It's one of scariest times of the year. With Halloween now only days away, it's time to turn on the TV and find what will tingle your spine and make you have nightmares for nights on end. Among the most iconic of the horror-themed entertainment is The Simpsons' annual Treehouse of Horror anthology series; where pop culture meets violence and surrealism with hilarious results. Over the next six days, join me as I count down all 78 of the current installments from the absolute worst (That's bad), to the absolute best (That's good) of the golden years; with a very unlucky 13 entries at a time. Who will come out on top? Well, there's only one way to find out. Click the button below, if you dare.
13. "The Homega Man"
Episode: VIII
The One About: Homer is the last man on Earth.
The Good: Pure, unadulterated Homer humor.The strange deformities of the living dead. Homer escaping in a hearse, but paranoid of a coffin in the backseat. Homer imagining his deceased family swinging bats at objects and Marge missing her target. The reveal that the family survived because of Homer's shoddy craftsman skills.
The Bad: I guess if you don't like Homer, then this is going to be a long segment. Also, it seems bizarre that Homer wouldn't realize that his family was still alive in the amount of time that he had been walking the Earth since the apocalypse.
12. "I Know What You Diddily-Iddily Did"
Episode: X
The One About: The Simpsons become potential murder suspects after running over Ned.
The Good: "Because I forgot to put the fog lights in." The creepy smiles they give at church during a funeral. The terrifying threats that they receive throughout the episode. The reveal that Ned is also a werewolf is smart.
The Bad: The episode sort of just ends after revealing that Ned is a werewolf. Homer is brutally mauled off camera. While this is the logical next step in the story, it's inevitably a cruel and uninspired way to end the segment.
11. "Time and Punishment"
Episode: V
The One About: Homer's toaster becomes a time travelling machine.
The Good: Homer constantly getting his hand jammed in the toaster. "Oh I wish, I wish I hadn't killed that fish." The strange universes that Homer ends up in. Maggie having James Earl Jones' voice. The Ned universe is great yet creepy. The animal that shrugs when Homer worries about changing the future. Homer settling for a lizard-tongue universe when he gets tired of travelling.
The Bad: For the life of me, I cannot understand the Mr. Peabody and Sherman joke about non-Brazilian time travelling and it bothers me way too much each time.
10. "Homer3"
Episode: VI
The One About: Homer steps into a different dimension.
The Good: There's a lot of math humor for the nerds out there. The animation is also unique. Grampa wanting to save the day in an old sea diver outfit. The fact that nobody has seen Tron summarizes the situation nicely. The surreal ending of Homer entering the real world is amazing.
The Bad: The animation is kind of dated, though is that really a problem?
9. "Fly vs. Fly"
Episode: VIII
The One About: Bart gets a mutation machine and grafts his body with a fly's
The Good: The ability to pay homage to both the 1958 and 1986 adaptations. The spider waving his fists angrily as Bart escapes his web. Homer accidentally drinking ear medicine instead of beer, but being fine with it. The strange Bart-with-Fly's head character design. The fact that nobody cares about this. Homer being more mad about Bart using his property. The cat-dog hybrids. Lisa's naivety of letting Bart-with-Fly's head use her toothbrush.
The Bad: Homer once sets up the machine so that he could urinate into the toilet from the living room. Moments later, he punches into the machine, hitting Lisa. Are they suggesting that Homer almost peed on his daughter? Gross.
8. "Dial Z for Zombies"
Episode: III
The One About: Bart unleashes the zombie apocalypse.
The Good: The library having an "Occult" section. Homer being more concerned about the car than raising the dead. Groundskeeper Willie being proud of his planting skills. Homer not realizing that Ned was a zombie. "Is this the end of zombie Shakespeare?" "Eat lead, Einstein." The two different John Smiths arguing over gravesites.
The Bad: The references are dated and mostly serve as nonsensical words for spells. The general idea of a spell raising the dead is a little farfetched for the modern day understanding of zombies.
7. "King Homer"
Episode: III
The One About: Homer is a giant ape who runs rampant in Springfield.
The Good: Grampa acknowledging that he's seen a lot of movies. "I think women and sea men don't mix." The stories of Candy Apple Island. Marge is perfect as the damsel in distress. Barney's acknowledgment of the platform. Homer eating Shirley Temple for no reason. Homer's inability to climb the Empire State Building due to bad health. Homer and Marge getting married. The relatives being an unruly bunch. A spot on King Kong parody all around.
The Bad: I guess that there's too much down time between the opening establishment and the havoc that makes the third act so great.
6. "Hungry Are the Damned"
Episode: I
The One About: The family gets abducted by aliens.
The Good: It's the introduction of Kang and Kodos. It also started the running gag of finding different ways for Homer to be abducted. The "How to Eat Forty Humans" cookbook joke reaches great heights. The onetime appearance of Serak the Destroyer. The reveal that the aliens were more sympathetic than the family. Sets the Treehouse of Horror franchise on the right path with a tone-appropriate segment.
The Bad: A bogus joke about Pong. The voices are done by James Earl Jones, which works. However, they are different (and arguably better) in subsequent episodes and this take may be too distracting for some.
5. "Citizen Kang"
Episode: VII
The One About: Kang and Kodos come to Earth disguised as presidential candidates Bill Clinton and Bob Dole.
The Good: It has one of the greatest, most original premises in any segment to date. "Ever since I was young, I dreamed of being a baseball." Clinton and Dole being accused of holding hands, only to reveal that they are exchanging life strands. "Abortions for some, miniature American flags for others." Homer's face when he kicks the spaceship. "What's going on? Is it noon, already?" "I don't want to serve out my term naked in a tube." Homer botching the rescue in a 2001: A Space Odyssey fashion. The aliens finally win the day. "Don't blame me. I voted for Kodos."
The Bad: Having grown up in the 90's, I am familiar with the Clinton/Dole election. However, I am not sure if younger audiences will think it's a little dated, even if there's not that many jabs at the actual characteristics of these people.
4. "Clown Without Pity"
Episode: III
The One About: Homer buys Bart a cursed Krusty doll.
The Good: The extended "That's good/That's bad" exchange. Krusty having it out for Homer specifically. "The doll's trying to kill me, and the toaster's been laughing at me." Homer slamming the door on Milhouse as he's blindfolded. The music that plays when Marge calls the manufacturer. Dumping naked photos of Rosie O'Donnell in a bottomless pit only to have it shoot back up. The very banal "Good/Evil" switch on the doll's back. Krusty settling down at the end of the day with a Malibu Stacy doll.
The Bad: If the doll is set to evil, why does it only attack Homer? It works for the sake of the plot, but it's never clear why Bart, Lisa, or Marge are absent from this situation.
3. "Bart Simpson's Dracula"
Episode: IV
The One About: The Simpsons visit Mr. Burns, who is a vampire.
The Good: It's a spot on parody of Bram Stoker's Dracula. Mr. Burns' shadow is playful. Bart's excuse for turning Lisa into a vampire involves free stuff at the movies. "Kill my boss? Do I dare to live out the American Dream?" "Uh dad, that's his crotch." The stairs to the cellar turns into a slide. Marge being revealed as a head vampire. The nonsensical ending that turns it into a parody of Peanuts.
The Bad: The ending works, but is more reflective of a general issue with latter day segments. Instead of having a plausible conclusion, it simply cuts to a different tone entirely in order to admit that they run out of time. It's fine here, but I think that it should be noted for how it inevitably impacted the many lesser segments that fall apart because of this.
2. "The Devil and Homer Simpson"
Episode: IV
The One About: Homer sells his soul for a donut
The Good: It's the most sentimental segment in the show's history. Homer's trip to hell has some of the series' best animation and gags. Lionel Hutz's unprofessionalism. Richard Nixon being on the jury of the dead despite not being so. Long John Silver's complaint about the high chair. The cyclical donut imagery that opens and closes the episode. Bart pestering Satan for a race car. The last minute reveal that Marge owns Homer's soul is beautiful. Ned playing the devil. The line reading of "You are not smarter than me!"
The Bad: Some of the references are dated? Really, I have nothing for this one.
1. "The Shinning"
Episode: V
The One About: The Simpsons stay at Burns' hotel, where there is no TV and no beer.
The Good: The length of time it takes to get to the hotel because Homer forgot to close the door, only not to care that they forgot Grampa."No TV and no beer make Homer, something, something." Homer's subsequent faces to the previous quote only to pass out from fear of his own face in a mirror. The Shinning/Shining comparisons. "Shh... You want to get sued?" Groundskeeper Willie coming to the rescue only to meet his demise - a running gag throughout the episode of him being axed in the back. "Hi David, I'm Grampa." Homer gaining sanity after finding a TV, but still freezing in the snow. Telegraphing the closing credits through a small music cue at the end of the episode. "Teacher, mother, secret lover." "Urge to kill, rising." An absolutely flawless parody of The Shining.
The Bad: It ended.
Comments
Post a Comment