Well, things aren't quite coming up Milhouse as long-time voice actress Pamala Hayden, who is best-known as the voice of Milhouse Van Houten in The Simpsons, is retiring from that role after 35 years. She's been lending her voice to Bart's best friend, among other Springfieldians, since the debut of the lovable dork.
She will have one more episode before departing from the show completely, that being Treehouse of Horror Presents: Simpsons Wicked This Way Comes, which premieres this Sunday. Outside of her main role as Bart's confidant, she also voiced elementary school bully, Jimbo Jones, Ralph's mom, Sarah, Ned's son, Rod (and sometimes Todd), and Lisa's friend, Janey.
In a farewell video, Hayden said it's been an honor and a joy to work on the show. Meanwhile, according to Deadline, executive producer Al Jean jokes that the writers room loved MIlhouse because “most of the writers are more like Milhouse than Bart.” James L. Brooks adds that the now-former Van Houten boy voice was a "model for having a great spirit."
The Simpsons creator, Matt Groening, also gave a touching statement, noting that Hayden was the reason Milhouse was funny, she was the one that "gave us tons of laughs."
“Bart needed someone to talk to in the school cafeteria. We named him Milhouse because that was the most unfortunate name a kid could have. Pamela gave us tons of laughs with Milhouse, the hapless kid with the biggest nose in Springfield. She made Milhouse hilarious and real, and we will miss her.”
Since the actor in question didn't pass away, it's been confirmed that we aren't going to see Milhouse phased out of the family's antics, instead, Fox plans on recasting the roles. It's unclear how they plan to do this -- whether they're looking for a jack-of-all to take on the characters left behind, with a more needed focus on Milhouse, or if more than one actor will take on the roles.
Debuting in 1988's The Butterfinger Group, a commercial made with Bart and Milhouse while it was still airing as part of the Tracey Ullman Show, Milhouse quickly turned into a mainstay character acting a "yes-man" to Bart's crazy ideas and pranks. He often went along with whatever Bart wanted and has become among the most important characters outside of the main family. Above all, though, he's become popular to quote with fans particularly enjoying "everything's coming up Milhouse."