Watch an exclusive “Simpsons” clip of Pamela Hayden's final performance as Milhouse
The voice actress is retiring from the show after 35 seasons as Bart's blue-haired friend. (But fear not, Milhouse isn't going anywhere.)
Milhouse has left the building.
Pamela Hayden, the voice actress who has played Bart's blue-haired buddy on all 35 seasons of The Simpsons, is retiring from the series — and Entertainment Weekly has an exclusive look at her final episode on Fox.
In a preview clip from "Treehouse of Horror Presents: Simpsons Wicked This Way Comes" (airing Sunday at 8 a.m. ET/PT), Bart is frantically trying to get a hold of Milhouse via the tried-and-true technology of two aluminum cans attached with a piece of string. "C'mon, c'mon, pick up, pick up!" Bart pleads.
After following the path of the string from Bart's window to his friend's house, we see Milhouse using his phone-can as a plaything, trying (and mostly failing) to scoop up a ball attached with another piece of string. "Milhouse, what are you doing?" Bart asks.
"Just playing a game on my phone," Milhouse replies, perhaps in a futile attempt to seem less dorky.
Related: Milhouse's original voice actor leaving The Simpsons after 35 years
Bart teases the stakes of the episode, which sound fairly unpleasant. "Listen to me, there's a screaming woman buried in the woods, and I need your help digging her up," he urges.
"No can do, Bart. I'm at my grandma's. Had my calls forwarded," Milhouse responds, twirling his string as he resumes his game. "I won't be back for another three days. We can play the screaming-woman game then."
Frustrated, Bart yanks the string, disrupting Milhouse's balance. "It's not a game!" he yells.
"Agh!" Milhouse exclaims. "I lost all my high scores!"
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Hayden announced her retirement from The Simpsons on Wednesday. "The time has come for me to hang up my microphone, but how do I say goodbye to The Simpsons?… not easily," Hayden said in a statement. "It's been an honor and a joy to have worked on such a funny, witty, and groundbreaking show, and to give voice to Milhouse (and Jimbo Jones, Rod Flanders, Janey, Malibu Stacy, and many others)."
Hayden's departure from the show doesn't mean that Milhouse is going away, however, as Fox announced that it will begin casting replacement voice actors for her characters in the near future.
Related: The Simpsons renewed through 2025, will pass 800-episode mark
"Here's to everyone who made this terrific ride I've been on possible. Thanks for 35 years!! Be well and happy. My best to you all," Hayden said at the end of her statement. "P.S. I'll always have a special place in my heart for that blue-haired 10-year-old boy with glasses."
"Simpsons Wicked This Way Comes" will also guest-star Andy Serkis as Siegfried Blaze. The official logline for the episode reads: "A tattooed man at a mysterious night circus transports Lisa into three strange stories from the innocent 1950s, the chilling retro-present, and a brutalist future where prestige TV rules the world."
Watch the exclusive clip above.