Editing Nelson Muntz (section)

==Character==
[[File:Nancy Cartwright.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Nancy Cartwright]] voices Nelson, even though the role was not assigned to her originally.]]
''[[The Simpsons]]'' creator [[Matt Groening]] named Nelson after the [[Nelson hold|wrestling hold of the same name]].<ref>Groening, Matt (2004). Commentary for the episode "[[Lady Bouvier's Lover]]", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Fifth Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref> Cast member [[Nancy Cartwright]] voices the character, which first appeared in the fifth episode of the first season, "[[Bart the General]]" (1990). American voice actress [[Dana Hill]] was first supposed to provide Nelson's voice and attended the [[read-through]] of the episode. However, as Cartwright wrote in her autobiography ''[[My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy]]'', "the producers were still putting together this ensemble of [actors] and, come Monday, at the recording, she was nowhere to be found and the part was assigned to me. I didn't have time to ask why and I still don't have a clue."<ref name="cartwright102">{{cite book |title= My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy|last= Cartwright|first= Nancy|author-link= Nancy Cartwright|chapter=Lady, That Ain't No Gutterball!|pages=[https://archive.org/details/mylifeastenyearo00nanc/page/102 102–103]|year= 2000|publisher=[[Hyperion (publisher)|Hyperion]]|isbn=978-0-7868-8600-5|title-link= My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy}}</ref> Cartwright also commented that when she first found out she would be voicing Nelson, "I asked myself, 'What does a bully sound like?' Well... what you hear is what you get. When I first uttered, 'I'll get you after school, man!' I let out a sigh of relief when I got through the line and a double-sigh when it got a laugh."<ref name="cartwright102"/>

By the [[The Simpsons (season 8)|eighth season]] of ''The Simpsons'', the [[List of writers of The Simpsons|writers]] began to explore the secondary characters of the show. "[[Lisa's Date with Density]]" (season eight, 1996) was the first episode to center around Nelson and was used to explain why he acts the way he does. The idea of Nelson dating [[Lisa Simpson]] had already been around for a while, but this was the first time that the staff worked it into the show.<ref>Scully, Mike; Weinstein, Josh (2007). Commentary for the episode "[[Lisa's Date with Density]]", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Eighth Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref> Cartwright said in 2012 that she thinks Nelson "has evolved the most out of all the characters I do. There's a soft spot in him that the writers have found. He's got this special attraction to Marge, and he sings these songs, and he's got a crush on Lisa. There's something about this poor kid&nbsp;– his mother works at Hooters, his dad went out to buy cigarettes and never came back. I wouldn't want him to come over for dinner, but I really love doing his voice."<ref name=Wilson>{{cite news|last=Wilson|first=Stacey|title='The Simpsons' at 500: Untold Stories|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/simpsons-500-episodes-conan-obrien-matt-groening-287864?page=2|access-date=2012-02-08|newspaper=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|date=2012-02-08}}</ref>