T. R. Francis

T.R. Francis
Gender/Sex
Status
Hair Color	Brown
Occupation	Author
First episode appearance	In-person: "The Book Job" Imaginary: "The Haw-Hawed Couple"
First mentioned	"Smoke on the Daughter"
Portrayed by	Tress MacNeille

T. R. Francis is the author of the Angelica Button fantasy book series, which is very popular among both children and adults in Springfield.

History

She appears in a photo on the cover of a book Angelica Button and The Dragon King's Trundle Bed as an old lady with her dog Galahad (which is only imaginary) and makes Homer read another chapter without Lisa.

Lisa first encounters her at the Sitting with Dinosaurs show, where she is in a raptor costume. As soon as she notices her, T.R. Francis runs from her and Lisa has to chase her into her dressing room. After she catches up with her, Lisa tells her how she admires her. However, T.R. Francis destroys Lisa's illusions by telling her that she is just an actor hired to pose for the cover, the books are based on market research then written by undervalued and desperate literature majors, and tween novels are written just for profit, much to Lisa's disgust and chagrin.

Behind the Laughter

• T. R. Francis is a parody of J. K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter book series.
  • Funnily enough, Rowling herself had appeared in "The Regina Monologues".
• In "The Haw-Hawed Couple", Francis appears as an old lady in a picture of the book. However, in "The Book Job", she is shown as an young woman. This is a major inconsistency between the two episodes.
  • Alternatively, it can also be seen as a sort of publicity stunt by divulging an entirely different image of the author in order to give readers a different first impression.

Appearances

• Episode – "The Haw-Hawed Couple" (imagined; photo)
• Episode – "Smoke on the Daughter" (mentioned)
• Episode – "Once Upon a Time in Springfield" (mentioned)
• Episode – "The Book Job"