What can be said about The Simpsons that hasn’t been said before? We all know them as our favourite yellow family on television, entertaining us for over 26 years (and still going). In their 754 episode history there has been thousands of classic moments that will easily jump to each of our minds, some eye wateringly funny, classic quotes and even the more emotional moments that still pack a punch today (Homer sat on the car at the end of Mother Simpson still gets me right in the feels).
Unlike Family Guy or South Park, it’s this “light-heartedness” that we come to expect when we sit down to (re)watch our favourite episodes. Every now and again though the show won’t hold back from going to some dark places before carrying on like nothing has happened, leaving us to question “did I just see that??”.
We’re never going to see Bart cook Jimbo’s parents into chili and feed it to him, or have Homer accuse Dr Hibbert of rape following a prostate exam, but with moments like Side Show Bob trying to kill children or Moe’s numerous suicide attempts, The Simpsons are not afraid of showing their dark side.
Here the top ten moments The Simpsons made us raise a few eyebrows.
10. Most Of Season 1
With “golden-age” of The Simpsons often cited as seasons 2-9, season one is often forgotten about. Although its very rough, the characters sound a little different and the animation is all over the place occasionally, its hard not to watch the season without appreciating how it sets up the next 25 years.
However, you can also see why its often left out when fans talk about the early years, its just so depressing at times! In the first episode we see Homer lose his Christmas bonus, gets a 2nd job and then gamble away the little money he has made, we also see Homer get so depressed about his family he takes them to family therapy, Lisa feels “sad”, Marge comes close to having an affair and Bart gets made a slave in France.
The darkest moment though come in episode three “Homer’s Odyessy”. Homer has lost his job at the nuclear power plant and after struggling to find another one, he plans to kill himself! We actually see Homer say goodbye to his sleeping family after writing his suicide note. It doesn’t end there… as we see him struggling to carry a rock to the bridge, the old couple next door (The Winfields) actually make a joke about him killing himself, rather than help! That’s cold, Winfields, very cold!
The whole scene just depressing and slightly uncomfortable when you realise that Homer is selfishly going to kill himself and leave his whole family just because he’s lost his job. Luckily he loses his job so often now he’s just gotten use to it.
9. Homer Kills Grandpa
Most fans have probably given up on The Simpsons by season 19, but it provides one of the shows darkest moments in the form of a “The Sopranos” parody. Episode 16 “Papa Don’t Preach” opens up with Homer and Grandpa driving at night being driven off the road and over a cliff by Patty and Selma. Homer crawls out of the wreckage to check on Grandpa, we see him dialing a nine and a one before pausing and closing his phone. He then takes his hand and smothers Grandpa, staring his own father straight in the eyes as he slowly succumbs to his death. We then find out Homer was dreaming the whole thing as he states “I was having the most wonderful dream”.
As a parody this is brilliantly funny, almost a shot for shot for remake of the famous scene, but then when you realise that Homer is essentially dreaming about killing his own dad AND enjoying it, it just makes you really uncomfortable around Homer.
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8. Homer finds the corpse of Smithers’ dad.
In one of the newer (poorer) flashback episodes we discover Homer has been repressing memories from when he was a child. We see Homer as a boy out on an adventure with Lenny, Carl and Moe, heading towards the old quarry for a swim, as Homer dives into the water he discovers a corpse that which (obviously) traumatises him.
As if it isn’t bad enough that we find out that Homer has had quite a severe traumatic experience as a kid, he then goes to find the corpse and takes his CHILDREN along with him!
On top the traumatising childhood, taking children to find a dead body we discover the corpse is actually Waylon Smithers Snr, who died heroically saving the plant and Mr Burns stuffed his body down a sewer pipe. Waylon Smithers Jnr appears to just accept all this and doesn’t really have any emotional response to any of this. It all finishes rather abruptly and you makes you feel like you could repress the memory of the last 20 minutes.
7. Homers Police Tape Prank
The Simpsons at the height of its power was one of the funniest things on tv. Its humor had a wide range of slapstick, pop-culture references, “in jokes” as well as having some fantastic black comedic moments. This couldn’t be backed up more by season sixes “The Springfield Connection”.
Marge becomes a cop and Homer has a great time playing with all of Marge’s new police toys including her police tape which he uses to play a prank on Flanders.
Wrapping Marge’s police tape around Ned’s house, Homer bursts into laughter when he see’s Flanders think something has happened to his family. It’s a great mixture of Homer’s laughter and constant reassurance to Ned that his family is actually fine combined with Ned awkwardly laughing along and the scene just dragging the situation for the perfect length of time that makes this so brilliant dark and hugely funny. Classic Simpsons.
6. Moe’s Professor Kills Himself
By the time season 13 came around the majority of fans could argue that the show had probably ran its course and was turning out stale, uninspiring episodes. “Homer The Moe” is no exception, a pretty poor episode overall with one standout moment. When Moe goes back to his old university to find his old Professor, he asks him for some inspiration to help reignite his passion for bar keeping. After suggesting he should modernise up his tavern, out of nowhere the Professor tells Moe he’s dying before waking into the lake in and killing himself.
It’s the abruptness of the whole thing that makes this so dark, along with the Professors almost optimistically sounding “Do you have a cure for cancer??” and Moe’s naivety as his friends drowns himself before just walking off nonchalantly. You’re his friend Moe! Help Him!
5. Frank “Grimey” Grimes
“Homer’s Enemy” of season eight is widely considered the last “great” episode of The Simpsons. It’s not hard to see why as its essentially The Simpsons writers making fun of their own show. Realising how ludicrous, stupid and a caricature Homer has become, they bring in his opposite in the form of Frank Grimes. A hard working individual who has not been able to catch a break.
As we see Frank Grimes’ backstory: Abandoned by his parents, spent his childhood working, delivering toys to “more fortunate children”, blown up, and then had to study science by mail, you cant help but feel pretty sorry for him already.
Then all the way through the episode things just go bad to worse for him, Mr Burns immediately overlooks him for him a dog, Homer eats his lunch, bites his pencils, discovers the man who has worked for nothing has everything including Grammys and trips to space!
As you’re watching, even though it’s hilarious, you can’t help but think that you would also hate Homer if you were in the same position. All the way through you’ve been sympathising with Grimey, feeling empathy with his struggles before he finally cracks and accidentally electrocutes himself.
Then to rub salt in the wounds, his funeral his made a mockery by Homer sleeping through it. It’s a cold ending the episode, after you’ve wiped the tears of laughter from your eyes you there is a part of you who feels that it might just be a little cruel on poor old Grimey.
4. Uncle Arthur
This is one of those moments where its not until you really focus on it that you realise what has just happened because you don’t actually see anything. In season 5’s “Bart Gets Famous”, Bart and Marge are innocently chatting when marge tells Bart:
“Your Uncle Arthur used to have a saying. “Shoot em’ all and let God sort it out.” Unfortunately, one day he put his theory into practice. It took 75 federal marshals to bring him down. Now, let’s never speak of him again.”.
Its said so casually that you can just miss it but when you realise that Marge had an uncle that went on a shooting spree, it makes you wonder what else we’re missing from the Bouvier side of the family!
3. Homer Hangs Himself
Another scene involving Homer and suicide.
This time its nineteen years later and Homer is still have money troubles. He decides to be slightly less dramatic this time and goes to hang himself in the garden.
What makes this scene so dark though is the reaction of Bart and Lisa who are just stood watching him while he puts the noose around his neck. Unlike back in Homer’s Odyssey where his family come running to his rescue, Bart and Lisa show no emotion as their father is hanging by his neck. No attempts at rescue or pleas for him to stop.
The tree he’s swinging from topples over (which I suppose is the “joke”), but the fact a grown man would hang himself in front of his children is dark enough, but for the children just to except it, that’s something else.
2. Homer gets raped by a Pander.
I must admit I saw this episode so many times as a kid and this bit just went over my head every time. Its just a funny scene with Homer in a panda suit who gets mistaken for a lady panda by male panda.
Except it’s not… Homer gets RAPED by a panda!
Its an actual rape joke in The Simpsons! Its not offensive but it certainly is a shock for such a family orientated show. You don’t realise how dark it is until you rewatch it and see Homer struggling to escape as he is being dragged off screaming.
Often cited as a low point in The Simpson’s long history, it’s a very cheap laugh and too my knowledge not on that has been repeated since.
1 The Banksy Opening.
In recent years to try and give the impression that the show is still freash and current we’ve seen a lot of guest directors for the “couch gag”. We’ve had artists and animators such as Don Hertzfeldt, Michal Socha and Sylvain Chomet to name a few. But the one that really stands out is by graffiti artist Banksy.
For over a minute the artist highlights the work overseas that goes off behind the entire Simpsons franchise. We see Korean workers in a sweatshop style animating frames of the show under the scrutiny of guards, covered in cuts and bandages. We see kids working with toxic waste next to piles of human bones, live cats being thrown into blenders to make the stuffing of toys, animals alive and dead being worked including a unicorn.
As a fan it makes you extremely uncomfortable, not only for watching and enjoying the show but for every single piece of The Simpsons merchandise you own (and all the fans own at least one thing). Of course real life cats and dolphin heads are not being used but it highlights in a typical Banksy way of what is/could be going on beside the scenes while we sit in our comfy armchairs chuckling away.
Its by far the darkest moment of The Simpsons so far and it’ll be very hard to matched.
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