Frank Grimes losing his mind in The Simpsons
By
Ben Sherlock
Published 24 minutes ago
Ben Sherlock is a Tomatometer-approved film and TV critic who runs the massively underrated YouTube channel I Got Touched at the Cinema. Before working at Screen Rant, Ben wrote for Game Rant, Taste of Cinema, Comic Book Resources, and BabbleTop. He's also an indie filmmaker, a standup comedian, and an alumnus of the School of Rock.
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From Hank Scorpio to Lyle Lanley to Lisa’s substitute teacher Mr. Bergstrom, some of the all-time best characters in The Simpsons only ever appeared in one episode. A generational talent like Phil Hartman or Albert Brooks only needs one episode to create an iconic character and get a full season’s worth of comedic juice out of them.
In some cases, a celebrity guest star comes in and steals the show, like Rodney Dangerfield as Larry Burns or Patrick Stewart as Number One. But The Simpsons’ greatest characters are often strong enough to become icons on their own, without a famous voice, like Homer’s enemy Frank Grimes.
Larry Burns
Larry Burns in The Simpsons
Rodney Dangerfield brought his unmistakable comedic voice to The Simpsons in season 8, episode 4, “Burns, Baby Burns.” Mr. Burns finds out he has a long-lost son named Larry, and hopes he’s as sophisticated and well-educated as he is, but it turns out he’s basically Dangerfield’s boorish, outgoing standup persona incarnate.
Whenever Dangerfield came into an ensemble, like in Caddyshack, he crashed onto the scene and instantly stole the show, and that’s exactly what happened when he guest-starred in The Simpsons. The Simpsons briefly became a Rodney Dangerfield show.
Hugo Simpson
Simpsons Treehouse of Horror Hugo Simpson
The character of Hugo Simpson is technically non-canonical — he appears in one of the Halloween segments in the spooky season 8 premiere, “Treehouse of Horror VII” — but he’s pretty memorable for a what-if scenario. In “The Thing and I,” Bart discovers his evil twin, Hugo, living in the attic, feasting on discarded fish-heads.
The ingenious twist of the story is that Dr. Hibbert got it wrong. It’s Bart who’s the evil twin, not Hugo, so Homer and Marge let Hugo come downstairs and chain up Bart in the attic instead.
The Real Seymour Skinner
The real Principal Skinner with the impostor in The Simpsons
Season 9, episode 2, “The Principal and the Pauper” is one of the most controversial episodes of The Simpsons. The revelation that Principal Skinner is an impostor living under a stolen identity is widely considered to be the moment that The Simpsons jumped the shark. But there’s still a lot to love in this episode.
Martin Sheen gives a hilarious guest turn as the real Seymour Skinner. He nails the deadpan delivery of all his lines; he understands that playing an absurd line straight makes it even funnier.
Ray Patterson
Ray Patterson in his office in The Simpsons
Homer runs for the job of sanitation commissioner in season 9, episode 22, “Trash of the Titans,” and Steve Martin plays his opponent, the incumbent commissioner. This election is a catch-all satire of elections where a candidate makes wild promises he can’t possibly keep, rallies the most gullible voters, and beats his much more rational opposition.
This is more Planes, Trains, and Automobiles Steve Martin than The Jerk Steve Martin. He’s great at playing wacky characters like Navin Johnson, but he’s just as great at playing the straight man, and in The Simpsons, he’s the straight man to Homer.
John
Homer and Marge talk to John in The Simpsons
The Simpsons tackled homophobia when it wasn’t really being discussed on television. Season 8, episode 15, “Homer’s Phobia” satirizes Homer’s prejudice through the Simpsons’ friendship with a gay man named John, voiced (and modeled after) iconic filmmaker John Waters.
Waters’ signature absurdist sensibility is perfectly in line with the comedic voice of The Simpsons, and “Homer’s Phobia” became one of the show’s most important episodes. It won a GLAAD Media Award for its anti-homophobia message.
Number One
Number One in The Simpsons
Homer joins a Freemasons-style underground men’s club, the Stonecutters, in season 6, episode 12, “Homer the Great.” Patrick Stewart guest-stars as the supreme leader of the Stonecutters, Number One, and knocks it out of the park.
Stewart plays Number One with his usual Shakespearean gravitas. All the Stonecutters’ rules and rituals described by Number One are utterly ridiculous, but Stewart’s delivery of the lines is deadly serious. Stewart’s commitment to the bit makes the bit even more effective.
Lyle Lanley
Lyle Lanley in the town hall in The Simpsons
Season 4, episode 12, “Marge vs. the Monorail” is one of the most common picks for The Simpsons’ all-time greatest episode, and it’s easy to see why. It takes the high-concept premise of Springfield building a shoddy monorail system and grounds it within the Simpson family by making Homer the conductor on the maiden voyage.
Lyle Lanley is the ultimate snake-oil salesman character. He convinces the gullible townspeople that he can put them on the map with a lavish song-and-dance number, and Phil Hartman has a ton of fun with the role.
Mr. Bergstrom
Mr Bergstrom playing guitar in a classroom with Lisa wearing a cowboy hat in The Simpsons
Lisa felt inspired at Springfield Elementary for the first time when substitute teacher Mr. Bergstrom came to town in season 2, episode 19, “Lisa’s Substitute.” Unlike the full-time staff working under Principal Skinner’s grueling leadership, Mr. Bergstrom has a genuine passion for teaching, brought to life with Dustin Hoffman’s signature warmth.
It’s interesting that the episode is called “Lisa’s Substitute,” not “Lisa’s Substitute Teacher,” because Mr. Bergstrom is as much a substitute father as a substitute teacher. Lisa finds that she has a lot more in common with her new teacher than she does with Homer, but the episode ultimately highlights Homer’s unconditional love for Lisa.
Hank Scorpio
Hank Scorpio uses a flamethrower in The Simpsons
Half of this list could be made up of characters voiced by The Simpsons’ most prolific guest star, Albert Brooks (always credited as “A. Brooks”), from Brad Goodman to Russ Cargill. But Hank Scorpio is Brooks’ most iconic Simpsons role, and it’s not even close.
In season 8, episode 2, “You Only Move Twice,” Homer gets a job working for a James Bond-style supervillain bent on world domination. Brooks could’ve easily just played the role with a generic Blofeld impression, but he gave Scorpio a lively, upbeat, carefree vibe. He was the best boss Homer ever had.
Frank Grimes
Frank Grimes losing his mind in The Simpsons
Frank Grimes — or “Grimey,” as he liked to be called — is easily the best and most memorable one-episode character in The Simpsons’ history. Season 8, episode 23, “Homer’s Enemy” imagines what would happen if a sane, rational person came to Springfield and met Homer Simpson.
As a cartoon character, we enjoy watching Homer. But if he was a real person, inexplicably failing upwards and causing unforeseen problems for everyone in his vicinity, he’d get annoying very quickly. Hank Azaria’s exasperated line deliveries perfectly capture Grimey’s frustration in one of The Simpsons’ darkest episodes.
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The Simpsons
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