The Simpsons: 8 Reasons Why Season 8 Was The Show's Best 

2. Hank Scorpio

It’s not enough to put Hank Scorpio in with the other one-off characters. He’s the greatest single episode character in the show’s illustrious history and deserves his own entry.

Albert Brooks has had a few guest spots on The Simpsons before, most notably as Russ Cargill in the movie, but also as Tab Spangler, Jacques and Brad Goodman. His quick brain for improv always strikes comedy gold, especially when bouncing off Dan Castellaneta’s Homer. Perhaps then it’s the amount of screen time the two share that makes Scorpio the pick of the bunch.

Part of Scorpio’s charm as a character comes from this improv too. The line ‘ever see a guy say goodbye to a shoe?’ and Homer’s equally funny response ‘Yes, once’ was made up on the spot by the two actors.

While The Simpsons have amazing writers, seeing a character act so unpredictability sets up the twist that he’s a supervillain. All those sporadic tangents are funny, but they’re also the sign of just how unhinged this guy really is.

Fun fact: He’s Nemo's dad in Finding Nemo too. Try and watch now without picturing Scorpio swimming alongside Dory.