J. Loren Pryor

J. Loren Pryor, M.D.
Gender/Sex	‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Male ♂ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎
Status	‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Alive ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎
Hair Color	Blue
Occupation	School District Psychologist Guidance counselor
First episode appearance	"Bart the Genius"
Portrayed by	Harry Shearer

“	Your son's a genius!	„
	~ J. Loren Pryor

“	The point I’m trying to make here is that Bart must learn to be less of an individual and more a faceless slug.	„
	~ J. Loren Pryor

“	Have you considered the army? They're always looking for angry, messed-up young men.	„
	~ J. Loren Pryor, to teenage Homer

Dr. James Loren Pryor, M.D. is the psychologist for the school district in which Springfield Elementary School is located.

Biography

Dr. Pryor is one of the few employees at Springfield Elementary School who seems to actually be qualified in his field, despite relying on long outdated psychological methods such as using calipers on children's heads to conduct a phrenology analysis of children's mental status; phrenology was discredited in the scientific community by the 1840s. He does have a slight tendency toward gullibility, as Bart easily tricked Pryor into sending him to a school for gifted children by. Later, however, Pryor recommended that Bart repeat the fourth grade and refused to back off of his recommendation, in spite of Bart's protests.

Dr. Pryor also seems to be prone to occasional absent-mindedness. When Bart was in kindergarten, Homer and Marge saw him to discuss problems Bart was having with adjusting to school. Pryor said it was due to Bart's "flamboyantly homosexual tendencies," and then corrected himself when he realized he was looking at Milhouse's file instead of Bart's.

Pryor has had a much more uniformly positive influence on Lisa. On the same visit as when he accidentally disclosed the contents of Milhouse's file, Pryor spotted Lisa as a gifted child when she did a complicated puzzle and gave her age as "Three and three-eighths." He told Homer and Marge to nurture her gift. Later, when Lisa went through a rebellious phase, Pryor determined that it was the result of a developmental condition and correctly advised Homer about how to help her through it.

He took part of the world's tallest human pyramid record attempt.

After a several-year absence from the show, Pryor reappears, giving Bart some counseling over his coping of Marge's gray hair after Bart beat up Milhouse on the playground following comments made by Milhouse regarding Marge's hair.

Pryor appears once again in the episode "Mothers and Other Strangers" after another several years of absence. In a flashback as a guidance counselor, he tried to help a teenage Homer move on from the loss of his mother Mona (although she's still alive) by recommending to him to join the army but Homer declines and walks out of the room.

Non-Canon Appearances

The contents of this article or section are considered to be non-canon and therefore may not have actually happened/existed.

When Bart's and Lisa's arrangement to prank each other's teachers goes severely wrong, Lisa decides she has to kill Bart and chases him through Springfield Elementary School with a knife. At one point during the chase, Bart ducks into Dr. Pryor's office.

Pryor was on the top balcony of the Parasite house being strangled by Dolph. But it's not known if he was killed by him or not.

Appearances

Note: Many of his appearances are cameos, episodes in which he has a speaking role are in bold.

• Episode – "Bart the Genius"
• Episode – "The Telltale Head"
• Episode – "Bart Gets an "F""
• Episode – "Brush with Greatness"
• Episode – "Lisa's Pony"
• Episode – "Separate Vocations"
• Episode – "Marge vs. the Monorail"
• Episode – "Duffless" (Bart's imagination)
• Episode – "Bart's Inner Child"
• Episode – "$pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)"
• Episode – "Homer and Apu"
• Episode – "Bart's Comet"
• Episode – "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One)"
• Episode – "Much Apu About Nothing"
• Episode – "Lisa's Sax" (flashback)
• Episode – "Sweets and Sour Marge"
• Episode – "See Homer Run"
• THOH – "Treehouse of Horror XX" (Dial "M" for Murder or Press "#" to Return to Main Menu)
• Episode – "The Blue and the Gray"
• Episode – "Brick Like Me"
• THOH – "Treehouse of Horror XXXII" (Bong Joon-Ho's This Side of Parasite)
• Episode – "Mothers and Other Strangers" (flashback)
• Book – The Simpsons Uncensored Family Album
• Video game – Virtual Bart

The Simpsons: Season One
"Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire":	"Bart the Genius":	"Homer's Odyssey":	"There's No Disgrace Like Home":	"Bart the General":
Absent	Minor	Absent	Absent	Absent
"Moaning Lisa":	"The Call of the Simpsons":	"The Telltale Head":	"Life on the Fast Lane":	"Homer's Night Out":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent
"The Crepes of Wrath":	"Krusty Gets Busted":	"Some Enchanted Evening":
Absent	Absent	Absent

The Simpsons: Season Five
"Homer's Barbershop Quartet":	"Cape Feare":	"Homer Goes to College":	"Rosebud":	"Treehouse of Horror IV":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	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

The Simpsons: Season Six
"Bart of Darkness":	"Lisa's Rival":	"Another Simpsons Clip Show":	"Itchy & Scratchy Land":	"Sideshow Bob Roberts":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent
"Treehouse of Horror V":	"Bart's Girlfriend":	"Lisa on Ice":	"Homer Badman":	"Grampa vs. Sexual Inadequacy":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent
"Fear of Flying":	"Homer the Great":	"And Maggie Makes Three":	"Bart's Comet":	"Homie the Clown":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Cameo	Absent
"Bart vs. Australia":	"Homer vs. Patty and Selma":	"A Star is Burns":	"Lisa's Wedding":	"Two Dozen and One Greyhounds":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent
"The PTA Disbands":	"'Round Springfield":	"The Springfield Connection":	"Lemon of Troy":	"Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One)":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent

The Simpsons: Season Nine
"The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson":	"The Principal and the Pauper":	"Lisa's Sax":	"Treehouse of Horror VIII":	"The Cartridge Family":
Absent	Absent	Minor	Absent	Absent
"Bart Star":	"The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons":	"Lisa the Skeptic":	"Realty Bites":	"Miracle on Evergreen Terrace":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent
"All Singing, All Dancing":	"Bart Carny":	"The Joy of Sect":	"Das Bus":	"The Last Temptation of Krust":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent
"Dumbbell Indemnity":	"Lisa the Simpson":	"This Little Wiggy":	"Simpson Tide":	"The Trouble with Trillions":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent
"Girly Edition":	"Trash of the Titans":	"King of the Hill":	"Lost Our Lisa":	"Natural Born Kissers":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent

Trivia

• According to part of the crew on the 2001 DVD commentary for the Season 1 Bart the Genius episode, they were initially gonna form a little duo team between Dr. Pryor & Principal Skinner, where they help each other to try to get Bart out of school. In the end, this did not go through, and Superintendent Chalmers, who eventually made his debut in the 4th season, took over this role.