Original Air Date: Wednesday, November 1, 2000 A Simpson Tribute to The Munsters This episode opens with a 'Munsters' parody, featuring the Simpson family coming out of the house as 'Munsters' characters from the classic hit TV series. Once the family is all out of the house, an angry mob attacks, brutally killing all but Lisa in various ways off-camera. Lisa then walks away from the scene, whistling, as though she didn't see anything. It's a pretty funny intro, and takes the place of the regular couch gag. G-G-Ghost D-D-Dad The first segment very loosely parodies 1990's 'Ghost Dad', but really by title only. The Simpson family is having their morning breakfast, when Homer reads his horoscope, saying very specifically that he would die that day. Tossing it aside, he heads to work, and spends his day avoiding a lot of close calls, and mocking the horoscope for its prediction - that is until he eats a bit of broccoli and chokes on it. Homer then meets St. Peter, who informs him that in order to get into Heaven, he has to do one good deed on Earth. He's sent back as a ghost, and sets about his mission, screwing up all of his attempts and providing some decent laughs as it goes on. The thing about this segment I like is the abrupt punchline at the end which may or may not feel like a cop out to some, but I can't deny I get a laugh from it. This one's actually not too bad, but it only barely fits into the Halloween theme with Homer's ghost. There are much worse, there are much better, it's a very middle-of-the-road segment for me. It certainly relies on humor more than horror. That doesn't sound like it means much for something like 'The Simpsons', but several past segments have had their horror edge to them. This is just straight comedy, and it works as a long set-up to a hilarious conclusion (at least in my opinion). 3/5 Scary Tales Can Come True In a parody of Grimm's Fairy Tales, the Simpson family lives in a pumpkin-shaped cottage as poor village peasants. Once Homer loses his job as the village oaf, the family finds themselves in dire straights, resulting in Homer abandoning Bart and Lisa in the fairy tale forest, where everything in it is mentioned in Lisa's book she takes with her. Bart and Lisa find themselves dodging a few fairy tale fates, including a Moe-like troll under a bridge and the Three Bears. This all eventually leads to them coming across an old hag and a gingerbread house, and for whatever reason decide to suddenly trust their guts on this stranger. The siblings enter the house, and find themselves in the 'Hansel & Gretel' situation, where the witch intends on eating them. Meanwhile, Marge sends Homer back out to find the kids, as they could have sold them instead of just abandoning them. It all ends with Homer coming to the rescue (kind of) as well as a hilariously weird twist that sees Bart and Lisa back home safely because the food shortage they face gets solved. The funny thing about it that springs to my mind is that this problem is in no way solved using the food and candy from the gingerbread house. It's worth it though, just for a wildly WTF visual. I actually find this one pretty passable as well, if not a bit over-the-top at times. At the very least, it's a neat idea. 3/5 Night of the Dolphin The funny thing about this segment is that out of the whole episode, it seems to be the most popular, but I can't really tell why. It's just as passable as the first two for me, but if I had to say one was a bit weaker, it would probably be this one. On the other hand, apparently Matt Groening says this segment is one of his all-time favorites, which is saying a lot. It all starts when Lisa releases a dolphin from captivity, parodying 'Free Willy'. As a result, however, this Dolphin (apparently a king in his world) calls on other dolphins to rise up and take over the human race, banishing us to the water while they take over the land. Why? Well, according to Snorky (Harry Shearer's normal voice) dolphins once lived on the land, and they are ready to rise up and take it back. I always just found the whole concept of this one too dumb, although it has some solidly funny visual gags going for it. This one is a parody of 1973's 'The Day of the Dolphin', in which scientists attempt to teach dolphins to speak English. We can see some other clear parodies throughout the segment as well, including 'The Birds' and 'Jaws' among other cultural references. This one's kind of fun as well, but shows an odd balance for the episode as a whole - it's not altogether Halloweenish, but it's close enough. It's altogether entertaining, yet nothing really stands out. 3/5 'Treehouse XI' is about as average as you can possibly get with these Halloween episodes. None of it really sucks, the humor keeps it on track. In one last joke for the episode, Kang and Kodos finally make their appearance, complaining about not being in the episode at all. They finally do get a call for a gig, but it's for Old Navy, and one of them mentions that "work is work". This was back at a time when Old Navy's ad campaign was just about everywhere, so it was a fitting gag for the time. All in all, this one is surprisingly more passable than I remembered it, and I have to confess that I'm starting to wonder if some of these are growing on me over time.
Overall Episode Rating: 60%
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Original Air Date: Sunday, October 31, 1999 Celebrating Ten Years of Treehouse Fittingly enough, the 10th anniversary milestone opens with the likes of Kang and Kodos - the aliens from the show, exclusive to their Halloween specials. They come on stage in a couple of "tuxedos" to introduce the show to a completely dead audience with a laugh track, telling horrible jokes. It then cuts to the couch gag, which is admittedly one of their best ones for the special altogether. It shows different Halloween Special versions of each character - Homer the jack in the box from "Treehouse II", Marge the witch and Bart the Half-fly from 'Treehouse VIII', Maggie the alien from 'Treehouse IX', and Lisa in a simple axe-to-the-head Halloween costume. When Lisa questions what aliens have to do with Halloween, Maggie cries "SILENCE!" and vaporizes her, then it's on with the show. 'I Know What You Diddily-Iddly-Did' In my opinion, this is another one of the better ones from when the show started to tip downhill. I know it seems like I'm saying this about a lot of segments, but trust me, the downhill stuff is coming. It's a sort of take on 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' with a weird, but suitably Halloweeny twist. The Simpson family is driving down a foggy road, after supposedly just having a run-in with a bunch of vampires. Marge attempts to pull over when she's unable to see much, but in doing so, strikes Ned Flanders, apparently dead. Homer tries to cover it up by making it look like natural causes, and have Maude Flanders find his body. But soon the family finds a message of "I know what you did", and surely enough, are stalked by a mysterious raincoat-wearing guy with a hook. It ends with a super weird twist that really takes away from the concept of a parody of the film, and it's honestly pretty dumb. But the rest of the segment is still pretty funny, and it's sadly the only segment in this whole episode that really fits with the whole Halloween theme of the episode. At the very least, it gets a solid pass. 3/5 'Desperately Xeeking Xena' This was actually the first Halloween segment in the show's history that fully bothered me. It seemed to me like an idea they had for the characters in general, sitting around somewhere collecting dust because there was no real room to use it. But hey, why not toss it randomly into a Halloween episode? This one begins at Springfield Elementary, during Halloween, when the school is holding a Halloween candy inspection... thing. An accident happens with the x-ray machine, and it zaps Bart and Lisa, giving Bart the power to stretch, calling himself "Stretch Dude", and Lisa super strength, calling herself "Clobber Girl". There's a fun song montage attached to it, but it gets away from the whole Halloween thing entirely. Anyway, when Lucy Lawless (guest-starring as herself) is kidnapped by The Collector (aka Comic Book Guy), Stretch Dude and Clobber Girl come to her rescue. The whole rescue attempt is relatively pointless, however, since Lucy Lawless just takes care of herself. I am happy to have read that Lawless really enjoyed her work on this project, but I can't deny how weak and far-separated from Halloween it really is. The same could be said about 'The Terror of Tiny Toon', but I at least give that segment credit for keeping Halloween going in the background. Once the montage happens in this one, it could take place at just about any time afterward. For me, it's easily one of the weakest segments. 2/5 'Life's a Glitch, Then You Die' While we're slowly separating ourselves from Halloween in this, the 10th Halloween Anniversary Special, why not make one for New Years Eve based on a bug that was most likely never gonna happen - the Y2K computer virus, that was gonna bring the world crashing down at the stroke of midnight on New Years Eve, 1999. Long story short, Homer screws up on fixing the dates, and causes a chain reaction across the world that brings it to an end. Things start to glitch out, and even attack people. It all ends with a whole plan called "Operation Exodus", which sends the worlds best and brightest to recolonize Mars (because we totally had the technology in 1999) while another rocket ship sends the worst entertainers directly into the sun. Credit to Tom Arnold, however, for lending his voice to play himself on the "bad ship". The segment simply hasn't aged well at all, and so many other segments are so much better, and even somewhat timeless. 'The Shinning' for instance is considered by so many, including myself, to be one of the all-time greats because it's farcing something completely timeless. All this did was have a sense of humor about a real fear people had at the time - but 'Family Guy' did it a hell of a lot better with a full episode, as opposed to one half-assed segment. It's easily one of my least favorites, despite one or two lightly humorous moments 1/2 I remember at the time thinking this did not feel nearly Halloweenish enough for a 10th Anniversary Special. These episodes seemed to be about outdoing themselves with what they could get away with, year after year. But there was nothing like that here. It opens quite casually, and the only segment that fits is the first one. I still remember being so disappointed with this one that I had to tell myself "maybe next year", like a kid who didn't get his PS4 the year he asked his parents for it for Christmas. The bottom line is that while this one has its fair share of moments, it's legitimately disappointing as a 'Treehouse of Horror' episode.
Overall Episode Rating: 40% Original Air Date: Sunday, October 25, 1998 Regular Opening, Halloween Twist In a surprising first for their Halloween episodes, it took all the way up to number 9 for them to simply do a Halloween twist on the show's regular opening. Bart writes 'The Simpsons Halloween Special IX' on the chalkboard, and the driveway bit has the family having one-by-one deadly accidents, all except for Marge and Maggie, who crash into Homer when they'd normally just chase him out of the way. This is followed by one of my personal favorite couch gags, only due to fanboy reasons. Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees are sitting on the couch waiting for the family, and decide to start the show without them because they're "running late" (or all dead in the driveway). The beautiful part about this bit is that they got Robert Englund to lend his voice to Freddy, while Harry Shearer lends his voice to Jason. This marks one of two famous appearances Robert Englund makes on TV as the character - the other being 'The Goldbergs'. I'm not counting 'Freddy's Nightmares' here. 'Hell Toupée' The segment opens with Apu, Snake, Moe and Bart in the Kwik-E-Mart, where Snake carelessly smokes a cigarette. Wiggum enters the scene busting Snake for smoking in public, and for his third strike, he's sentenced to death (perhaps a jab at smoking laws in 1998 - we've come a long way). Once he's fried, Snake is taken away for organ harvesting. One such "organ" is his hair, which Homer claims. But the hair comes with a curse, which has Snake's spirit taking things over, and going after anyone who witnessed him smoking in the Kwik-E-Mart. This narrows one of his potential victims down to Bart - his easiest target, residing in the same house. The plot takes from several sources, including an 'Amazing Stories' episode of the same name, the 'Dead Man's Shoes' episode of 'The Twilight Zone', and the movie 'Shocker'. An interesting but sad fact about this segment was that Try McClure was supposed to originally moderate the execution of Snake, but voice actor Phil Hartman was tragically killed, himself, before he had a chance to record any lines for the episode. The segment itself has never been anything special to me, though, and I've always thought it to be kind of lame, especially the way it ends on a really bad Dad joke. It has its moments, but it's barely passable at best, plus the whole Phil Hartman thing puts a bit of a downer on it. 3/5 'The Terror of Tiny Toon' This is Another one I think is a little underrated. I appreciate the fact that they do something very different here and involve 'Itchy and Scratchy'. On top of that, it's another segment that has Halloween attached to it, instead of just being another spoof, making it only the second segment to really do that in all this time. Here, in a rather brilliant stroke of writing, Marge turns off the 'Itchy and Scratchy' Halloween special, and claims that if she lets them watch those gruesome cartoons, she wouldn't be a very good mother - that's our little nod to earlier episodes that came with a warning. She even goes so far as to take the batteries out of the remote when she leaves with Maggie for some trick-or-treating. This results in Bart locating plutonium way too easily, and trying it out for battery power to the remote. Soon, Bart and Lisa find themselves interacting with the TV on a very real level - which includes the gory violence of 'Itchy and Scratchy'. This one comes complete with a cameo from Poochy the rockin' dog, as well as a real-life cameo from Regis and Kathie Lee. Things end in a pretty weird way here, but up until that point, it's a pretty whacky segment of cartoon violence as Itchy and Scrathy chase Bart and Lisa around for laughing at their pain. It's a sort of non-thinker, and you're pretty much in it for the whackiness of it all, above all else. Not their best, but still a lot of fun - especially when it breaks the fourth wall. 4/5 'Starship Poopers' Maggie is experiencing the painful process of teething, and her first tooth appears to be a grotesque fang. Soon, she also sheds her legs, and grows tentacles. We learn faster than the reveal that Maggie appears to be one of the tentacled aliens that became popularized through these Halloween specials. We learn that Kang is Maggie's real father (only here), and Marge was inseminated when she was abducted. This all leads to one of the more truly ridiculous yet hilarious moments when the Simpson family, along with Kang head onto the 'Jerry Springer Show' to settle their disputes. But although I say this moment is hilarious, it still stops the whole segment in its tracks in order to crowbar in a cheap laugh. This was back in a time when the violent outbreaks on 'Springer' were all the rage (pun intended), and that's all this seemed to be made for. The only other thing the segment really farces is 'Starship Troopers' in its name. This is a pretty funny segment at times, but the overall execution of it is a bit of a mess. It goes from an interesting concept about Kang being Maggie's real father and ends with something from pop culture people were bound to laugh at. It feels somewhat cheap, but at the very least, they got Jerry Springer to play himself in this segment. For me, this marks the first one that's actually kinda bad, and things start to dip from here on out - at least for a while. 2/5 My closing statement, or "Final Thought", if you will, is short. I probably consider this episode to be the real tipping point for the Halloween specials, and what follows is pretty consistently weak, if memory serves correctly. The credits roll when Maggie surprises us by talking in a Kang-like voice, and saying "I need blood" real quick (which I admittedly laugh at every time). But hold onto your hats, because these reviews are about to get a bit worse as I continue this marathon. Don't worry though, there's the odd goodie here and there, and I still haven't seen anything past Season 20, so there's hope, right?
Overall Episode Rating: 60% Original Air Date: Sunday, October 26, 1997 Taking a Stab at Fox Censors We open things up with a humorous look at the Fox Censor. He's going through the script, crossing this and that off, saying "no" repeatedly. The real laugh comes from us seeing him laugh pretty hard at something, but continuing to cross it out, pointing out that they may just be a bunch of hypocritical jerks. For the record, they had trouble getting this gag to go through, but eventually the censors really did manage to meet them in the middle and allow it... changing the weapon from a daggar to a cutlass because... more cartoony? The censor rates the film "TV G", deeming it safe for watching. But the rating pulls a sword and starts stabbing the censor in the back, repeatedly. With each stab the rating gets stricter and stricter, until it reaches "TV 666", and the censor dies in a bloody mess that spells out 'The Simpons Halloween Special VIII'. We then cut to the couch gag, showing the family run to the couch, only to be electrified, execution style. 'The HΩmega Man' This segment opens up with Mayor Quimby cracking an offensive joke about France. This causes the French President to launch a nuclear missile at Springfield. Meanwhile, the threat has Homer shopping for a new bomb shelter. He finds one, and while testing it out, the nuke hits, killing seemingly everyone except for Homer. When Homer comes out of the bomb shelter, he eventually comes to realize that he's the last man alive, and takes the opportunity to do a bunch of crap he could never do while everyone was still around - including watching a movie alone in a theater (I don't blame him for wanting to do this) and dancing naked in a church to Edwin Starr's 'War (What is it Good For?)'. Soon, however, Homer finds out he's not quite alone, as many Sprinfieldians have transformed into hideous mutants. This one is an obvious farce on 'The Omega Man'; apparently one of writer Mike Scully's favorite movies as a kid. Going bac to the Fox censor thing for a second, there were several edits to this whole episode in production, including Homer's naked church dance. It was originally supposed to happen on the altar, but that was too overboard. Overall, I find this one just okay. It saves itself with some pretty hilarious moments, but it goes from fun to "meh" by the end. I never was a big fan of the ending of this one. It feels a bit forced. 3/5 'Fly vs Fly' This is definitely one of the better segments of this era, while things just started to teeter in quality. This is a 'Simpsons' take on 'The Fly', leaning more towards the original film in concept in which a scientific experiment goes awry, transforming the scientist into a small fly, and the fly into a scientist in a head-swapping situation. It all starts here when Homer buys a matter transporter at Professor Frink's yard sale. Homer uses it to his advantage, living way too easily. He uses it to get up the stairs, to get beer from the fridge, and even tries to use it to go the the bathroom, but not before Marge stops him. Bart asks to use it, but Homer warns him of the consequences of not being careful. Bart ignores him, of course, when he decides it would be a great idea to bring a fly with him into the transporter, hoping to become some sort of superhero. The results are just like in 'The Fly'. Bart becomes a small fly with Bart's head, and the fly's head ends up on Bart's body. I actually get a lot of laughs from this one, as it plays on so much. The noise the fly makes is so cartoonishly grotesque it's hilarious, and it even gets kinda gross, which may or may not be a little nod to the 1986 film, I'm not sure. Apparently there was another big edit here where the fly was supposed to be big, and the family rode it to the mall. I think I'm kinda glad that got cut, because this works well for what it is. The segment even ends in classic Simpsons Halloween fashion when we see the consequences of Bart's actions take place. But don't worry, he lives... I think. 5/5 'Easy-Bake Coven' This is another one I tend to meet in the middle. It's just okay, but I can't really deny that it's one of the more Halloween-feeling segments we've had in a little while. This one takes place in 1649 Springfield where witch burnings are commonplace, and of course, the witch tests are ridiculous. In this case, they get pushed off a cliff. If they are good, Christian people, they fall to their deaths, but if they're witches, they'll fly to safety but have to report back for execution. Long story short, this all happens with Marge, and it's revealed that she is a witch along with her sisters, Patty and Selma. Marge flies back to the cave in which she and her sisters dwell, and contemplate what to do. They look into their cauldron and see Ned Flanders mention the witches eating their kids. They figure it's a good idea, and head out to start feasting on the children of the village. This all soon turns into the origins of Halloween as the witches go door to door asking for treats once "boneless" gingerbread children are offered up instead. It ends with a funny dark joke, but it's neat to see them make a segment that's actually about Halloween, and not just a spoof. It happens more as time goes on, but I believe this was the first. A lot of the village design was modelled after 1996's 'The Crucible', and there's a nod to 1995's 'The Scarlet Letter' using Edna Krabappel - a pretty solid visual gag. It's not laugh out loud funny to me, but it's decent, and a very weird first for these Halloween specials considering this is Halloween episode #8. But does it also mean they're running out of ideas? 3/5 The whole episode ends with the Sea Captain reading from a book, telling the story of the last segment, but at first mistaking it for the story of the first caramel cod as opposed to the story of the first Halloween. Of course, most of us know that's not how any of it went down at all, and there's a far more interesting history behind Halloween. The internet is jam packed with sources on the subject, but I enjoy 'The Halloween Tree' for a good visual representation of some of the cultures behind Halloween.
Overall Episode Rating: 73% Original Air Date: Sunday, October 27, 1996 'Homer's Unfortunate Pumpkin Incident' The episode opens with Homer attempting to light a Jack-o-lantern. He's suddenly engulfed in flames, and running around the kitchen in a panic. It then cuts to the couch gag, in which the Grim Reaper is sitting on the couch. As each Simpson comes close to the couch, they die one by one, and Death uses them as a footstool. Once again, the episode then jumps into the segments. For yours truly, this is around where these episodes started to sort of lose their luster. I'm not sure if that's because I felt that it peaked with 'Homer³', but from here on in, I'd find these segments one by one becoming less and less interesting - although a few goodies still manage to slip through. I might just add my age to things as well, seeing as this was the first 'Treehouse of Horror' for me since entering high school. On the other hand, this is now Season 8 - the Season most fans claim it to start going downhill. 'The Thing and I' In one of the segments that do slip through to being a good one, 'The Thing and I'. Often thought of as a parody of 1982's 'Basket Case', apparently there was no connection, and this was more of a semi-original idea based on the unoriginal concept of Bart having an "evil twin". Call it 'The Simpsons' take on the situation. When Bart and Lisa hear creepy noises coming from the attic, they go investigate, but in doing so, let whatever it was they heard out. We come to find out that their parents have been hiding Bart's once conjoined twin brother in the attic this whole time. Dr. Hibbert dubbed him "the evil twin", he goes by the name of Hugo, and he wants to be conjoined with Bart once again. The idea of being sewn together to someone does give me the chills, so it's pretty effective in being one of the creepier segments. As long as you pay close enough attention to things, you can predict the twist ending very easily. What makes this segment good, however, is that it's one of that carries that classically creepy atmosphere we saw in some of the older segments. It's dark and shadowy, and we don't see Hugo (the twin) right away, leaving imagination to fill in the blanks - something I've always given credit to as being creepier than seeing the thing up close. Good on them for at least bringing the creep factor back, if only for a little bit. 4/5 'The Genesis Tub' In another 'Twilight Zone' spoof, 'The Simpsons' go after the 1962 episode, 'The Little People', in which an astronaut finds a small village of ant-sized people who see him as a God. It all begins when Lisa is prepping for the school science fair by placing her lost tooth in a petri dish of cola to see if it will eventually dissolve. Bart comes along, being a bratty big brother, and gives her a static shock. Lisa then carries the static shock through to her tooth when she touches it, and she inadvertently creates life upon the surface of the tooth. Lisa watches as her race of small people develops at an incredible rate. Soon, Lisa as seen as a God, and Bart is made out to be a Devil when he brings about some of their destruction. There's a funny little twist ending to it, but it's nothing too special. At one point the tiny people use space ships that seem to resemble Decepticon, Scourge's vehicle form from 'Transformers', and aside from the previous 'Treehouse of Horror' episode, it's marked as one of the first time computers were used for the show's animation. Despite that cool sequence, however, it still doesn't stand out as one of their best - thought it's passable. 3/5 'Citizen Kang' Airing in October of 1996, this was a perfect opportunity for 'The Simpsons' to take a jab at the Presidential Election of the time - Clinton vs. Dole. At the time, this was kind of risky for them; sure to find itself dated, just a few days after it aired, when the election actually took place (November 5). However, it turned out to be a very solid risk to take. While out fishing, Homer is abducted by now famous Halloween alien duo, Kang and Kodos. The command Homer "take them to his leader", and with the election coming up, said leader might change from Bill Clinton to Bob Dole. The aliens then abduct the two candidates, put them in suspended animation tubes, and take over their places, posing as them. One way or another, they will be able to take things over, and it's up to Homer to try to save America. Can he though? The everlasting brilliance of the episode is the American political system in which sometimes it doesn't matter who you vote for - you're gonna be screwed either way. So the segment is only dated by the candidates they had at the time. In reality, there's something very timeless about this segment. It was even voted by IGN in 2017 as the #1 'Treehouse of Horror' segment of all time. I can't personally agree to that, but I have to admit that it's very clever for what it is, and a risk that totally paid off. 4/5 This particular 'Treehouse of Horror' episode doesn't come with any sort of odd twists or turns, and just ends after Homer's now famous line "I voted for Kodos". This may also have something to do with my taste in these episodes somewhat waning. I always missed the wraparound segments since they were ditched in 'Treehouse of Horror V', and even the previous episode ended with Homer coming to Earth, which was nothing they had done yet at the time. This one took some time to grow on me, and I can claim it as a pretty good one, but it's also definitely the tipping point for these episodes.
Overall Episode Rating: 73% Original Air Date: Sunday, October 29, 1995 A Quick Krusty Intro The episode opens with a headless Krusty the Clown, throwing his head at the screen, and a couch gag involving a family of hanging Simpsons. This is the first time there's really no introduction, and the episode just gives us our three segments. No longer will we be cautioned about the episode's scares. Bringing things down for a bit more time, a little more was able to be squeezed into each segment. Eventually, it would lead to a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Animated Program (or programming less than one hour). It actually lost it to the 'Pinky and the Brain Christmas Special' that year, and perhaps deservedly so at the time. But I ask you - which one have you watched more? 'Attack of the 50-Foot Eyesores' When Homer stops at Lard Lad Donuts to order a Colossal Donut, he's given something much less than advertised. Homer then gets vengeance on the donut shop by stealing the giant metal donut from the sign. However an electrical storm rolls into town, zapping various eyesores around town and bringing them to life; Lard Lad included. Before Springfield can say "false advertising", the town is taken over by these ravenous advertising mascots. There's not a whole lot more to it than that of a spoof on any giant monster movie, namely 'Attack of the 50-Foot Woman' by the title. I will say that the end solution, featuring Paul Anka (asked to guest star after a brief back-and-forth), is rather humorous, but all in all, this segment never fully landed for me, story-wise. Not that I was looking for gold in just a few short minutes, but it's just monsters come to life, attack Springfield, and need to be stopped. The segment is generally saved by the dialogue written for it. Homer has a few rather memorable lines here, and when Flanders flees from his house, it gets me every time. It's also full of some great visual gags, having to do with each mascot. For example the Pep Boys end up having heads too big to carry, so they have to drag their heads down the street. All in all, not bad, but it's the rest of the episode that really shines. 3/5 'Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace' Here's another personal favorite of mine, perhaps for obvious reasons, if you know me well enough. Long story short, I'm a pretty die hard Fred-Head, and enjoy my 'Nightmare on Elm Street' movies. This is plain and simply a straight up spoof of the film, much like 'The Shinning' or 'King Homer'. Bart awakens from a horrible nightmare in which Groundskeeper Willie attacks him with a rake. The wounds from the rake carry through to the waking world, and soon Bart and Lisa find out the other kids are also getting attacked by Willie in their dreams. The whole thing is topped off with a great sequence when Martin gets attacked in the middle of class, letting out one of the more horrifically hilarious screams I've ever heard. Much like 'Elm Street', Willie was once burnt alive, but instead of an angry mob of parents doing it on purpose, it was an ignorant and stupid PTA, ignoring his suffering. Willie then plots revenge by attacking in their children's dreams, and thus we have the 'Elm Street' formula. The segment goes quickly, but it's tightly written, offering 'Elm Street' fans like myself a little bit of familiarity spoofed. This one is often classified as one of the scariest 'Treehouse' segments; as far as 'The Simpsons' being scary goes, anyway. An absolute classic. 5/5 'Homer³' Ready to feel old? If you can believe it, at the time this episode aired, CG animation was still very new to the mainstream. Until now, we had 'Toy Story'; the first full-length CG animated film, released just a few months before it. Otherwise, if you were lucky enough to have Y-TV, you might have enjoyed 'Reboot', which I believe was the first fully CG rendered cartoon, but I could be wrong. It aired just a year before this. So, if you were an adult and weren't particularly into kids stuff, this was a huge deal for your prime time TV lineup; especially as a 'Simpsons' fan. To this day, this segment is considered one of 'The Simpsons' biggest milestones. There's plenty to dip into, so for plot, let's just leave it at Homer stumbles into "the third dimension" when trying to hide from his sisters in law, and finds himself trapped, looking for a way out, while still able to communicate with the family. Pretty similar to 'Poltergeist'. Most impressive about this segment is the deep digging one can do on some of the background imagery, having a lot to do with famous physicists, scientific theory and even code. One line of hexadecimal code that can be found actually reads "Frink Rules!" if interpreted correctly, and that's just one minor, humorous example. There's also little Easter eggs like a Utah Teapot that shows up - the first 3D-rendered object; something I wouldn't have known if I didn't take a look at some of this stuff. It's pretty basic, but it will always hold a special nostalgic spot in my heart, recalling a time when CG was the wave of the future. It just kinda sucks looking back on some of it now. 5/5 There's nothing particularly special that happens to end the episode. This was a neat opportunity for the writers to make the segments stand out a bit bore by having them run a bit longer. With that, the show ends with the ending of 'Homer³', when a 3D Homer finds himself wandering a street in Sherman Oaks in our dimension. He's nervous about us humans, but stops at 'Erotic Cakes' to check things out, and the credits roll with that gag. Fun fact, in real life, this scene was filmed at a nice little shop called 'The Coffee Roaster'. It has since been renovated to the point that it's almost unrecognizable, but apparently that's the place - located on Ventura Blvd.
Overall Episode Rating: 87% Original Air Date: Sunday, October 30, 1994 A Jab at Congress An opening disclaimer brings Marge back out on stage. This time around, however, she's handed a note that suggests Congress won't even let them air it, and instead, they were going to show the fictional 1947 classic Glen Ford movie, '200 Miles to Oregon'. Apparently this was a real jab at congress, who at the time considered it to be too violent and wanted to censor too much. In response, Producer David Mirkin decided to try to make it the goriest Halloween Special yet; whatever they could get away with. The Glen Ford movie is immediately interrupted, by a radio broadcast parody of 'The Outer Limits' featuring Bart's and Homer's voices. In a neat little visual, the sound wave on screen morphs into the outline shapes of the Simpson family, and a new intro with one final tombstone gag, "Amusing Tombstones" and more humorous visuals begins. Moe drops hanging from a tree, Rev. Lovejoy burns Patty and Selma at the stake, Bart guillotine's Skinner's head, falling into a basket of School authority heads, and the couch gag is the family coming in as Frankenstein monsters, stiched together using each others body parts. This episode was not messing around, and it was awesome. 'The Shinning' This segment has been widely regarded since it aired as one of the all-time best segments of 'Treehouse of Horror'. It has since gone down as most likely the most quotable of the bunch, as just about every single line uttered here is funny. It seriously doesn't even stop for a few seconds. It was like they knew exactly what they had, and it's pure gold as far as these segments go. It's rather obviously a parody on 'The Shining' in which Bart is the kid, Willie is the caretaker who shares his gift, Marge is Wendy and Homer is Jack. Lisa and Maggie are just there as part of the family. They are hired on as winter caretakers, and Mr. Burns cuts off the beer and cable supply to try to ensure honest work out of them. This however leads to "No TV and no beer make Homer go crazy", and in a super messed up way, the way it's scrawled all over the walls here is a touch more disturbing than the typewriter and many pages in the actual 'Shining' movie, which in and of itself is very disturbing and an all-around horror classic. That scene was such an accomplishment that Madame Toussaud's in Niagara Falls has a whole room in their horror characters section dedicated to it. At the bottom of the page, you'll find a picture I took of myself in there. But that just goes to show how strong this segment is. I have my favorites, and this is definitely one of them, but this is also the only one that I would indefinitely say people need to watch if they're trying to getthrough the good stuff. It's at the tip top of anyone's list for these, and I'm no exception. It's brilliant from beginning to end. 5/5 'Time and Punishment' When Homer gets his hand jammed in the toaster, and it electrocutes him while it's unplugged somehow, he decides to take a crack at fixing it. He accidentally creates a time machine, goes back to the Prehistoric era, and learns of the Butterfly Effect very quickly after squishing a mosquito. Throughout the segment, Homer keeps trying to go back to try to fix the future, but keeps failing at it. For some reason, despite it's funny moments of dialogue and funny visuals, this one was never really my favorite. I will give it the fact that it's completely original, however, with its inner parodies being very subtle. At best, it can be said that it parodies the concept of butterfly effect. It's funny, but often confusing, especially the line about being the first non-Brazilian to travel through time, which was originally written as "non-fictional character" It's said that even Matt Groening, himself, didn't understand what that line meant. However, the segment is not without a few great lines and moments nonetheless. My favorite was always Homer coming back to a world where he essentially hits the jackpot on his quality of life, but flips out when no one knows what a donut is. It then cuts to it raining donuts outside, which would have been an veritable Heaven for Homer. It's one of the all-time best "FML Moments" out there (when someone just barely misses out on something potentially life-altering). It's still fun for what it is though, and has that classic feel in its own right. It was just one of the weaker of the strong. 3/5 'Nightmare Cafeteria' When the troublemakers of the school start getting out of hand and constantly sent to detention, it causes overcrowding enough to start filling out the cafeteria. Meanwhile Lunch Lady Doris is down to using low-grade meat for the cafeteria food. As a solution to both of their problems, they start cooking the trouble-making kids and serving them up. The segment is mostly inspired by the twist at the end of 'Soylent Green', where it's discovered that they've been eating people the whole time, but it's much more direct. Much like the 'Terror at 5 1⁄2 Feet' segment, I remember this one being scarily relatable at the time. The idea of strong authority figures killing and eating helpless children was disturbing, and the final chase actually still makes me squirm a bit. There's something between Skinner drooling, and Doris being covered in blood with a beater, that's just unnerving. In all three segments, Willie tries to play hero and fails in the same way. I believe it's the only time a Halloween episode has a running gag like this, although I could be wrong. By the time we get to 'Nightmare Cafeteria', we kinda see it coming, but it's topped off with a hilarious punchline from Willie that we really don't see coming. He really adds the cherry on top of this episode. 4/5 The episode has one of the strangest endings. Bart is jolted awake from a nightmare, but now suddenly has to worry about a fog that turns people inside out. It seeps in, and sure enough, the Simpson family all horrifically turn inside out. But then out of nowhere, they perform a musical number that lightens it all up, as they sing 'One' from 'A Chorus Line'.
The fog was based on a radio segment of 'Lights Out' called 'The Dark', which apparently scared writer, David Cohen as a kid. But due to 'Nightmare Cafeteria's potential intensity to kids, he decided to use it to end with the episode with an upbeat musical number while maintaining the gore factor, as though to prove that we can be gory and still have fun Overall Episode Rating: 80% Original Air Date: Thursday, October 28, 1993 Bart's Night Gallery We pretty much hit the ground running here as the 'Simpsons Halloween theme music chimes in, and we're taken through to a couch gag that involves the Simpson family bursting out of the living room floor as zombies. Our host is Bart, parodying 'Night Gallery', posing as a Rod Sirling type. When he gets going on how paintings can become portals to Hell, Marge interrupts with the general disclaimer about the show being scary, and that perhaps people would prefer an NPR production of 'War of the Worlds'. Bart reluctantly accepts to tone it down a little bit, and the show begins, and each segment is accompanied by its own painting. 'The Devil and Homer Simpson' While at work, Homer daydreams about fashion donuts, and while doing so, his coworkers eat all of the real donuts. In a sugar-craving panic, he mentions that he'd sell his soul for a donut, and ends up signing a contract with the Devil, here portrayed by Ned Flanders; the one you'd least suspect. At first, Homer outsmarts the Devil by simply not finishing the donut, but he breaks almost instantly, opening a portal to Hell. But when Lisa suggests that he has the right to a fair trial, it soon turns into a courtroom parody of 1941's 'The Devil and Daniel Webster' (or 'All That Money Can Buy') in which a man battles the Devil himself in court after a soul exchange for a measly two cents. In the courtroom (or the Simpson's living room), the Devil summons a jury of his choosing, bringing in some of history's greatest monsters, including the starting lineup of the 1976 Philadelphia Fliers, notorious for their rough during games. This one's full of memorable moments and dialogue, perhaps the most famous bit being the idea of Ned Flanders being Satan. Apparently some scenes were cut in order to shorten the segment, which include a bowling sequence with a demon using Homer's head. The scene eventually appeared in 'The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular' clipshow, at first thought to be made for the clipshow, but apparently an actual deleted scene. It remains one of the all-time classic Halloween segments. 5/5 'Terror at 5 1⁄2 Feet' Inspired by the 'Twilight Zone' episode, 'Nightmare at 20,000 Feet', the segment opens with Bart having a terrible nightmare in which the school bus crashes, jolting Bart awake and really putting some fear into him. He heads for breakfast, and heads out the door for the school bus with a really bad feeling. As the bus gets going, Bart looks out the window and finds a gremlin tearing the bus apart from the outside. He pleads with people on the bus to pay attention to it, but everyone's either preoccupied with their own thing, or simply can't see it and don't believe it's real. It leads to one of my favorite Skinner lines, "I've gotten word that a child is using his imagination, and I've come to put a stop to it", which really highlights just how black and white the accompanying characters are. It all ends with a little twist that, at the time, actually disturbed me a little bit. It is here that we're first introduced to exchange student, Üter, whose Hansel-like (as in 'Hansel and Gretel') persona was funny enough to come back once in a while in several later episodes, including Halloween episodes. I don't believe the Gremlin ever returns, but he's a very memorable creature, made to be "scary for Simpsons standards". There's something unnerving yet hilarious about him. The segment went on to be so widely liked that in a roundabout way, this was several kids' introduction to 'The Twilight Zone', as it became the first parody we cared to see the original of. That likely has to do with the school bus theme, and the relatability of it all. 5/5 'Bart Simpson's Dracula' The third and final segment of 'Treehouse IV' is a straight up parody of 'Bram Stoker's Dracula' while tossing in a few other vampire references along the way like 'The Lost Boys' and 'Salem's Lot'. Here, Mr. Burns once again lends himself to the Halloween theme incredibly well, as he portrays "Dracula" (but is referred to as Mr. Burns. Actually, despite the title, "Dracula" is never mentioned). The segment opens with the Simpsons watching the news, reporting on "peasants" being found dead and drained of blood. Unrelated, Mr. Burns has just bought the Springfield Blood Bank. This immediately gives us the vampire set-up, and that's soon followed by Burns inviting the Simpsons to his country home in Pennsylvania. Here, Lisa and Bart (especially Bart) discover there's something more sinister about Mr. Burns than meets the eye. Once again Burns is the hilarious highlight of the segment, but every character has a solid moment within it; yes, even Lisa (her smearing blood on Bart to get out of the room always gets me). It's another personal favorite, and one that has me laughing all the way through with so many great visual gags and so much funny dialogue. In my humble opinion,it's one of the best segments in the show's history. 5/5 'Bart Simpson's Dracula' ends with a twist on who ends up being the head vampire, and everything is topped off with it all coming to a hault, and quickly turning into a farce on 'A Charlie Brown Christmas'. The closing credits bring in an 'Addams Family'/'Munsters' sounding theme, and it rounds it all off as one of the all-time great 'Treehouse of Horror' episodes, and probably my favorite all-around.
Overall Episode Rating: 100% Original Air Date: Thursday, October 29, 1992 The Simpsons Host Halloween This time around, the episode is introduced by Homer, in the style of 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents'. He's much less tactful than Marge about it, and starts to taunts the audience a little bit while still delivering the message that, fair warning, some of this stuff might scare your kids. It then moves on to the special Halloween opening, and the first Halloween couch gag for one of these, involving the family sitting on the couch as skeletons. The third in-between narrative goes back to the story-telling concept of the first one with stories told by Lisa, Abe (aka Grampa) and Bart. In between the segments there are several interactions with more Simpsons characters than just the family this time (although it's still only the Simpsons family telling the stories). Some of the fun of this one is seeing what everybody dresses up as, and having it reflect some of the earlier Halloween parties we attended as kids. 'Clown Without Pity' When Homer forgets Bart's birthday, he rushes out last minute to a store literally called "House of Evil" (your one stop evil shop) and asks if they sell any toys. This leads to Homer getting Bart a talking Krusty the Clown doll, and the now famous and ever-quotable "Frogurt" conversation with the mysterious shopkeeper. Homer brings the doll home to Bart, who's very grateful for the gift. However, soon we learn that the doll hates Homer and begins trying to kill him. It's not subtle either, he just kinda goes for it. Throughout the segment there are several hilarious sight gags and lines that are some of my favorites of all-time, let alone of the Halloween episodes. It's definitely one of the most quotable of the 'Treehouse of Horror' segments. Growing up, I always used to think this was just a farce on 'Child's Play'; a movie about a killer doll named Chucky, which is moderately close in comparison to "Krusty". The truth of the matter is, it doesn't stop there. It's mostly based on another 'Twilight Zone' episode, 'Living Doll' and the third, and most famous segment of 'Trilogy of Terror' while it squeezes in a bit of 'Gremlins' with the shopkeeper based on Mr. Wing. This is easily one of the most memorable segments of the early days, and strangely enough, it ends with a lovey-dovey situation and an upbeat tune with a heart-swipe closeout. 5/5 'King Homer' In a much more direct farce of 'King Kong', this is another favorite of mine, and once again, Mr. Burns has so much to do with it. It opens with Marge answering Mr. Burns' ad, looking for a single white female who must like monkeys. This brings her to Ape Island where a giant ape named Homer is seen as a God. The segment is a great farce on the classic 'King Kong' film, hitting a lot of memorable farcical notes along the way. Marge is used as a sacrifice, Homer is captured, Homer's put on Broadway, Homer escapes and climbs the Empire State Building, it's one of the most direct parodies they've done for one of these, as it doesn't cover anything else culturally. So there's not a whole lot to say about it. Some interesting tidbits about this segment include being brought up in '28 Days Later', as one particular joke is a favorite of Sgt. Ferrell's (Stuart McQuarrie). It also stands as one of Matt Groening's favorite 'Treehouse of Horror' segments, and he created these characters in the first place. This one also ends with an upbeat tune and a heart-swipe close-out. Oddly enough though, as we see a theme start with that heart-swipe, the final segment doesn't have it. 5/5 'Dial "Z" for Zombies' When Bart reads a pre-school Alphabet book for a book report, he's sent to the library to find another more suitable book for it. There, he finds an occult section where he finds a book that's much more appealing than your average everyday read; Time Life's 'Book of Magick and Spelles: Vol. II'. Bart brings the book home, and while going through it, Lisa pines for their cat 'Snowball I'. Bart then suggests that perhaps there's a spell in his book that could bring the cat back to life. They take the book to the local cemetery, and Bart recites a few funny cultural incantations naming, I believe, a series of game show hosts, and a series of department stores. He casts the wrong spell, however, and Bart ends up raising a hoard of zombies who attack the town. Bart's incantations would later be followed in the segment with incantations involving 70's TV detectives and prophylactics in their effort to restore the living dead to their graves. This segment is quite often seen as one of the all-time best of them, and ranked #2 according to IGN. Considering how many there are altogether, that's really saying something, and my opinion matches with that logic. It's quotable, memorable, and fits the Halloween theme beautifully. 5/5 There is no cutback to the Halloween party, but all in all, this whole episode is pretty much perfect for these Halloween episodes, and it all ends with a punchline jab at their own viewing audience being mindless zombies in front of the TV. It's the highest recommendation of these episodes from yours truly.
Overall Episode Rating: 100% Original Air Date: Thursday, October 31, 1991 Three Bad Nightmares Once again, the episode is introduced by Marge, coming out to warn everyone that what they were about to witness might be too scary for the young ones. The previous year, no one listened to her, and sure enough, some kids had nightmares from some of it (allegedly). Marge basically just says "if you didn't listen to me last time, you're not gonna listen now", and she pretty much nailed it. As kids, we watched it, we loved it, and speaking personally, it really helped fuel my love for the holiday. These would quickly become an annual tradition in our house. The ongoing narrative this time around involves the kids, along with Homer, coming home from trick or treating with a massive haul of candy. They dump it on the floor and have at it, but Marge warns them that all that junk food is gonna give them nightmares. I don't know if there's any truth behind it, but I've always considered the nightmare theme of this episode a sort of reminder of Marge's initial warning from the first 'Treehouse of Horror' episode, therefore the whole episode is a bit of a jab at parents allowing their kids to maybe get away with more than they can handle. But that's just personal opinion. Lisa's Nightmare Lisa and the family travel to (I believe) Morocco where Homer buys a creepy monkey's paw from a street vendor. This paw has the power to grant four wishes, but with each wish coming true, comes some sort of curse. Each of the family members, other than Marge gets a turn on the thing, and sure enough, with each wish comes a little something (or a big something) negative - almost as though the bigger the request, the worse things get. When Maggie and Homer make very small wishes, the cursed result is so minimal, it doesn't even really matter much. However when Lisa and Bart make their much bigger and more believable wishes, the cursed result is much worse, earning the whole family a whole bunch of critics (in a sort of self-aware way), and even causing an intergalactic war. It's a lot to pack into one small segment, and it moves very fast, but it's still solid in what it's trying to do. This one is mainly a parody of W.W. Jacobs' short story, 'The Monkey's Paw'. It also parodies a 'New Twilight Zone' episode called 'A Small Talent for War', using the aliens Kang and Kodos again. It also references 'Midnight Express', shortly. It mainly, however, focuses on the Monkey Paw story, whose lesson of "be careful what you wish for" is still abundant here, even though the segment is surrounded with humor. That brings me to a point about the whole episode - to further the idea of teaching kids who are watching some lessons along the way, starting with this most simple of life lessons. 3/5 Bart's Nightmare Not to be confused with the old video game of the same name, Bart's Nightmare is about him having a variety of special telekinetic and telepathic abilities. The people of Springfield have to constantly think happy thoughts, and always make sure to go above and beyond so that Bart gets his way. If anyone refuses, Bart can change them into whatever he wants. We see a few examples of this, and things honestly get pretty creative. You should see what he does with the cat. This all eventually leads to Bart wanting to watch 'Krusty the Clown', but when Homer refuses, it leads to Bart turning him into a Jack-in-the-Box. That's already most of the segment. The punchline is a reverse nightmare deal where everything in the dream looks pretty awesome for a mind like Bart's, but when the dream ends on a sweet note, he wakes up screaming. The segment relies a lot on visual gags, and much of it is hilarious. It was never really at the top of my list as far as these segments go, but it's definitely solid in its own right. This one is based on the 'Twilight Zone' episode, 'It's a Good Life'. For a little fun fact, voice actress for Bart, Nancy Cartwright's film career debuted in 'Twilight Zone: The Movie', in a segment which was also based on the same original episode. This is also, I believe, the only Halloween segment to acually parody the narration from 'The Twilight Zone', with 'Simpsons' mainstay, Harry Shearer imitating the voice of the legendary Rod Serling. It may not be one of my favorites, but it's an interesting love letter to the 'Twilight Zone' series, and has its own unique charm to it. 3/5 Homer's Nightmare The third and final act of the second 'Treehouse of Horror' (by the way, nothing ever takes place in the treehouse after this. The name just stuck) is probably the best of the three, so it definitely ends on a great note. Homer's nightmare involves him getting fired for sleeping on the job. He quickly takes a job as a local gravedigger, but we find that old habits die hard as he falls asleep while digging, making him look like an unearthed corpse. Meanwhile, Homer's former boss, Mr. Burns, is building a giant robot worker that will eventually replace human workers. The only thing it needs is a human brain. So, with a solid homage to 'Frankenstein', Mr. Burns and Smithers go grave robbing, only to find the open grave with Homer sleeping inside. They mistake him for being dead and take him back to the lab to put his brain in the robot, yielding exactly the result you'd expect - the robot is a big bumbling boob with a penchant for donuts. The farce here is very clearly 'Frankenstein', and aside from maybe Dracula, for my money, there really is no monster more classically famous. Once again, it's a decent love letter to classic horror. While the whole Homer bit is funny enough, Mr. Burns is the highlight of the segment. They took the concept of the mad scientist and overlapped it with your average, blue-collar worker, making it some of the most quotable Mr. Burns material in any 'Simpsons' episode. Mr. Burns is a personal favorite as it is, but he really lends himself to the Halloween material, as we'll see throughout these reviews. 5/5 The episode ends with a twist in which Mr. Burns' head has been grafted onto Homer's body upon him waking up from his nightmare. There's a tease for "next week's episode" where Homer seems to have to deal with the oddity of having an extra head, but the episode never came to pass. It was really just written as a gag, so the episode was never even planned, but the writers thought it would be a funny way to end the episode as though things are somewhat about to go back to normal.
Overall Episode Rating: 73% |
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