(S19E05) 'The Monkey's Paw', 'The Bart Zone', 'The Devil and Homer Simpson', the entire 'Treehouse of Horror V' (the end scene where the Simpsons' bodies turn inside out actually freaked me out a bit), 'Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace' and 'Homer3'. Why do I mention these previous 'Treehouse of Horror' stories and episodes? Well, they're examples of funny yet creepy stories that The Simpsons did so well each and every Halloween.
So, uh, what happened?
I don't know about you, my intrepid TV Squad readers, but this year's 'Treehouse of Horror XVIII' had nothing in the way of scare in it. In fact, one story out of the three featured shouldn't have really been in this episode at all. There weren't even any guest voices this year like there have been in the past. It's like they picked three movies from three different decades -- 80's, 90's, and 00's - out of a hat and decided to use them for 'Treehouse' this time around. The result, for me at least, was an episode that didn't have many laughs. Let's review, shall we...
Introduction: Marge did something that all of us television viewers have wanted to do forever -- remove all of the icon ads from other shows that appear on the show that you're watching. My favorite was when she put the little Greg House in the microwave and watched as he expanded and exploded. Right after that she got the Prison Break icons to run away. Not laugh out loud funny, but pretty amusing.
E.T. Go Home: This year's appearance of Kodos and (briefly) Kang took place in this parody of 80's movie E.T. There were some good moments, like Bart watching Itchy & Scratchy dancing on Samba With the Stars, and Kodos slipping in the 'seven million body bags' he would need in the list of items that would help him get back home. Of course, being a parody, the end of the story is not all warm and fuzzy like the original movie was. Homer and Bart get to do a bit of alien ass-kicking to rid the world of Kodos and his partners. This one was pretty cute. Plus, it actually featured Bart in an episode...something that hasn't been done since the season began.
Mr. and Mrs. Simpson: Yeah. This one, a parody of the 2005 hit Mr. and Mrs. Smith, is the story that should not have been part of this episode. Besides Marge and Homer killing everyone along the way what did this really have to do with Halloween? So Homer and Marge shot up the house during their battle. Big Deal. We can see that on a regular episode of the series every other week. I don't know how the producers decided that this would be a perfect fit for a Halloween-based episode.
Heck House: This was the only story that even came close to the creepiness that previous 'Treehouse' episodes displayed. There was a return of Ned Flanders as the devil (we all know that he's a Satanist deep down inside) as well as an appearance by Spider Pig. I liked how the kids did a complete 180 to do tricks instead of receiving treats and that these four individuals alone caused such havoc on Evergreen Terrace. Ned's examples of the Seven Deadly Sins featured not one but two examples for Homer (Gluttony and Sloth). Heck, Homer could have been the example for all seven of the sins.
All in all, this episode of 'Treehouse of Horror' was fairly mediocre. There were some giggles here and there but, for the most part, it was pretty forgettable. Let me know what you think.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-04-2007 @ 11:54PM
Tele-Toby said...
My favorite all-time Treehouse of Horror story was "Clown Without Pity". It fed into the most basic of my childhood fears - my toys wanted to kill me...
"Guess who, fat boy!"
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11-05-2007 @ 12:12AM
wil said...
What a spectacularly lame disappointment. After the introduction, it just got lamer and lmer.
Remember when The Simpsons was funny, and their Halloween episode was sort of dangerous and really pushed the limits?
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11-05-2007 @ 12:27AM
Oreo said...
I think the Treehouse of Horror was the first sign a decade ago that the show was starting to go down. Of course the specials went slowly down, when the show went like a rock.
I always tried to watch them, but the last several years now they have just been trash, and I completely forgot about them this year.
The only thing good about them are the aliens, the rest for at least the last 4-5 have been awful.
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11-05-2007 @ 1:07AM
Diego M said...
lame! the mr and mrs smith wasn't treehouse material. this was lame what happened to "the shining" i didn't see anything like the classics. clown without pity was awesome, as was "king Homer"
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11-05-2007 @ 4:50AM
Franklin said...
I really think the show should go off the air for a few years, and then return. The fact that this happened to Family Guy, for a different reason, seems to have helped that show. Maybe Fox should consider putting The Simpsons on a hiatus for a few years, in order to help its producers and writers to creatively recharge during the downtime.
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11-05-2007 @ 5:11AM
Vince said...
I blame the movie for this. Maybe they let the 'B' team of writers do this episode hence resulting in a set of vignettes that should have been in another episode not the "Treehouse of Horror"
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11-05-2007 @ 5:31AM
fred said...
wow, what a terrible episode!
you're absolutely right, most of it wasn't even "halloween material", but further than that those weren't parodies !
They basicaly redone the movies plot, only with their yellow characters. See "Mr & Mrs Smith", where was there anything that was a parody ? Killing people, shooting at each other before engaging in more intimate activities ? Yeah, that's the movie!
I feel like they do parody the way it's done on Chuck, when you just do the exact same thing, without changing anything, mocking anything, or making it funny.
Even their 24 "parody" wasn't that good. Look at the way South Park did it, now THAT was funny, hilarious even!
I've been disappointed with the season so far, and maybe it's time for this show to end. Bring Futurama back on the air instead!
http://88.191.26.34/i_watch_tv/2007/11/05/the-simpsons-treehouse-of-horror-xviii/
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11-05-2007 @ 7:20AM
Galley said...
I'm pretty sure it was seven BILLION body bags, which would be enough for everyone on Earth.
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11-05-2007 @ 8:03AM
KMF said...
This was a disappointing Treehouse of Horrors. I always look forward to the special every year with high hopes, but the last two have been really 'eh'. This one made last year's look good! Maybe it's just me, but they seemed chock full of stories back in the hey day, maybe it was because the stories were so good it just seemed that way.
I know it's got to be hard coming up with new stories to tell every year but if they're just going to re-do movies why not do actual scary movies.
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11-05-2007 @ 8:31AM
Jeff said...
Worst episode EVER!
(says it all)
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11-05-2007 @ 8:40AM
R-Bro said...
As I've been saying for years, The Simpsons just ain't what it used to be. The series should have concluded with the movie, which was A+.
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11-05-2007 @ 8:58AM
Hollywood Ron said...
Mediocre is too nice. Marge's opening was the best thing about the show.
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11-05-2007 @ 10:26AM
beanspants said...
man you people are harsh.
so all the aliens dressed like villians and killers from the past wasn't funny, or the fact that the US army just went in and blew them away? Aliens in movies are always impervious to our bullets. or the return on all the toys, like phonics frog, lingmo, and sgt action.
And Homer turning into spagetti was great.
Also Bart throws the baseball lefthanded.
I agree that Mr & Mrs Smith wasn't that great, but mainly because Robot Chicken already did the same joke with the Brady Bunch. The other two were funny.
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11-05-2007 @ 11:39AM
graigbachman said...
Hey dorks, if you don't like it, don't watch it. Go defend Battlestar Galactica or something.
The Treehouse episodes are always weak anyway. Last night was no different. The Simpsons has kept us entertained for almost 2 decades now, but I guess you critics deserve better.
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11-05-2007 @ 12:44PM
Rich K said...
#14 wrote 'The Simpsons has kept us entertained for almost 2 decades now, but I guess you critics deserve better.'
You bet we do! I don't care if the show has been on for nineteen years or nineteen weeks the quality needs to be kept up. WIth the Treehouse episodes the quality has gone down to the point that it is barely Halloween-releated anymore. If that's the case why name it 'Treehouse of Horror'.
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11-05-2007 @ 2:53PM
Walt said...
@#14: The issue is here that there's so much good Simpsons' episodes, the show essentiall competes with itself. You don't give it anything a pass to suck simply because it used to not suck.
I ceased being in the demographics for the advertisers for this show more than a decade ago, so I nobody values my opinion, but the show is milking a dry cow.
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11-05-2007 @ 2:54PM
ac said...
The old Treehouse of Horrors were great. My favorite was the one where the kid's ghost stories left Homer scared out of his very small mind while the kids were unaffected.
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11-05-2007 @ 8:32PM
Timothy said...
I actually enjoyed it and thought it was better than last years' Treehouse. I loved the intro! I think the show is still pretty clever and funny.
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