brockman seems to hold him in slight contempt, possibly because they work in different news mediums. When Shutton arrived at a scene and asked what was going on, Brockman replied, "Oh, do your research, Shutton!"[1]
Dave is also seen among the media hounds who ask questions about King Homer and take his pictures, which enrages the giant gorilla. When King Homer breaks free from his restraints and gets loose in the theatre, all the journalists and photographers flee for their lives, except for Dave, who screams in terror before being squashed dead when King Homer steps on him.[2]
In his most recent, eminent role, Dave comes across Santa's Little Helper in the Simpsons' backyard. He finds the dog balancing a beer can on his nose and Dave, finding this action to be noteworthy, takes a pic of him, saying "A shot like this only comes once in a lifetime." The last four words he repeats after the can begins to fall of dog's nose and the photojournalist places the can back on it. The shot is subsequently featured on the front page of the Springfield Shopper, which would grab the attention of Duff Beer.[3]
Appearances
Note: Many of his appearances are brief, background roles. Episodes in which he has an actual role are in bold.

The Simpsons: Season Two | ||||
"Bart Gets an "F"": | "Simpson and Delilah": | "Treehouse of Horror": | "Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish": | "Dancin' Homer": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Minor | Absent |
"Dead Putting Society": | "Bart vs. Thanksgiving": | "Bart the Daredevil": | "Itchy & Scratchy & Marge": | "Bart Gets Hit by a Car": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish": | "The Way We Was": | "Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment": | "Principal Charming": | "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Bart's Dog Gets an F": | "Old Money": | "Brush with Greatness": | "Lisa's Substitute": | "The War of the Simpsons": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Three Men and a Comic Book": | "Blood Feud": | |||
Cameo | Absent |
The Simpsons: Season Three | ||||
"Stark Raving Dad": | "Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington": | "When Flanders Failed": | "Bart the Murderer": | "Homer Defined": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Like Father, Like Clown": | "Treehouse of Horror II": | "Lisa's Pony": | "Saturdays of Thunder": | "Flaming Moe's": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk": | "I Married Marge": | "Radio Bart": | "Lisa the Greek": | "Homer Alone": |
Absent | Absent | Cameo | Absent | Absent |
"Bart the Lover": | "Homer at the Bat": | "Separate Vocations": | "Dog of Death": | "Colonel Homer": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Black Widower": | "The Otto Show": | "Bart's Friend Falls in Love": | "Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?": | |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
The Simpsons: Season Four | ||||
"Kamp Krusty": | "A Streetcar Named Marge": | "Homer the Heretic": | "Lisa the Beauty Queen": | "Treehouse of Horror III": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Minor |
"Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie": | "Marge Gets a Job": | "New Kid on the Block": | "Mr. Plow": | "Lisa's First Word": |
Cameo | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Homer's Triple Bypass": | "Marge vs. the Monorail": | "Selma's Choice": | "Brother from the Same Planet": | "I Love Lisa": |
Cameo | Cameo | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Duffless": | "Last Exit to Springfield": | "So It's Come to This: A Simpsons Clip Show": | "The Front": | "Whacking Day": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Marge in Chains": | "Krusty Gets Kancelled": | |||
Cameo | Absent |
The Simpsons: Season Five | ||||
"Homer's Barbershop Quartet": | "Cape Feare": | "Homer Goes to College": | "Rosebud": | "Treehouse of Horror IV": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Cameo | Absent |
"Marge on the Lam": | "Bart's Inner Child": | "Boy-Scoutz 'n the Hood": | "The Last Temptation of Homer": | "$pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)": |
Absent | Cameo | Absent | Absent | Cameo |
"Homer the Vigilante": | "Bart Gets Famous": | "Homer and Apu": | "Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy": | "Deep Space Homer": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Homer Loves Flanders": | "Bart Gets an Elephant": | "Burns' Heir": | "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song": | "The Boy Who Knew Too Much": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Lady Bouvier's Lover": | "Secrets of a Successful Marriage": | |||
Absent | Absent |
Citations

- Male characters
- Alive characters
- Characters
- Character stub
- Characters voiced by Harry Shearer
- Recurring characters
- Adults
- Reporters
- Citizens of Springfield
- American Characters
- Blue-haired characters
- Fathers
- Husbands
- Season 2 first appearances
- Tapped Out Characters
- Minor Characters
- Characters that wear hats
- True Neutral
- Bart Simpson's Friends
- Lisa Simpson's Friends