“	Disco Stu doesn't advertise.	”

Stuart Discothèque, also known as Disco Stu, is the owner of Stu's Disco and a self-proclaimed appreciator of disco music. He sports a 'fro and is usually featured wearing rhinestone-encrusted leisure suits from the 1970s.

Biography[]

Stuart Discotheque is the son of Doo-Wop Steve and Public Domain Debbie.

Before becoming Disco Stu, his former identities have included Nautical Stu^[1] and (according to his Inkworks trading card) Polka Stu.^[2]

He first appears in the episode "Two Bad Neighbors" as a throwaway gag character at the yard sale. There, he rejects a rhinestone jacket that says 'Disco Stu' on the back. (The jacket had been erroneously created by Homer, who ran out of room to write 'Disco Stud'.) When his friend says, "Stu, you should buy that!", Stu declines: "Hey...Disco Stu doesn't advertise."

The episode "Springfield Up" reveals that, in his younger years, Stu had a budding career as a sea captain, nicknamed "Nautical Stu". He exclaims his joy of disco music after Marge plays it while taking his picture for his captain's license. (However, the scene was set up in a purposefully misleading manner, so audiences were expecting a backstory for Sea Captain Horatio McCallister prior to the reveal that it was Stu's backstory.)

According to his Inkworks trading card, Stu was "the king of the dance floor in the late '70s". However, "during a wild party at Club 55 (the club for people who couldn't get into Studio 54), Stu fell into a coma due to a boogie-related accident. He woke up in the mid-'90s", presumably some time before his 1996 appearance in "Two Bad Neighbors".^[2]

In the Kozy Kabins woods, he once presumably carved a tree to say "Disco Stu + Disco".

Since the 1970's, he has been addicted to "the white stuff" (sugar), sucking lines of it through a straw as one might cocaine in "Sweets and Sour Marge".

A brief shot in the introduction song of "Haw-Haw Land" shows that he drives a dark red Sedan.

Disco Stu has also been seen dancing with Homer after Homer discovers his love of walking, getting smashed by a jukebox thanks to a beefed-up Marge, and most recently, a regular on Homer's talk show.

Speech patterns[]

He often refers to himself in the third person, putting a big emphasis on "Stu" and then pausing before saying anything else.

His rhyming dialogue has been lampooned by the writers on multiple occasions. For example, he once cut Ned, Rod, and Todd in line and exclaimed, "Disco Stu slides in front of you!" before happily realizing, "Hey, that rhymes."^[3] Similarly, his Tapped Out unlock message is, "Disco Stu is glad his name rhymes with so many thing... oo!"

It was subtly lampooned in 2024's Christmas special, "O C'mon All Ye Faithful" when he tells the documentary team, "Disco Stu likes free verse poetry, also."

He speaks similarly to radio DJs of the 1970s, who often spoke rhythmically and incorporated rhymed phrases. [[Disco Stu, Super Christian.png|thumb|145x145px|Disco Stu giving roses to Edna Krabappel and spontaneously announcing that he is "Super Christian!".]]

Beliefs and confessions[]

While bringing roses to Edna's door, Disco Stu proclaims, "Disco Stu is about more than just disco. I'm also - ha! - super Christian!"^[4] He got an annulment for his marriage with Selma Bouvier from Pope John Paul II.

During a 'taxicab confession' in the episode "How I Spent My Strummer Vacation," Stu takes off his purple teaglasses and confides: "I hate disco. It's all I've talked about for so long, people think I'm a one-note guy. It's just getting harder, you know." Similarly, in The Simpsons Game, he unconvicingly says, "Good...good...got the whole Disco thing. Really into that. Really pumped about it."

Friendships[]

The friend who exclaimed, "Stu, you should buy that!" in Stu's first appearance ("Two Bad Neighbors") has likely not appeared again.

He is a member of local bowling team, Selma's Exes, along with Sideshow Bob Roberts and Fat Tony (seen in the background of "Singin' in the Lane"). He was also seen at a trivia night of an as yet unidentified episode, sitting alongside Artie Ziff among others.

Relationships[]

During Season 11's "Little Big Mom", he approached Marge Simpson at the Ski Lodge, asking her "Do you party?" and heavily implying he wants to get together. Marge then confounds him by asking, "Who's Disco Stu?". He backs away and exclaims "Not today!" upon realizing that she has children.^[5] When Marge is picked up by an ambulance and driven to the Springfield Hospital, Stu says, "Yeesh! I can't believe she went home with those guys."^[5]

In Season 16, he became the fourth (now ex-) husband of Selma Bouvier.^[6] Their marriage was not shown on screen, and they were married for an undisclosed amount of time. Their marriage ended with Stu getting an annulment from Pope John Paul II. Later, in "The Real Housewives of Fat Tony", Marge says, "The only husband of Selma's I liked was Disco Stu. He was so upbeat — till he found out she didn't care for disco."

In Season 21's "Bart Gets a "Z", he is presumably dating Edna as he shows up at her door with roses. Edna laments that he is the only man who finds her attractive.

In Season 22, Disco Stu's girlfriend is seen going to the line dance with Krusty the Clown rather than Stu. [[Reject Men, "The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons".png|thumb|Disco Stu in the group of rejected men (among Barney, Kirk, Capt., CBG, Moleman, Moe, Frink, & Otto) from the auction in "The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons"]] While missing his ex-wife Selma in Season 27's "Puffless", Selma decides to give Stu a call, calling him one of many "lonely men" from her past. Upon answering the phone, he angrily says, "Disco Stu is over you!" and slams down the receiver. However, it is revealed he still has images of Selma all over his house, including pictures, sculptures, and psychedelic artwork proclaiming their love. He then looks morose and says "Disco Stu needs a Zoloft or two".^[7]

Later in the same episode, Selma says she did some regrettable things during Patty's absence, and Disco Stu appears in the hallway buttoning his shirt (insinuating they got intimate). He disappointedly says to Selma, "You said it was for real this time." When Selma blows him off, he walks away saying, "Disco Stu is back on Tinder."^[8]

Disco Stu's girlfriend, in slightly different clothing, is spotted near Disco Stu in the background of Season 30's "I'm Dancing as Fat as I Can". She is seen seated beside Disco Stu again in the audience of Kent Brockman's podcast in "Podcast News".

Stu identifies as heteroflexible,^[9] and is insinuated to be a swinger (alongside his occassional girlfriend Edna Krabappel, and both Dr. Hibbert and Bernice Hibbert). This occurs in Season 20's "In the Name of the Grandfather", when Marge points at the group approaching their hot tub and cries, "Uh oh! We're starting to attract swingers."^[10] Homer is able to fend them off.

In Season 30's "The Girl on the Bus", he is seen dancing beside Elizabeth Hoover in Bart's room, which has been turned into a nightclub.

In Season 33's "Portrait of a Lackey on Fire", Smithers reveals that Disco Stu is among the men on U.S. Male Service, a gay dating app. Within the app, Stu proclaims that he is "heteroflexible - oo!" and performs a split.^[9]

In "Women in Shorts", Disco Stu appears to pair up with Lindsey Naegle. At the conclusion of a skit, Nagle gives a PSA on the dangers of sexual roleplaying, before revealing that she, too, is roleplaying as a spokesperson "to turn on the men in [the] bar". Disco Stu approaches in a fireman's hat and says, "Role-play, baby, I dig it! Fireman Stu is hot for you." Nagle takes his hand and happily exclaims, "I got one!"

Business ventures[]

Stu runs a nightclub, Stu's Disco, which was first spotted in the background of Season 9's "Dumbbell Indemnity".

In "A Hunka Hunka Burns in Love", the club had a bouncer and appeared to be crowded with a line of clientele, including Mr. Burns and his date. Therefore, it appears to be commercially successful.

In "The Twisted World of Marge Simpson", he ran the booth for Can't Stop the Learnin' Disco Academies at the SCC's Franchise Expo. Therefore, he is either a professional dance instructor specializing in the Hustle, or the proprietor who manages dance instructors/franchisers. Given that his financial bar graphs are from the year 1976, it is unlikely that the academies are or were a success.

In Tapped Out, one of his tasks is teaching a "Sweatin' 70's Workout" class at the L.A. Body Works, but he neither mentions nor performs this activity in the show proper.

Attempted de-discofications[]

In Season 23's "How I Wet Your Mother", Professor Frink claims that he had successfully "cured" Stu of his disco obsession. "Normal Stu" appears in modest slacks and a polo shirt, happily stating, "Normal Stu likes normal things." However, he reverted back to his disco ways by his next appearance in "The Man Who Grew Too Much".

The "Normal Stu" outfit appears again in Season 31's "Warrin' Priests (Part One)" during an Alcoholic Anonymous meeting, where he anonymously admits, "Disco S. is quite a mess".

Lastly, the "Normal Stu" outfit was seen again during Marge's party in Season 36's "P.S. I Hate You", implying Stu is either de-discofying again, or just doesn't see a need to wear the leisure suit at a party as was typical in previous seasons.

Attempted suicides[]

[[Stuicide.gif|thumb|134x134px|Stu is quick to contemplate suicide upon a power outage in "Homer Goes to Prep School"]] Like Moe Szyslak, Disco Stu has contemplated suicide on multiple occasions. In "Haw-Haw Land", he tells Bart not to cut in front of him at the assisted suicide booth, saying, "If disco's dead, I don't want to live. It's Stu-icide!" Later, when his music stops during a power outage in "Homer Goes to Prep School", he immediately presses a gun to his head. He also is seen rollerskating off of a cliff in "Much Apu About Something" while wearing a Roller Boogie 4ever romper; given past patterns, this may have also been a suicide attempt.

Non-canon[]

The contents of this article or section are/can be considered non-canon, and exist outside of the main continuity of The Simpsons.

Stu was seen wearing an arrow beadband and playing the banjo. When a witch turns the citizens of Springfield into their Halloween costumes, Stu's headband turns into a real arrow and impales him threw the brain. However, when Maggie turns the citizens into pacifiers, he is seen alive. This likely means that the pacifier spell revived him. After Maggie cast another spell, he turned back into a human. ("Treehouse of Horror XVI")

Disco Stu has been parodied multiple times within the Simpsons. In a parody of the Odyssey, he appeared as "Discus Stu", showing an attraction to Telemachus (portrayed by Bart). He was "Disco Shrew" in the "Treehouse of Horror XIII"

Stu is seen attending an orgy at Burns Manor when Moog and his fellow Clockwork gang members break into the manor and begin fighting the party patrons. While it is not shown, Stu is knocked out during this battle as his unconscious body is seen slumped against a wall. At the end of the segment, the story is revealed to be a Stanley Kubrick movie. With this knowledge, Clockwork Yellow Stu is confirmed to be a fictional character within the Simpsons universe. ("Treehouse of Horror XXV")

"Dr. Moreau" parody, where Stu was turned into a shrew, but wasn't worried about his condition. "Big Band Stu" appears in the parody of "The War of the Worlds" radio hoax that takes place in 1938, in "Treehouse of Horror XVII".

In "Days of Future Future", Stu gets shock therapy at MovingOn where he becomes "Nothing Stu".

In "Treehouse of Horror XXX" (which is set in the '80s, as a parody of Stranger Things), Stu is an unnamed breakdancing instructor, with whom Luann Van Houten admits she is cheating on her husband.

Fictional lore connecting Marge and Stu is revealed in "Lisa the Boy Scout", in one of its many satirical "show-ruining" scenes. A dying Selma reveals that she is not Marge's sister, and rather her mother. Marge asks who her real father is, and Selma dies before she can finish saying his name. Marge shakes Selma, repeating, "Disco who? Disco who?!"

[[Disco Stu's idea of Heaven from "We're Goin' to Praiseland".gif|thumb|Disco Stu's idea of Heaven from "I'm Goin' to Praiseland", dancing beside a bitter Frank Sinatra]]

In "A Serious Flanders: Part One", he is killed after Kostas Becker uses him as a human shield at Krusty Burger.

He appears disco-dancing alongside Chazz Busby in "Treehouse of Horror XXXV". In the same episode, he is briefly controlled by a pair of jeans while rollerskating down a street; he exclaims, "These aren't my moves, man! Not my moves!"[[A Hunka Hunka Burns in Love -00104.jpg|thumb|Stu's Disco, presumably managed by the titular character.]]

Trivia[]

• [[Disco Stu in new theme.png|thumb|226x226px|Disco Stu dodging Bart in the post-season-20 opening sequence]] During "The Marge-ian Chronicles", he was among the candidates willing to start a new colony on Mars in 10 years.
  • He also reveals he uses adult braces, which presumably is what gets him kicked out of the program.
• Disco Stu's last name, "Discothèque," means "nightclub" in French.
• Because Disco Stu has claimed to be "super Christian" and got a marriage annulment from Pope John Paul II, he is probably Catholic.
• According to "I'm Goin' to Praiseland", his hallucination of Heaven is a gated disco club. He arrives in a limo and is ushered into heaven by St. Peter. This upsets John Travolta, who is waiting in line and was told the club was full. Frank Sinatra also appears on the dance floor, only to announce that this is his personal hell.
• His trading card contains useful lore information. According to his trading card, his height without shoes is 5'10" and (with platform shoes) 6'5", meaning that his shoes are 7" platforms.^[2]

Behind the Laughter[]

• His Franchise Expo booth in "The Twisted World of Marge Simpson" appears to feature a Saturday Night Fever movie poster of John Travolta.
• He was originally going to be voiced by Phil Hartman in the episode "Two Bad Neighbors", but when the animators needed to do a model change, Hartman wasn't available to re-dub the voice, so Hank Azaria took it over.
• His aquarium shoes featuring dead goldfish (seen in "The Twisted World of Marge Simpson") are a possible homage to a pimp's aquarium shoes in 1988 blaxsploitation parody film, I'm Gonna Git You, Sucka!^[11][12]
• As detailed in Speech Patterns, his pattern of speaking is similar to that of mid-1970s vocalists and DJs. Examples of similarly written characters include the radio announcer in the beginning of Car Wash (1976), DJ Bobby Speed in Thank God It's Friday (1978); or perhaps most closely Donald Boyce of Kool & the Gang, who exclaims in 1976 song "Open Sesame": "I am the Genie of Sound - everybody get down! Hwah!"
• Aside from the phrase "Disco Stud", his name bears similarity to that of Disco-Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes (the band that performed Stu's Heaven-song); and the novelty song Disco Duck (mentioned in Homer and Marge's parody of Those Were The Days).
• The fact that he got an annulment for his marriage from the Pope may be a reference to Bobby from Saturday Night Fever who wanted to ask the Pope for a dispensation for an abortion.
• His suit bears some resemblance to that worn by bandleader KC of KC and the Sunshine Band performing "I'm Your Boogie Man" on Top of the Pops in 1977.
• He quotes Happy Days' Fonzie's insult, "Sit on it!", in his dialogue in The Simpsons Game.

In popular culture:

• His design likely inspired that of Dancing Zombie from Plants vs. Zombies.

Gallery[]

Appearances[]

References[]