The Simpsons: 10 Dark Jokes That Took You By Surprise

4. Frank Grimes ('Homer's Enemy')

The concept of this episode sprung from a question in the writers' room: ''What would it be like if you worked with Homer in real life?'' And the short, startling answer is: it would kill you. Frank Grimes is a man for whom life has been a string of tragedies and hard-won victories. A man whose straight-laced professionalism is placed immediately at odds with his colleague's carefree attitude and reckless behaviour. A man who cannot understand how a halfwit like Homer Simpson has an idyllic life while he ''had to struggle for everything he ever got''. A man who, put simply, cannot stand another minute of Homer stealing his sandwiches and calling him ''Grimey''. Ultimately his frustration boils over to the point where, having failed to highlight Homer's stupidity to the rest of the plant, he suddenly breaks out into a crazed impression of his nemesis. And that's when he grabs hold of a pair of high voltage wires... Even in death, Frank Grimes is upstaged by Homer- who calls out (while asleep) ''Change the channel, Marge!'', thus closing the episode with Grimes' coffin being lowered into the ground to the rather unnerving soundtrack of everyone laughing.