The Simpsons' Frank Grimes Gave Hank Azaria A 'Rare Opportunity'

The episode of "The Simpsons" called "Homer's Enemy" (May 4, 1997) is one of the most memorable — and darkest — episodes of the series. It features a new character named Frank Grimes (Hank Azaria), recently hired at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. Grimes is stern, serious, intelligent, and worked his way into a well-paying nuclear power gig after struggling out of childhood poverty. He has an unshakeable work ethic, and a deep concern for safety. Naturally, when he meets a feckless, incompetent boob like Homer Simpson (Dan Castellaneta), Grimes instantly becomes incensed. How can this fool, Grimes felt, have a successful job and a loving family, even when he is obviously incompetent to a life-threatening degree? 

Homer's incompetence even gets Grimes in trouble. When Homer almost drinks a glass of sulfuric acid, Grimes slaps it out of his hand, accidentally dissolving part of a nearby wall. Grimes receives a pay cut for destroying the wall. 

The writerly conceit of Grimes is simple: what if an ordinary, competent person was transported into the cartoon universe of "The Simpsons"? How would a capable human being actually react to a dumb foul-up like Homer Simpson? Grimes is slowly driven insane. 

The episode's final scene is Homer comedically falling asleep ... at Grimes' funeral. "Homer's Enemy" is incredibly bleak, and there is debate among fans whether it's one of the worst episodes of "The Simpsons," or if it's one of the best. 

Actor Azaria, at the very least, loved playing Frank Grimes. Grimes suffers a marvelous comedic slow burn, starting thr episode merely annoyed, then slowly becoming enraged before finally having an outright nervous breakdown. Azaria spoke briefly about playing Grimes in a Reddit AMA back in 2014.

Characters on "The Simpsons" are rarely as grounded as Grimes. When "The Simpsons" first began in 1989, it received a lot of critical praise for how its characters were relatably grounded. "The Simpsons" served as a deconstruction of classic, squeaky-clean sitcom tropes, presenting a counterpoint of ignorant, bickersome, sloppy human beings. Between "The Simpsons," "Married... with Children," and "Seinfeld," American sitcoms were being actively torn to shreds. 

As time passed, however, "The Simpsons" became recognizably broad, and the situations became increasingly cartoony. One could only say it was to the show's benefit. Hence why Grimes was brought in. Grimes still had his feet on the ground. He was pathetic in a way even the Simpsons weren't. This provided Hank Azaria with a wonderful acting opportunity. He wasn't playing a broad type or providing a silly voice. He had to play a terrified, outraged human being for the first time. 

When asked what his favorite one-off characters were, Azaria wrote: 

"By far my favorite one-off was Frank Grimes. It was supposed to be William H. Macy and I filled in as best I could, and I really love how the episode came out ... it was a rare opportunity to do an emotional performance on the show." 

Grimes was, the writers have said, inspired by Michael Douglas' character from Joel Schumacher's I'm-mad-as-Hell-and-I'm-not-going-to-take-this-anymore epic "Falling Down." Azaria was likely imitating Macy's performance from the 1996 film "Fargo," which was released only a few months earlier. 

Curiously, Frank Grimes would, in turn, serve as the inspiration for the portrayal of M.O.D.O.K. (Corey Stoll) in the superhero flick "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania." That character, though, was more driven by self-pity than the knowledge that he is smarter than his boobish assistant.