The Simpsons: 10 Dark Jokes That Took You By Surprise

7. Moe's Terrible, Disturbing Secret ('The Computer Wore Menace Shoes')

If it's dark jokes you're after, this episode really packs 'em in. Under the guise of Mr.X, Homer creates a web page in which he reports on government corruption, local gossip and wild conjecture. It isn't long before Mr. X wins the Pulitzer prize - but only if he reveals his true identity. At first Homer keeps quiet, until he hears that, if unclaimed, the cash award will go to feed starving children. Later, Marge express her concern: ''I'm proud that you won the Pulitzer. But I do feel bad about the starving children'' ''They're with God now'' comes Homer's reassuring reply. One of Mr. X's 'exclusives' claims that flu shots are being used as a form of mind control, which comes as good news to Ned. ''Now aren't you glad we don't believe in inoculations?'' he asks Rod and Todd, who are huddled under a blanket, shivering. ''Yaay!'' they reply, weakly- before Todd reaches out a hand and calls ''Mommy?'' Which wouldn't be so bad had Maude not passed away in the previous season. But it's the following joke that burrows deep into your brain. Not long after his identity has been blown, Homer walks into Moe's - only to find that he is no longer welcome. ''I don't know if I want you in here no more, Homer'' says Moe, ''I've got a lot of secrets I'd prefer to keep clandestine. Uh, terrible, disturbing secrets.'' He then steps over a crack in the floorboard, from which we can see a pair of eyes peeping out and hear a voice- unmistakably that of Hans Moleman- moan ''So hungry''. Just why Moe appears to be keeping Moleman starving in his cellar is unclear; instead it is left to the audience to wonder how a simple sight gag suddenly became so much more sinister...