The ‘dark side’ of The Simpsons exposed – from death penalty joke to mass murderer relative
THE Simpsons has become a beloved TV staple, although some of its comedy is far from family friendly.
Viewers have tuned in to watch the antics of The Simpsons and their neighbours in Springfield for almost four decades.
Aside from providing laughs, the animated sitcom has also had an eerie knack of making accurate predictions.
Quite a few jokes over the years have also been very dark, as seen below.
Uncle Arthur
One occasion, when Bart (Nancy Cartwright) asked Marge (Julie Kavner) for advice in “The Boy Who Knew Too Much”, the matriarch responded with an example of the show’s grim humour.
The perpetual preteen asked what he should do if he knows a bad person is going to jail for something they didn’t do.
In turn, Marge responded: “Your uncle Arthur used to have a saying, shoot them all and let God sort them 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.”
Bart’s Girlfriend
A particularly memorable exchange came up in the episode “Bart’s Girlfriend”.
With Bart feeling down, Marge turned to Homer (Dan Castellaneta) for some advice, but he definitely did not give the answer she was hoping for.
After Marge said: “We could get more involved in Bart’s activities, but then I’d be afraid of smothering him”, Homer replied: “Then we’d get the chair.”
To which Marge said: “That’s not what I meant…”
While Homer commented: “It was Marge, admit it.”
“Crash test dummies”
Another scene featured Lisa visiting the booth of Fourth Reich Motors, a name already attracting suspicion.
It had apparently been around since 1946.
While there, she watched a crash test demonstration, only for one of the dummies to try and crawl away from the wreckage.
Lisa said: “Hey wait, that’s not a dummy…”
Only to be met with: “THIS EXHIBIT IS CLOSED!”
Frank Grimes
The episode featured a unique premise in an average, hard-working man, Frank Grimes (Hank Azaria) coming face to face with Homer Simpson.
Considering their respective differences, it comes as probably no surprise when the two new co-workers don’t get on.
After attempting to make fun of Homer, a crazed Grimes takes things one step further by acting like his rival at the Nuclear Power Plant.
The ill-fated Grimes grabs some high voltage cables, declaring: “I don’t need safety gloves, because I’m Homer Simp-“
After the newcomer is electrocuted to death, a sleeping Homer adds further insult to injury at Grimes’ funeral by asking Marge to “change the channel”, as the other mourners all laughed.
Skinner’s Vietnam Flashbacks
The show has made it abundantly clear that Principal Skinner (Harry Shearer) is a Vietnam veteran.
This has ranged from PTSD flashbacks and telling students that “fire can be our servant, whether it’s toasting s’mores or raining down on Charlie.”
On one such occasion, The Simpsons played around with its own recurring bit by subverting expectations.
At first appearing to do another of these jokes, the writers instead went in a different direction.
As Skinner reflected that while a prisoner of war, he was “forced to subsist on a thin stew made of fish, vegetables, prawns, coconut milk and four kinds of rice.”
However, he added that over in the US they ‘just can’t get the spices right.”
Bachelor Arms
It’s clear that Bachelor Arms isn’t somewhere you’d want to be.
When characters have visited the dilapidated apartments, there have been such features as a sign informing that the swimming pool is “now corpse free.”
Or, another revealing the number of days that had passed without a suicide.
One memorable dark joke shows the latter sign as well as the facility itself.
The sign reads three days, a gunshot is heard and the sign flips to zero.
Erasers on Pencils
One remark that might fly under the radar is Lenny comment after German investors take over the Nuclear Power Plant: “Sure, they’ve made mistakes in the past, but that’s why pencils have erasers.”
There’s of course an obvious reference to what Lenny means by the “mistakes in the past”.
Meanwhile, another German allusion featured someone saying ‘no one who speaks German could be an evil man’.
This came after Sideshow Bob informs a jury his ‘Die Bart Die’ tattoo is actually German for ‘the Bart the’.
Poor Hans Moleman
Among several down-on-their-luck Springfield residents, old Hans Moleman is certainly near top of the list.
Some of his many misfortunes include Mr Burns drilling into his brains while he also crashed a vehicle transporting a house that then caught fire as it veered off the road.
Perhaps the worst by far was seemingly being taken away for execution by the electric chair.
The exchange went as follows: “But he ate my last meal!”
“Well, if that’s the worst thing that happens to you today, consider yourself lucky.”
“Are you really allowed to execute people in a local jail?”
“From this point on, no talking.”
Furthering the joke, the next scene with Homer and Marge talking sees the lights briefly dim.
Moe’s struggles
One of the edgier recurring “gags” in The Simpsons revolves around bartender Moe’s suicidal feelings.
Considering it’s a comedy show, things can get dark at time.
One instance saw Moe is about to jump off a bridge.
While doing so, he accidentally catches baby Maggie as she’s falling, with Moe being hailed a hero as a result.
The Simpsons airs on Channel 4
The Simpsons 'predictions' over the years which came true
1992 – SUPER BOWL: In an episode titled Lisa the Greek, the brainiest Simpson tells dad Homer that the Washington Redskins will win if she still loves her dad, and the Buffalo Bills will win if she no longer does. In the end, Washington wins. The episode aired a few days before the actual Super Bowl, correctly depicting the outcome.
1995 – FACETIME: The episode Lisa’s Wedding predicted the technology down to the year it was announced – with a future scene set in 2010 showing a video call.
1998 – DISNEY CONGLOMERATE: In the episode When You Dish Upon a Star, Homer makes a comment about 20th Century Fox becoming a part of Disney Corporation. This became a reality 19 years later, in 2017.
2000 – DONALD TRUMP PRESIDENCY: The episode Bart to the Future features Lisa as US President. She’s seen talking to her staff about the “budget crunch” she inherited from former President Trump. Of course, businessman Donald Trump actually would become President 15 years after the episode aired.
2005 – CANADA’S MARIJUANA LEGALISATION: In Midnight Rx, Homer, Ned, Apu, and Grampa Simpson visit Canada and find out that Marijuana is legal. This legalisation would later become a reality in 2018.
2008 – E-VOTING ISSUE: Treehouse of Horror XIX sees Homer attempting to vote for Barack Obama on an e-voting machine, but the machine instead registered the vote for election rival John McCain. Four years later, in the 2012 election, an issue with vote swapping occurring at electronic voting machines.
2010 – OLYMPICS PREDICTION: In Boy Meets Curl, Homer and Marge win Gold against Sweden who claims silver at the Olympics. Eight years later, the prediction proved accurate with Sweden’s curling team winning silver against the US Men’s team at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
2010 – NOBEL PRIZES: Milhouse predicts in Elementary School Musical that Finnish MIT economics professor, Bengt Holmstrom, and Dutch chemist, Ben Feringa, would win Nobel Prizes in their respective areas. This would ultimately come true in 2016.
2012 – LADY GAGA/SUPER BOWL: In the episode Lisa Goes Gaga, Lady Gaga flies over the audience while attached to cables. Five years later, the pop star performed at at the Halftime show and descended from the stadium’s roof as her massive entrance.
2024: DONALD TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT: Following Donald Trump almost being assassinated in July 2024, Channel 4 pulled a repeat of an episode that originally aired in the 90s. The episode featured an active gunman could be seen on the roof of a building as a public gathering took place, similar to the staging at Trump’s rallies.