Why didn’t I talk about it last year? The Simpsons had so many great Halloween episodes how could I pick just one!! Ah, The Simposns….I was never a major fan. It just never grabbed me though I did see many episodes in college when the show was in re-runs. However, even I have to admire the Halloween specials (or Treehouse of Horror if you prefer, I miss the old name). They are clever, well made, and usually a lot of fun. Since they take place outside the show’s time lime the creators can do whatever they want. And they do!
So today I wanted to discuss six (well, seven you’ll see what I mean) of them that I just love, and to be fair more that didn’t do anything for me. Before I begin let me make this clear, I am going mostly by memory for these. I would love to sit and review every single episode, and maybe if they are ever released all together on a DVD I will (there is one DVD out but it only has a sample of episodes, and I ran out of time or I would have ordered it off Netflix). But for now this is what I have. And I would be lying if I said I remember, or have even watched, every episode. So obvious one’s will be missing like “The Devil and Homer Simpson” where Ned Flanders turns out to be the devil. If I saw it I don’t remember it. And “The Shinning” seems to top everyone’s list but somehow I missed that one. Besides having never seen the classic movie the parody would be a bit lost on me.
So these are the standout’s that I enjoyed and still remember. By the way these are in no particular order.
The Raven (Season 1)
I really can’t say what it is about this one, it’s really nothing amazing. It’s just James Earl Jones narrating while Homer recites Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven”. But something about it just works. Is it because Jones is bad ass no matter what he does? Is it because the poem is just awesome? Is it because Homer’s reactions are classic Homer? Is it because it is simple, but effective? Whatever it is, I love it.
Time and Punishment (Season 5) & “Stop the World, I Want to Goof Off” (Season 15)
Put these together because they’re kind of similar. Time and Punishment is a time travel/alternate reality story. What’s not to love? Home accidentally turns a toaster into a time machine. Uh huh. We see all kind of changed tine lines including Ned as a dictator and Bart and Lisa as giants. But the best gag comes when Homer seems to have gotten everything perfect..except donuts don’t exist! D’OH!! It’s a cute episode what’s not to love? As for Good Off, Bart and Milhouse find a stop watch that can stop time. After using it for pranks they break it, and it takes 15 years to fix it. The look on the family as the observe the clearly aged Bart is really funny. Lisa later plays with the watch which can also reality. The Fantastic Four one was cool! It’s not the greatest but it was cute enough for me to include it.
Homer3 (Homer Cubed) (Season 6)
I had to have one that wasn’t any surprise at all. This was early on when CGI and digital effects were still a new thing. Homer gets caught in the Matrix, or Tron or whatever it is. After bouncing around some cool graphics, Bart tries to help Homer. But while Bart is ejected back to his home Homer ends up emerging in the our real world. Seriously! The CGI Homer walking around California is a cool sight, and this a trippy little episode.
Hell Toupee (Season 9)
This a favorite because it doesn’t try to do to much. It’s basically a little murder mystery with a twilight zone twist. This twist of course being when Homer gets the hair of an executed murder and somehow that murderer is able to act out his revenge through Homer. It makes no sense but the gags all work. And of course Bart is one of his victims! My favorite is when Lisa finally realizes what has happened and is about to explain it when Marge interrupts her, saying everyone has already figured it out by now. I love that!!!!
The Terror of Tiny Toon (Season 9 )
This is another one from that same year as the one above, and it’s a fun little romp. Bart and Lisa enter the world of cartoon, where Itchy and Scratchy can kill them!! How come they aren’t aware they are cartoons? Anyway it has some cute gags including Bart and Lisa dropping in on a real life Regis and Kathie Lee, and other gags concerning cartoon logic. Another reason I like this one is because it actually takes place on Halloween! So I liked two of the episode from Season 9, what about the third? Yeah we’ll get back to that.
Send in the Clones (Season 13)
This one was creepy but in all the right ways. It felt like a real horror movie, well close enough for a Simpsons episode anyway. In a parody of the god awful Multiplicity, Homer discovers he can make clones of himself by laying on a hammock. At first its cool, until the clones do things like cut Flander’s head off! The clones are abandoned but start making weird clones of themselves, all mutated. Eventually Homer tricks the clones to all fall off a cliff to their deaths. Leading to a final reveal which is very well done, especially the twist the episode gives it. It’s creepy and funny at the same time, good one!
Geez, anything more recent? The truth is these haven’t been that good in awhile. I did like their “The Others” parody from last year where the Simpsons meet their 1989 counterparts. That was clever though the story went nowhere.
Alright they can’t all be gems. Here now are six segments that I did not like, again in no particular order.
King Homer (Season 3)
Homer as King Kong. Yeah that’s about it, and it didn’t do much for me.
Starship Poopers (Season 9)
Well I had to have one controversial one. Yes this one seems to be a popular one, but for me it’s just boring. It’s ironic because I love the two segments that preceded it. It starts out OK as we discover that Maggie is actually the daughter of Kang (or Kodos, whatever I hated those aliens). It gets stupid when it becomes a Jerry Springer parody. Yeah having Springer do the voice was cool, but it isn’t really scary. And the end is dumb I can’t even remember it without watching the episode. Yawn, and I agree with Lisa who noted in another episode, what do aliens have to do with Halloween anyway??
Life’s a Glitch Then YOU dIE (Season 10)
This one bugged me. It was a sendup off the ludicrous Y2K hysteria that was around in 1999. The computers melt down thanks to Homer…and the story gets really surreal when they end up in space with famous awful people being sent to be killed. Bart and Homer eject themselves and….I don’t know the ending of the episode just bugged me, it wasn’t funny it was kind of….disturbing?
Hex and the City (Season 12)
I really can’t explain it, I just did not like this segment. This premise is simple, Homer is hexed by a Gypsy and all kinds of strange things happen to his family. Homer ends up fighting her to remove the hex, and again I have to see the episode because I don’t really remember how it ended. It just seemed liked none of the gags had a payoff. Marge was covered in blue hair…so? I don’t know just not a fan of this one.
The Island of Dr. Hibbert (Season 13) and I’ve Grown a Costume on Your Face (Season 16)
I hate these both for the same reason. The stories go nowhere. In “Island”, the family visits and island where Dr Hibbert mutates the family into animals. End of story for the most part. Yawn. As for “Costume”, I was really disappointed with this one. It was such a cool idea, and they wasted it! The characters get turned into whatever they’re Halloween costume happened to be. But the story got stupid (a common problem with later Simpsons episodes) as Maggie turns them into pacifiers , and then we get a PSA from Dennis Rodman WHAT??. Yeah good idea but I didn’t like it.
“The Diving Bell and the Butterball” (Season 22)
This is should almost be an honorable mention because I’m pretty sure I never saw it, but Linkara mentioned how dumb it was and based on the description I read….yeah it sounds really stupid. It’s basically an eight minute flatulence joke. Kudos. I decided that even if it was cheating, I had to have it on here.
So there you have it, maybe next year I can do real reviews of these episodes but for now these are the one’s I really liked….and hated. What about you guys? I know I missed some great one’s so feel free to comment and share.
That’s it for now, and if you’re wondering if I will watch this year’s Simpsons Halloween Special…Of course! Till next time, be good to yourselves.
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