10 Times The Simpsons Jumped The Shark

Let’s note first of all that season eight episode “Homer’s Enemy” is classic Simpsons. It’s laden with jokes, has one of the all time great one-off characters in Frank Grimes, and perhaps the finest Simpsons b-plot (Bart owning a factory), give or take Homer’s time as a sugar baron.

Unfortunately, the episode also gave birth to a character fans of the show refer to as “Jerk-Ass Homer”. While the Simpson patriarch began life as a well meaning, if idiotic and often destructive figure, “Homer’s Enemy” begins the character’s transition to an openly selfish and often unpleasant person.

He’s boorish at worst in the episode itself, but the ending - falling asleep at Grimes’ funeral to gales of laughter from friends and family - can be seen as the moment the writers realised they could mine easy laughs from having Homer turn into an often downright nasty piece of work.

It’s one of the most common criticisms of later Simpsons - the writers even showed their awareness of it by having the character smoke “Jerk-Ass Homer Cigars” after an act of villainy. The episode itself is superb, but it set an unpleasant tone to follow.