| “ | The Cooders have been carnies ever since we came here in 1620, clingin' to the side of the Mayflower. | „ |
| ~ Cooder explaining his family's history |
Cooder is one of the main antagonists (alongside his son, Spud) of the episode Bart Carny of The Simpsons. Alongside Spud, Cooder enjoyed hustling people by having them played his faked game.
He was voiced by the late Jim Varney, who also portrayed Lothar Zogg in 3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain and Felix Nash in Ernest Goes to Jail.
Biography[]
In the episode Bart Carny, the Simpsons go to the carnival and Bart gets in trouble by wrecking Hitler's car. As punishment, Bart is sentenced to work as a carny and Homer works with him because of his dream to be a carny. Bart and Homer meet Cooder and his son Spud at the ring toss booth and when Cooder and Spud take their leave to go to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, they have Homer and Bart hold the fort as their replacements temporarily. When Chief Wiggum asks Homer for money, a bribe, and desparately tries to explain this to Homer, who never gets it, Wiggum shuts the ring toss down.
With Cooder's and Spud's home taken away, Homer lets them live with him and his family. To Cooder's appreciation, he gives the Simpsons tickets to a glass bottom floor boat tour but when the Simpsons come back they discover that Cooder and Spud have taken over their home and boarded it up. The Simpsons stay in the treehouse and try to figure out a way to get their home back, which Homer thinks of a plan to make them lose at their own game. They get Cooder and Spud to participate and the terms are if they win then they keep their home but if they lose then Cooder and Spud keep it.
When Homer is fixing to toss the ring, he and the family quickly run into their house and leave Cooder and Spud outside forcing them to find somewhere else to live.
