So, this is my 2nd attempt at doing one of these famous IMWAN comic re-reading/TV show re-watching/recapping projects, after my long-delayed Jonathan Hickman Fantastic Four one that is still on hold while I try to work up the confidence for it.

Like probably many on this board and of my generation in general, I'm a huge fan of The Simpsons, at least from its glory years, and an even bigger fan of the horror genre, so the annual Simpsons Halloween specials, part of a series called "Treehouse of Horror" (although it was rarely called that on screen) were always an annual highlight for me. I was fortunate to start college at the perfect time, as the show was beginning its 3rd season and entering its golden age. Gathering together in someone's dorm room every week on Thursday night for The Simpsons was a great way to kick off the weekend early with your buddies.

Those early Halloween specials always felt particularly inspired, and most of them are easily among my most-watched episodes of the show. Over time, as the Treehouse series understandably began running out of horror scenarios to spoof, it had to turn in other directions, and my enthusiasm admittedly slowly waned, as did the quality of the show's writing in general.

At some point, the FOX network stopped airing the specials before Halloween, thanks its its baseball playoffs coverage, meaning the Halloween special would air up to a week after the actual holiday, which felt particularly pointless. That stopped at one point, but that was when I pretty much tapped out. I was no longer a regular viewer of the show anyway.

Not counting this year's upcoming installment, there are exactly 31 official Treehouse of Horror episodes of The Simpsons. Since there are also exactly 31 days in October, culminating in Halloween on the 31st day, I thought maybe it would be fun to do a series on the Treehouse episodes, covering one episode per day in order, starting at the beginning up through Treehouse XXXI. Over the course of this little project, I'll be covering Treehouse episodes I've seen literally dozens of times to ones I've seen only once or twice to ones I've never seen before at all...I would guess that there are at least 10-12 Treehouse installments that I will be viewing for the first time.

For each episode, I'll comment on its intro sequence and its framing device (if it has one), then recap and comment on each individual segment, providing my own subjective grade, based on a 10-point scoring system. I'll also recap the role of our favorite Rigellians, Kang and Kodos, in each episode as well as throw in little bits of trivia that I either noticed myself or read about somewhere. Finally, I'll wrap up with my thoughts on the episode's overall quality and add up the segment scores for its overall rating (only the story segments are scored, not the intro or anything else).

Just for fun, I'll also have posts on two regular episodes that have enough horror or spooky elements to be considered "honorary" Treehouse of Horror installments. They'll be included as bonus posts at the appropriate points chronologically. Any guesses what they might be?

I still feel embarrassed about my Fantastic Four thread, so the only reason I feel comfortable debuting this one is because I already have 11 posts written and ready to go starting tomorrow, the first day of October. With so much in the bank already, I should be able to maintain the pace even if I have to skip a day or two of writing in order to finish the month on schedule. Knock on wood.

If you love The Simpsons too, please feel free to follow along and comment. My posts will certainly not be in as much depth as those of our friends Ocean Doot and Jilerb in their threads, but hopefully I'll say something worth discussing.

Until tomorrow, when I'll be covering the initial Treehouse of Horror episode!

Exxxxcelent

I would do a Silver Age Fantastic Four thread, but I am too lazy, and not a very good righter.

Treehouse of Horror
Airdate: October 25, 1990
Written by: John Swartzwelder/Jay Kogen/Wallace Wolodarsky/Sam Simon/Edgar Allen Poe
Directed by: Wes Archer/Rich Moore/David Silverman

Introduction: Marge appears from behind a stage curtain, a la Edward Van Sloan in the original Frankenstein (1931), to warn viewers of how scary the following program is, and warns parents to put their kids to bed instead of sending them angry letters about it the next day. This leads into the first appearance of the Halloween-ified versions of the Simpsons theme and opening credit sequence, involving night skies, thunder and lightning, and some tombstones bearing the names Ishmael Simpson, Ezekiel Simpson, Cornelius V. Simpson, Garfield, Casper the Friendly Ghost, the Grateful Dead, Elvis, and "your name here". In lieu of a couch gag, we instead zoom directly into our...

Framing sequence: On Halloween night, the kids are up in the titular treehouse, all decorated out for the holiday, trying to frighten each other by telling scary stories. Unbeknownst to them, their father, who has been out trick-or-treating, is eavesdropping on them and listening to their stories. In the end, none of the kids are frightened but Homer is too terrified to sleep.

Bad Dream House: Bart's first turn at telling a story is a take on the haunted house genre, most obviously the two movies Poltergeist and The Amityville Horror. The Simpsons get an incredible deal on an old house, unaware that it was built on the usual Indian burial ground (even though the realtor warned Homer of it several times). The family experiences a ton of paranormal phenomena and are influenced by its evil ways to attack each other with weapons, leading to the terrific Marge line "This family has had its differences and we've squabbled, but we never had knife fights before, and I blame this house!" There are also a couple of priceless Maggie moments, one when her head spins around Exorcist-style and then another when she accidentally stumbles while carrying a knife in her mouth. Ultimately, the house decides to destroy itself upon realizing it would have to spend its life with the Simpsons.

Plum's take: I love this one, largely because as funny as it is, there are also some genuinely creepy visuals, and I truly would have found this one scary if I saw it as a little child. Harry Shearer does a great job as the voice of the house ("Lisa...Lisa...the butcher knife, Lisa..."), and Alf Clausen really went all out for the music in this segment and the entire episode. Watching this episode with great Beatz headphones on my laptop, I was really impressed with the sound design here. Plum's grade: 8

Hungry are the Damned: Bart takes another turn, and this is a parody of the classic Twilight Zone episode "To Serve Man", one of several Twilight Zone parodies the ToH series will do over the years. We are introduced to our favorite oversized drooling one-eyed aliens from Rigel IV (although I think later in the series it becomes Rigel VII), Kang and Kodos, along with a few other Rigellians whom I don't think ever appear again, the cook Serak the Preparer and one other. They abduct the Simpsons during a backyard barbecue and bring them aboard to take them back to their homeworld. The family is treated great, but skeptical Lisa finds it suspicious how the aliens insist on feeding them again and again, leading to her discovery of a seemingly damning cookbook. "Nobody---but nobody!!!---eats the Simpsons!!"

Plum's take: Not quite as funny as the first segment, but Shearer really brings it again as the deep-voiced Kang, and the secret of the cookbook is just classic. All the scenes on the ship have a creepy background sound of the aliens' tentacles moving around which REALLY comes across with headphones. I also love the Rigellians' being defensive about their video game system ("that's just Pong, man!"). Again, not quite as funny as the first segment, but this is really good stuff. Plus, Kang and Kodos. Plum's grade: 8

The Raven: Lastly, Lisa reads the classic Edgar Allen Poe poem from a book, with the great voice of none other than James Earl Jones taking over the narration. He is so perfect that I wish there were a recording of him doing a straight version of the same thing. And you gotta love that the show actually gives Poe partial script credit for the episode even though he had been dead for 140 years. Homer is the main character, reading a book of forgotten lore (in a great gag, the book is actually titled Forgotten Lore) and pining for his dead lover Lenore (Marge), only to be troubled by the titular raven (Bart).

Plum's take: I guess this is one of the more divisive early Treehouse of Horror segments, and even Matt Groening worried it would be the most pretentious thing they ever did, but I gotta confess, as a big Edgar Allen Poe fan (my favorite author), and a big horror fan, and a big admirer of the original poem, I just freaking love it, man. Even if the previous 2 segments were crap (and they assuredly are not), this segment alone would elevate the first Treehouse of Horror installment to my list of favorite Simpsons episodes. Just about everything is perfect...the visuals, Jones' narration, Castellaneta's performance as Homer, Alf Clausen's incredible music. It's just sublime. It's pretty short on jokes, although the ones that are there are great. "The Raven" easily cracks my top 5 Treehouse of Horror segments. Plum's grade: 10

Kang and Kodos: They play a huge role throughout the entire 2nd segment, in which they try to bring our favorite cartoon family back to their homeworld as their guests, only to have their intentions misunderstood.

Other stuff: James Earl Jones actually contributes to all 3 segments. Besides narrating "The Raven" (other than Homer's dialogue), he also briefly voices a moving man who brings the family's furniture to their new house in "Bad Dream House" as well as the cook Serak the Preparer in "Hungry are the Damned".

Also, this episode is notable in that it does not contain a single character from the show's supporting cast. In fact, the only other human character to appear at all is the aforementioned moving man voiced by Jones.

Lastly, everyone knows this by now, but while the official title of the episode is, of course, "Treehouse of Horror", it is only referred to onscreen as "The Simpsons Halloween Special", as would most of the follow-up episodes.

Plum's overall reaction: For me, a great start to the series-within-the series. I love all 3 segments, all of which are almost exclusively set at night and have a great Halloween-y feel. All 3 segments have that great horror vibe to them, even the alien-centric 2nd one. Alf Clausen really delivers on the music, and besides the usual great performances from the main cast doing the family members, Harry Shearer gives 2 tour de force vocal performances as the evil house and Kang the Rigellian. And James Earl Jones, man. Modern audiences who visit it for the first time now might be slightly bored with the pace, as this episode comes from the early years of the series when the show just told funny stories instead of having a joke every 5 seconds (although there are plenty of jokes). I'm also always impressed how LONG this episode feels, in a good way. Even with a framing device that probably takes up 4-5 minutes of the episode, all the segments feel full and lengthy.

I love this episode...probably seen it at least 30 times. My grade, adding up the 3 scores: 26

Note: This episode does not provide any titles for the segments, so I will just be making up my own. IT'S MY RIGHT.

Treehouse of Horror II
Airdate: October 31, 1991
Written by: Al Jean/Mike Reiss/Jeff Martin/George Meyer/Sam Simon/John Swartzwelder
Directed by: Jim Reardon

Intro: Marge appears from behind a curtain again to warn us that this year's episode is even scarier than last year's, although this is a lie. We then plunge into the glorious spooky and scary Halloween version of the Simpsons theme. In the dark and stormy Springfield Cemetery, we see the tombstones for Bambi's mom, Jim Morrison, Cajun cooking, Walt Disney, and "lose weight now, ask me how". In a delightful touch, we get a quick glimpse of the Peanuts gang running down the street in their Halloween costumes from "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" before we zoom into the Simpson home for the framing sequence.

Framing sequence: Everyone is settling into bed after a successful night of trick-or-treating. But some of the Simpsons have candy-induced nightmares. After the final story, which is Homer's nightmare, he wakes up only to find that it may not have all been a dream...

Lisa's nightmare: In this take on the classic W.W. Jacobs story "The Monkey's Paw", while the family is on vacation in Morocco, Homer buys a cursed...er...monkey's paw that grants its owner 4 wishes. Maggie wishes for a new pacifier while Homer just goes for a turkey sandwich, but Bart wants the family to be rich and famous, while Lisa asks for world peace, both with disastrous consequences. Poor Marge remains wishless.

Plum's take: A pretty funny start. My favorite moment is when Homer tries to show Marge where he bought the monkey's paw to find it suddenly and mysteriously gone, only to realize he is pointing in the wrong spot and it's still there, just 10 feet away. The satire of the Simpsons merchandising blitz of the early '90s, with the cartoon family showing up on all kinds of T-shirts and other products, and the subsequent backlash to it, is also pretty sweet. My main misgiving about the segment is that it feels too short and I wish it had 3 or 4 more minutes to explore the consequences of the wishes. Maybe this episode could have been 2 longer segments instead of 3 shorter ones. Plum's grade: 7

Bart's nightmare: Another Twilight Zone parody, this one based on Lil Jay's favorite, "It's a Good Life", with Bart playing the role of the boy with magical powers whom everyone is constantly trying to please and stay on his good side lest they suffer awful consequences (Homer to Marge: "He gets it from your side of the family, no monsters on my side."). When Homer tries to knock out Bart (or possibly kill him, although I prefer to think the show wouldn't go THAT dark), Bart quickly changes him into a jack-in-the-box. It's up to Dr. Marvin Monroe to provide counseling to reunite the father and son, which causes the real Bart to wake up screaming.

Plum's take: Some amusing bits, especially the ways everyone tries to stay cheerful and on Bart's good side (Marge: "Oh good, the curtains are on fire!"), or how Bart's prank call to Moe has zero effort or creativity but the barflies are impelled to laugh anyway. I also dig the moment when Bart, annoyed that Homer is watching a key field goal attempt of his football game, transforms Homer into the airborne ball, who then bounces off the upright (as a Minnesota Vikings fan who is used to his team missing crucial field goal kicks, I remain convinced this will happen to the Purple eventually). That said, I would have liked an attempt to make the segment a little scarier in the vein of last year's episode, even though it is a comedy show. I also find the segment's ending unsatisfying, like the writers just couldn't think of any other way to end it. Plum's grade: 7

Homer's nightmare: In this take on "Frankenstein", Homer is the victim of a random firing at the nuclear plant by Mr. Burns. He takes a job as a gravedigger instead. Meanwhile, Burns, trying to create the perfect worker, designs a robot for which he needs a human brain. He and Smithers take to the local graveyard, where Burns mistakes the napping Homer for a fresh corpse ("Smithers, get him out quickly! The stench is overpowering!"). Burns successfully transplants Homer's brain into his creation, only to discover that Homer was never exactly the perfect worker.

Plum's take: The gem of this whole episode for me, and not just because it is the only one that feels like a genuine scary story (or a parody of one, at least), with graveyard scenes and other horror atmosphere and iconography. Mr. Burns episodes tend to always work for me, at least in the show's golden age, and that includes the various Burns-centric Halloween episode segments. The bit where Burns, after removing Homer's brain, places it on top of his own head and pretends to be Davy Crockett is an all-time top 10 Simpsons gag for me. And the way the segment's ending carries over into the conclusion of the framing story is pretty sweet, too. I love this one. Plum's grade: 9

Kang and Kodos: The Rigellians are not the focus of a story but do make an extended appearance in the first segment after the world achieves peace thanks to Lisa's wish. When all nuclear weapons and defense systems are destroyed, Kang and Kodos are able to conquer the Earth with only slingshots and clubs, although Moe is eventually able to drive them off with a board with a nail in it.

Other stuff: This installment of Treehouse of Horror is notable for actually first airing on Halloween night itself. It also marks the first appearance of 2 Simpsons Halloween special staples: 1) the "spooky" credits like "Morbid Matt Groening" and "James Hell Brooks", and 2) the minor key organ version of the Gracie Films logo after the end credits. I know 1 or 2 future episodes dropped the spooky credits but I believe the organ has remained for every single installment. If I turn out to be wrong, I will note it in a future entry.

Plum's overall reaction: I guess this episode does have some small amount of nostalgia value for me, in that it's not just the first Simpsons Halloween special I actually saw, but the first Simpsons episode I saw, period, I believe. I was a college freshman when this episode aired and even though I owned a Simpsons T-shirt like in the monkey's paw segment, I'd never seen the show because we didn't get Fox where I lived. My buddies and I watched this on Halloween night before going out to a party.

All that said, I just don't love this one as much as I do the original or the next couple installments. It's good---compared to, say Treehouses of Horror XX through XXX, it's pretty much "Last Exit to Springfield" or "Cape Feare"---but for me it's the least of the iconic first batch of Simpsons Halloween specials, and I can confidently say that I've seen I, III, IV, and V all many more times than this one. Part of my disappointment---and this is obviously my own subjective criteria---is that I lament the lack of horror/Halloween imagery, other than in the framing story and the 3rd segment. Despite the monkey's paw set-up in the first, it isn't really telling a horror story, and I don't think the "It's a Good Life" really delves into the horror of that scenario the way the original Twilight Zone episode does either. Plus, the first 2 segments are almost completely set in the daytime, with no storms, wolf howls, graveyards, etc. and I like those. Thank goodness for the 3rd segment.

Still, it's a good show. Just not a great one. Adding up the 3 segment scores gives us: 23

Treehouse of Horror III
Airdate: October 29, 1992
Written by: Al Jean/Mike Reiss/Jay Kogen/Wallace Wolodarsky/Sam Simon/Jon Vitti
Directed by: Carlos Baeza

Introduction: Homer takes a turn warning us of how scary and violent the Halloween episode is going to be. He comes out to the tune of "Funeral March for a Marionette" and even walks into an Alfred Hitchcock-type silhouette line (tailored to meet our Homer's frame, of course), He then mocks the crybaby-types who will have a hard time with the episode and dares them to turn off their televisions, leading the offscreen voice of Marge to chastise him before we go into the spooky Simpsons Halloween theme. Our latest trip through the Springfield Cemetery shows tombstones for Drexell's Class, "I'm with Stupid", R. Buckminster Fuller, slapstick, and American workmanship. We also get our first Halloween version of a Simpsons couch gag, with the family's skeletons running in to sit before the TV. In a nice touch, Marge has Bride of Frankenstein hair.

Framing sequence: The Simpsons are hosting a Halloween party for the kids and their friends (Marge: "You can find just as much horror around the house"). Grampa Simpson is also there, and Ned Flanders also makes an appearance later. In between various Halloween games and activities, some of the characters take turns telling scary stories, just as in the first Treehouse episode.

Clown Without Pity: Lisa tells the first story, a parody of, among other things,the movie Child's Play and the Twilight Zone episode "Living Doll" in which Homer, who has forgotten to buy Bart a birthday present, rushes out to a small "House of Evil" shop, with a proprietor much like the one in the movie Gremlins. In a wonderful callback, the monkey's paw from last year's episode is sitting on the counter. Despite the keeper's warnings that it is cursed, Homer ends up buying a doll of Krusty the Clown, the kind of doll that speaks prerecorded messages if you pull a string on its back. Bart loves his gift, but Homer soon learns that the Krusty doll really is cursed when it repeatedly tries to kill him. The day is saved when a repairman from the factory that made the doll comes out and resets the switch on its back from "evil" to "good", thus relegating the Krusty doll to an existence of servitude.

Plum's take: On the one hand, this is a legitimately hilarious segment. The exchange between Homer and the shopkeeper ("That's good!" "That's bad." "That's good!") is classic, and it's hard to top the bit where the Krusty doll interrupts Homer's bath to try and kill him, leading to the naked Homer running screaming through the house past the wide-eyed Patty and Selma for sheer hilarity (they seemed to find all kinds of reasons to have Homer scream in the first few seasons, because Dan Castellaneta was so freaking hilarious doing it). And the way the whole problem is resolved ("Yep, here's your problem, someone set this thing to 'evil'") is so gloriously stupid it's hard not to love it.

On the other hand, there are a few storytelling and animation glitches that I admit pull me out of it just a little every time I watch it. For one, it feels like there's a scene missing in the middle of the story. When Homer first realizes that the Krusty doll is evil (but he can't convince the rest of the family of it), Krusty is menacingly walking across the couch towards the cowering and whimpering Homer. But then it just immediately cuts to the scene of Homer in the bathtub, singing the Oscar Meyer jingle with no resolution to the previous scene. I don't know if it was scripted this way or something was cut for time, but the transition, or lack of it, is jarring to me, even as hilarious as the bathtub scene is.

Also, there are a few cases where a character's animation doesn't match up to the dialogue he or she is supposedly saying, most noticeably (for me anyway) towards the end of the segment when Krusty attacks Homer and they tumble through the kitchen, with Homer's head ending up in the dog's water dish. I know this feels like nitpicking, but in this case, I noticed it the very first time I watched it, and it stands out to me every time. So, I love this segment, but it's flawed enough that I can't give it the highest grade. Plum's grade: 8

King Homer: Grampa takes a turn at telling a story, prompted by Bart who insists that he's led a long and interesting life ("That's a lie, and you know it!"). Grampa tells the story of King Homer, a straight parody of King Kong with Homer as Kong, Marge in the Ann Darrow role, and Mr. Burns in the Carl Denham one. The plot is pretty identical to Kong, albeit obviously quite condensed, with Burns using Marge as bait to capture Homer on Ape Island, and then bringing the big ape back to America to put on display. Homer escapes and runs amok but is eventually recaptured (he is not in good enough shape to climb to the top of a skyscraper) and he and Marge end up marrying.

Plum's take: One of the absolutely brightest gems, maybe THE brightest, of the entire Simpsons Halloween legacy. The black and white animation is just gorgeous, with many shots lifted directly from the original movie. Every joke hits, especially the immortal Smithers "I think women and seamen don't mix"/Burns "We know what you think" exchange. I also have to call out one joke that I find absolutely hilarious and which makes me laugh every single time, even though I don't think I've ever seen anyone else point it out, nor has anyone else I've ever watched it with ever laughed at it. But it gets me every time. From early in the segment, while Burns' ship is en route to Ape Island:

Carl: Hey, I heard we're going to Ape Island.
Lenny: Yeah, to capture a giant ape. I wish we were going to Candy Apple Island.
Arnie Pie: Candy Apple Island? What do they got there?
Carl: Apes. But they're not so big.

I don't know. I think it's hilarious. Oh well. Anyway, the segment is delightfully gruesome, as numerous characters are trampled or eaten by Homer. How can you not love a segment in which little Shirley Temple is picked up and eaten? Plus, I alluded to it already, but how can you not love the bit where Homer tries to carry Marge to the top of a skyscraper, only to collapse from exhaustion after reaching the 2nd floor? I got no qualms with this segment. It's absolutely perfect. Plum's grade: 10

Dial "Z" for Zombie: Lastly, Bart takes a turn and gives us this tale of zombies overrunning Springfield. In the segment, Bart discovers the occult section of the elementary school library and tries to use a spell to restore their old cat back to life (we get more tombstone gags, these ones marking other animal-themed animated programs like Capitol Critters or Fish Police) but accidentally brings back all of Springfield's dead humans as flesh-eating ghouls instead. When things reach the crisis point, Lisa suggests the family make their way back to the school to find another spellbook to stop the zombies ("To the book depository!"). After the shotgun-wielding Homer takes out the zombies of George Washington, Albert Einstein, and William Shakespeare, who are all wandering the Springfield Elementary School for some reason, Bart finds another book and successfully stops the zombies, allowing the family to go home and mindlessly watch TV together.

Plum's take: ALMOST as great as the "King Homer" segment, and definitely as funny. Bart's wearing the Michael Jackson "Thriller" album cover on his head during the spell is a great gag. The bit where the zombies want to eat Homer's brains, only to give up when they conclude he has none, is perhaps a hack joke but amusing nonetheless. And the iconic exchange of Bart: "Dad, you killed the zombie Flanders!"/Homer: "He was a zombie?" obviously goes in the pantheon. This one is probably even more gruesome than the "King Homer" segment, with all the people killed, but even though future Treehouse of Horror episodes would give new takes on zombie stories, it would never be as hilarious as here. Plus, I give it extra points for being the only segment of the episode to be set at night, with all the spooky traditional horror elements I love, like thunder and lightning and graveyards and all that jazz. I absolutely adore this segment, and yes, I am giving 2 segments in this episode perfect scores. Deal with it. Plum's grade: 10

Kang and Kodos: They make a very brief appearance in the final segment, laughing as they watch from up in their spaceship at how the humans will soon fall to the zombies. It's rather a pointless appearance other than to ensure they are included in the episode. It doesn't build to any joke or anything, they simply make their comment, laugh about it, and then we are back to the story.

Other stuff: This episode is the first of many deaths poor Ned Flanders will endure over the course of Treehouse of Horror. In this installment, Ned is zombified and then taken out by Homer's shotgun.

Plum's overall reaction: Sublime. Not just among the best Treehouse of Horror episodes, but one of the best Simpsons episodes period, at least for me. I give two of the segments perfect scores, and even the weakest, "Clown Without Pity", is damn good stuff too. I could knock the episode just a little bit in that there is no resolution to the framing story----the episode ends with the end of the zombie segment, and we don't return to the Halloween party---but since I've seen the episode at least 30 times and that had never occurred to me until now, it may not be so much of a flaw. I could also knock it a tiny bit for only having one segment set at night or in a storm, but it definitely doesn't bother me here the way it does in much later installments. For me, this is the Simpsons Halloween Special against which all other Simpsons Halloween Specials are measured....until the next one.

Adding up the 3 scores gives us....28.

Unsurprisingly, I also love both that line ("apes, but they're not so big") and this episode - Clown Without Pity reminded me of Trilogy of Terror with the little African doll trying to Kill Karyn Black, and I loved the Krusty doll's retort to Homer when it complained of being buried by the dog and Homer absently said "dogs like to bury old junk" to which the doll says "Yeah, ya big fat idiot".

I also loved Burns' line in King Homer once Homer's rampage is over - "I'm dreading the reviews, let me tell you". It's an excellent episode. I think this one and the one where they did the parody of The Sound of Thunder (Homer accidentally turns a toaster into a time machine) are my all-time favourites, although most of them have something going for them.

Yeah, Trilogy of Terror was probably more of a direct influence on that segment than the Twilight Zone episode was, and I should have mentioned it. Thanks for pointing it out!

I'll be getting to the time machine toaster in a few days.

And now for a special bonus, the first of two "honorary" Treehouse of Horror episodes.

Cape Feare
Airdate: October 7, 1993
Written by Jon Vitti
Directed by Rich Moore

1st act: Bart receives the first in a series of threatening letters in the mail, all written in blood and vowing to kill him (there is also a separate threatening note from his father, saying "I KILL YOU SCUM" in retribution for Bart's somehow getting the phrase "wide load" tattooed on Homer's rear end). There seems to be no shortage of suspects, as we are briefly led to believe that the anonymous writer could be Ned Flanders, Mrs. Krabappel, even Marge. But no, just before the act break, we learn that the dastardly villain is none other than Sideshow Bob, still in his cell at Springfield Prison and using his own blood as ink, even for his "to-do" list. His cellmate, Snake, urges him to use a pen instead just as Bob passes out from blood loss.

2nd act: Sideshow Bob gets released from prison after convincing the parole board that he has changed his ways and intends no harm to Bart Simpson, the boy who has twice gotten him put away---he even persuades the board that his chest tattoo "Die Bart Die" is actually German for "The Bart, The". Once released, though, Bob immediately goes after Bart and his family, trying to intimidate them with obnoxious behavior in a movie theater, only for Homer to be the more obnoxious one. Bart realizes that Bob is behind the threats (for some reason, no one thought to inform the Simpsons that Bob was being released). Eventually, the family has no choice but to turn to the Witness Protection Program, who change the family's name to "Thompson" and relocate them to a houseboat outside a town some distance away named Terror Lake. Unknown to them, the increasingly psychotic Sideshow Bob has tagged along for the journey, strapping himself to the underside of their car.

3rd act: We get an abridged version of the show's intro and theme song to reflect their new name and living situation, then we see the family arrive at Terror Lake and move into their new houseboat. After Sideshow Bob has a series of mishaps involving rakes, he resumes threatening the increasingly terrified Bart. Unfortunately for the boy, Homer is not only not particularly worried, he himself adds to Bart's terror, first by brandishing a knife (to offer the boy a freshly baked brownie after he's gone to bed), then by showing off his new chainsaw and hockey mask. Once the family is in bed, Bob sneaks aboard the houseboat and sets it adrift down the river, ensuring he will have privacy for his evil deeds. Bob abducts and ties up the other family members, then goes after Bart, intending to savor the kill. Realizing that the boat is drifting towards Springfield and that he needs to stall for time, Bart asks Bob to perform Gilbert and Sullivan's "HMS Pinafore" in its entirety for him before he dies, to which the delighted Bob agrees. Just as the performance ends and Bob moves in for the killing stroke, the boat crashes against a rock just outside a Springfield brothel which Police Chief Wiggum and his other officers are patronizing, and Bob is taken into custody.

Other stuff: The story is basically a pretty direct spoof of the two film versions of "Cape Fear", both the original 1962 version and particularly the more recent 1991 one (both films are based on the John D. MacDonald novel "The Executioners"). The episode also contains references to numerous other horror and genre-related films, including "Psycho", "The Night of the Hunter", "A Nightmare on Elm Street", "Edward Scissorhands", "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre", and the Friday the 13th series.

The big gem of the episode is Kelsey Grammer's 3rd and, in my humble opinion, greatest turn as Krusty the Clown's former sidekick, Sideshow Bob.

Plum's overall reaction: Oh my God.

This has been my favorite episode of The Simpsons basically since its first airing, which is kind of impressive in that at that point I had not seen the first two Sideshow Bob episodes nor even heard of the character. But the episode gave me everything I needed to know, and of course I recognized Grammer's voice, so as a big fan of "Cheers" and later "Frasier" that was a plus. I also greatly enjoyed the 1991 version of "Cape Fear" (hadn't seen the original yet) so that was a delight as well. As a horror movie nut I also certainly appreciated all the little references to other past scary movies.

"Cape Feare" is certainly on the shortlist of candidates for darkest episodes of the series---it would be difficult not to be, what with the plot concerning the villain seeking revenge on a 10-year-old boy by trying to murder him. But it's also undoubtedly one of the funniest. I remember my roommates and I shrieking with laughter at stuff like Homer struggling to understand the agents trying to get him to remember his new name, Homer Thompson, or Homer's wearing a t-shirt and ballcap saying "Witness Protection Program". But I mostly remember the bit with Sideshow Bob where he accidentally steps on the end of a rake, causing the handle to fly up and smash him in the face and grumble in irritated pain.. Then he does it again with a 2nd rake, and then a 3rd, before we see he is standing among a whole group of prone rakes. The joke goes on for so long---I think he steps on 9 rakes before the scene ends---but it was weirdly brilliant.

I remember we laughed the first time, even though it seemed a cheap and pointless gag. Then he did it again and we laughed again, just at the audacity of the show repeating such a cheap gag. And then some disbelief that it happened a 3rd time, and then growing irritation and restlessness at the next handful because we wanted the show to get back to the story, and then around the 6th or 7th time it somehow became funny again, and got more hysterical at how committed the show was to keeping the bit going, with the loud "SNAP" of the rake hitting Bob's face followed by his irritated grumble. I had genuine tears in my eyes by the time the scene ended, although it is briefly revisited late in the episode when Bob boards the Simpsons' houseboat and immediately and inexplicably steps on a rake, which he angrily tosses into the river (I appreciated that the show was thorough enough to include a little sound effect of the rake hitting the water). I would learn many years later that the gag only came in the first place because this was the rare episode that was too short, and they had to come up with bits, jokes, and scenes to extend the episode's length for broadcast. One of the show's signature moments was done mostly just to pad the episode length.

But..it's hard to review this episode without just listing all the greatest gags and lines of dialogue. This was the 2nd episode of season 5, my personal favorite season of the show (just barely ahead of season 4) and part of just an incredible stretch of episodes. The season premiere was the great barbershop quartet episode, and following "Cape Feare" was the Conan O'Brien-penned installment with Homer going back to college, and the great "Rosebud" episode followed immediately by one of the most legendary Treehouse of Horror episodes, which you will read about in my next post. It may well be the single greatest 5-episode run the show ever had.

All that said, no human endeavor is perfect, and there are a few jokes that don't land but on which I will not dwell. What I WILL call out is a pretty baffling moment, pretty early on, when the whole family, including Grampa, is gathered around the kitchen table, on which are spread all of the threatening notes Bart has received (including the one from Homer). At this point, the family still doesn't know who is behind them, and Grampa suggests that they call the fictional attorney Matlock, who will surely find the culprit. Upon being told that Matlock isn't real, Grampa responds that his teeth aren't either but that he can still eat corn on the cob as long as someone mashes it into a fine paste for him. "Now that's good eatin'!"

So, it's a lame joke, one of the weakest of the episode. But what is kind of remarkable is how the animation makes zero effort to sell it. It's surely some of the laziest animation the show ever did. Grampa's lines are split into two cuts, and in both, the only thing that moves at all is his mouth. He makes no gestures, his facial expression never changes and does not match Dan Castellaneta's vocal performance and inflection, and there is no other motion at all during those moments. It's just weird, like maybe it was another late addition to help pad the episode up to broadcast length except they ended up with no time to do anything other than the bare minimum animation for it. It certainly doesn't mar the episode---it is still, in fact, my single favorite episode of the entire series---but it is a weird moment for sure.

Still, this episode is pretty much a pure delight from first frame to last. For me, it's the peak of the entire series. "I'm cold, and there are wolves after me."

Plum's grade: 10/10

Treehouse of Horror IV
Airdate: October 28, 1993
Written by: Conan O'Brien/Bill Oakley/Josh Weinstein/Greg Daniels/Dan McGrath/Bill Canterbury
Directed by: David Silverman

Introduction: We get no cold open, instead we just launch right into the Halloween-ified Simpsons opening theme. This time, our trip through Springfield Cemetery gives us headstones saying, in order, "Elvis-accept it", "a balanced budget", "subtle political satire", and "TV violence", the last of which is immediately riddled by machine gun bullets. We conclude with a couch gag of the family as zombies crawling up out of the floor. Good stuff.

Framing sequence: In a parody of the 1970s anthology series Night Gallery, Bart takes the Rod Serling role and walks past a series of paintings, talking to us about how at night they become portals to hell. Marge interrupts him to say that Bart should be warning the audience of how scary and violent the episode is, and that perhaps they would be happier listening to the NPR broadcast of "The War of the Worlds" instead. Bart then introduces each segment by showing us a painting that somehow ties into it.

The Devil and Homer Simpson: Bart kicks off this take on the famous short story "The Devil and Daniel Webster" by showing us a painting of the Devil, then we are transported to the nuclear plant, where Homer is chagrined to learn that the break room is all out of donuts. Further frustrated by the realization that he's already eaten his hidden emergency donut as well (there is no Simpsons line I quote more in real life than Homer's "Bastard! He's always one step ahead!" response to this), he audibly laments that he would sell his soul for a donut, to which appears Old Scratch himself, in the guise of a behooved and behorned Ned Flanders, who says that it's always the person you least suspect.

Note: the anal-retentive nerd in me feels compelled to point out that Lisa mocked Homer for saying the exact same thing just 3 episodes earlier in the very episode I previously covered, "Cape Feare". PICK A LANE, WRITERS. Sheesh.

Homer signs a contract promising his soul to the Devil in exchange for a donut (in a beautiful touch, the demon who makes the donut wears an apron labelled "Hell's kitchen"). At first, Homer finds a way to cheat the Devil when he realizes that he is safe as long as he never eats the last bite of the "forbidden donut". However, his weakness eventually prevails, and the Devil comes to collect his ransom. Lisa argues that her father has the right to due process, and the exasperated Devil agrees---in a line that would probably not fly today, he laments that "This is always so much easier in Mexico." But there will be a trial the following midnight, although Homer must spend the day in Hell first, in the care of its "Ironic Punishment Division". At midnight, the trial commences in the family's living room before a jury of some of history's greatest villains, including Benedict Arnold, Richard Nixon (who himself notes that at the time of the episode was actually still alive) and the 1976 Philadelphia Flyers. All seems lost until Marge produces a photograph from their wedding night, on the back of which is a note from Homer promising his soul to Marge forever. The jury concludes that Marge is therefore the legal owner of Homer's soul. The Devil reluctantly agrees but says Homer must still be punished for cheating him, and in one of the show's greatest visual gags, we learn that Homer's head has been transformed into a donut, from which he can't stop breaking off pieces to eat. Adding to the hilarity, the segment ends with a shot of the Springfield police eagerly waiting outside the Simpson home, coffee cups in hand and noting that Homer has to come out eventually.

Plum's take: And we're off. Great jokes, great writing, great vocal performances, great spooky visuals, and a fantastic comedic double-punch of an ending, between the reveal of Homer's donut head and then the cops waiting outside. It's also a really nice touch that Flanders as the Devil briefly takes on the appearance of Chernobog from the "Night on Bald Mountain" sequence from Fantasia. The segment is pretty much flawless, and the only reason I am not giving it a perfect score is that, for some reason I don't even quite understand myself, I don't QUITE love it as much as the other two. Plum's grade: 9

Terror at 5 1/2 Feet: This is a parody of the original Twilight Zone episode "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" which was also adapted into the most famous segment of the 1980s Twilight Zone movie, albeit 10,000 feet higher. Bart shows us an ordinary painting of a school bus, which leads into a bad dream of Bart's in which he envisions his death in a violent bus crash. Already rattled, Bart has to ride the bus to school on a dark and stormy morning. Joining them are Principal Skinner, who has been punished by his mother for talking to a woman ("she was right to do it") and Groundskeeper Willie, who had to put down his mule after it got stuck in the mud. Bart grows increasingly frantic during the ride as he is the only one who can see a gremlin outside in the rain, sabotaging parts of the bus and putting them all in danger. The adults try to contain Bart, who grows just as desperately determined to stop the gremlin. Bart eventually defeats the creature by leaning out the window and setting it on fire with a flare, knocking it away. The gremlin is rescued by Ned Flanders, who is then decapitated for his troubles. Upon arriving at school, the extent of the damage to the school bus is apparent, validating Bart's paranoia, but Skinner has the boy confined to an asylum for the rest of his life anyway for his disruptions.

Plum's take: Just a sublime segment. "Nightmare at 20,000/30,000 Feet" is prime material for a parody, and this one hits every note perfectly, right down to the Kang and Kodos cameo appearance. Alf Clausen turns in a brilliant musical score for this segment, and the animators deliver on some great overcast and rainy atmosphere for the bus ride. We get the first appearance of foreign exchange student Üter. We get one of the all-time great Groundskeeper Willie lines, in "I'm doing all the pulling, you blouse-wearing poodle walker!!", which I can't even type without my eyes becoming wet from laughter. Plus, best of all, this segment has genuine menace and suspense to it, which is what I really want from these things. For me, just a perfect segment, and it's not even my favorite one of the episode. Plum's grade: 10

Bart Simpson's Dracula: We see the classic "A Friend in Need" painting from the Dogs Playing Poker kitsch series, to which Homer sees it as well and immediately descends into screaming madness. Bart informs us that the story they had planned to go with this painting turned out to be "far too intense", so they just threw together something with vampires instead. We then launch into, obviously, a parody of the Dracula story, particularly the previous year's film Bram Stoker's Dracula, with a few nods to other vampire flicks like Salem's Lot and The Lost Boys. Several Springfield residents have turned up dead, their bodies drained of blood. Chief Wiggum, working under the assumption that they are dealing with a supernatural being, "most likely a mummy", immediately orders the Egyptian wing of the Springfield museum destroyed. Lisa is the only one who knows the truth, that a vampire is at work, and sets out to prove it. She gets her chance when Mr. Burns, who is secretly Dracula (in the guise of the Gary Oldman version of the character from the aforementioned film), mysteriously invites the family to his castle in-------PENNSYLVANIA (a joke so lame and obvious that you have to love that the writers just went for it). Lisa and Bart sneak away from dinner long enough to find proof that Burns is a vampire, but Burns/Dracula captures Bart and turns him into a fellow nosferatu before returning him to the family, who do not believe Lisa. The family later believes when they catch Bart attacking Lisa, who explains that the only way to restore Bart is to kill the head vampire (Homer: "Kill my boss?! Do I dare live out the American dream?"). The Simpsons return to the Pennsylvania castle, and after Homer accidentally first drives a stake through Burns's crotch, manages to kill the vampire. However, back at home, Lisa learns that not only is Bart still a vampire, so is the rest of the family---the head vampire was not Burns, but Marge! However, just before the family attacks Lisa, they all look at the screen, wish us a Happy Halloween, and then break into "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" in a parody of the ending of "A Charlie Brown Christmas", complete with Milhouse-as-Schroeder playing the piano and Santa's Little Helper doing the Snoopy dance.

Plum's take: Just as good as it gets. I love Dracula and vampire flicks, including and especially Bram Stoker's Dracula, and this segment was a dream for me. I remember watching this episode with about 4-5 buddies in my dorm room in college, and laughing hysterically at the whole episode but this segment in particular. As I said above, even though any kid who ever loved the Dracula story already made the "Pennsylvania/Transylvania" joke (there was even a movie titled after it in the 80s, Transylvania 6-5000), I love that the writers just went for it. Plum's rule still holds: you just can't go wrong using Mr. Burns in these things, which makes it somewhat baffling that he will disappear from them for awhile after next year's installment. My favorite underrated line from the episode comes when he uses the intercom to tell the Simpsons to come in to his castle, then the family hears him muse aloud how he now has fresh victims for his undead army, then Smithers remind him that he has to stop pressing the audio button, to which Burns exclaims, "Oh, son of a bitch!" I can quibble a little that I don't think the bit with the vampire kids floating outside Lisa's window really works and while Grampa rushing in to proclaim that they "have to kill the boy!" only to exclaim his surprise at learning that Bart is a vampire may be funny, it's just a retread of Homer killing the zombie Ned Flanders joke the year before. But those are so minor, and the "Charlie Brown Christmas" ending is so perfect. I don't care, it's my favorite segment of the episode, and on a given day either it or "King Homer" may be my favorite Treehouse of Horror segment of all. Plum's grade: 10

Kang and Kodos: Our Rigellian duo appear briefly in the 2nd segment, laughing at how the Earthlings are so afraid of a creature who does not exist, only to realize that another gremlin is on the outside of their spaceship.

Other stuff: Ned Flanders gets his second Halloween episode death in a row, this time decapitated by Bart's gremlin.

This is the only Halloween episode with a writing contribution from Conan O'Brien.

Some deleted scenes from the first segment showing additional tortures of Homer in Hell appeared a few seasons later in a clip show.

This episode marks the first of just a few Treehouse of Horror appearances by the late and great Phil Hartman, as Lionel Hutz briefly and uselessly plays the role of Homer's lawyer at his midnight trial.

The closing credits feature an Addams Family-esque version of the Simpsons theme. We also get the first appearance of a woman's scream along with the macabre organ version of the Gracie Films logo and theme at the very end.

Plum's overall reaction: The pinnacle of the whole Treehouse of Horror series, for me. On a given day, I might even give all 3 segments perfect 10s. While "Cape Feare" is now and forever my single favorite episode of the show, "Treehouse of Horror IV" cracks my top 5 as well, maybe even my top 3. I must have seen it literally over 50 times by now (hell, I've watched it 3 times alone just in the week that I write this). All 3 segments are strong with horror vibes, imagery, and atmosphere (possibly the last such episode to do this), the framing device works gangbusters. And we get rare contributions from Conan O'Brien writing and Phil Hartman performing, not to mention the show's best director, David Silverman at the helm. Sadly, while there are still some great individual segments in the next few years ahead, it's a slow ride down to mediocrity and worse from here, but let's not think of that now and just celebrate this glorious half-hour of greatness.

Adding up the 3 scores we get...29, 1 single point higher than "Treehouse of Horror III".

Treehouse of Horror V
Airdate: October 30, 1994
Written by: Greg Daniels/Dan McGrath/David X. Cohen/Bob Kushell
Directed by Jim Reardon

Intro: Similar to the first 2 installments, Marge appears from behind a curtain to deliver the standard warning about how this episode is very scary and not for kids. However, in the middle of her speech she is handed a note announcing that in fact the episode has been judged so scary that Congress will not permit it to be aired, so the network will in fact be airing an old Western movie instead. We see a brief clip from said Western, but the transmission is interrupted by Bart and Homer, Outer Limits-style, as Bart announces that they are now in charge of what we see and hear, leading into, for the last time (to the best of my knowledge), the full version of the show's Halloween-style theme sequence. A very brief trip into the Springfield Cemetery shows us a single grave which reads "amusing tombstones", announcing an abrupt end to that little tradition. In its place, we see a series of creepy tableaux, such as Moe hanging himself from a tree, Reverend Lovejoy burning Patty and Selma at the stake, and Bart executing Principal Skinner via guillotine, then end with a couch gag of our favorite family as Frankenstein's Monster-type patchwork creatures.

Framing sequence: None. To the best of my knowledge and memory, the previous year's episode was the last time the Treehouse of Horror series used one, so unless I am proven wrong later on, I am dropping this feature from my posts.

The Shinning: This segment is, obviously, a parody of Stephen King's novel "The Shining" as well as Stanley Kubrick's famous film adaptation of it. The Simpsons are hired as the winter caretakers for Mr. Burns's isolated mountain lodge while it is closed for the winter. The lodge is, of course, haunted, and its isolation has driven former winter caretakers to murderous insanity. Before Groundskeeper Willie leaves for the season (although he lives just down the hill), he discovers that Bart has the power of telepathy, which he calls "the shinning" (Bart: "You mean 'shining'." Willie:"Quiet! You want to get sued?"). Before leaving, Burns removes all the facility's alcohol and cuts off the cable TV line, dismissing the warning from Smithers that perhaps these steps were what drove the previous caretakers to murder. Without beer and TV, Homer predictably soon goes insane, egged on to murdering his family by a ghostly Moe. Homer tries to kill his family with an ax. Bart mentally contacts Willie with his shinning powers, but Homer kills him with the ax before going after his family again, who have fled outside. Lisa finds Willie's small handheld TV in the snow and quickly holds it up to her father, who finds his way back to sanity, and the family freeze together in the snow sitting around the small TV.

Plum's take: I don't know...I seem to have much more mixed feelings about this one than most people do. I think it's really funny and most of the jokes work but I'm a little baffled by a lot of the excessive love this one gets, sometimes being listed as the single best Treehouse of Horror segment. Unlike, say, "King Homer", I don't think this segment works as much as a parody of its source material. That segment works both as a spoof of King Kong and as its own story---you don't need to have seen Kong at all for that segment to work. "The Shinning", however, has always felt to me less like a story and more of a series of scenes, each parodying scenes from The Shining, strung together.

The segment also suffers from its brevity, I think. Bart's "shinning" is barely even a part of the story at all, and Homer just goes straight from his normal self to murderous psychopath immediately. To be fair, so did the movie's Jack Torrance, as played by Jack Nicholson, but here we at least know Homer's normal self. I don't even know how much sense this segment makes if you're not familiar with "The Shining" (which happens to be my favorite novel by one of my favorite authors, and I also greatly love Kubrick's film). It's a very funny segment, with some great lines ("That's odd, usually the blood gets off at the 2nd floor."), and I also love the moment where ghost Moe enlists the help of some horror icons including a werewolf, Dracula, a mummy, Jason Voorhees, Pinhead, and Freddy Krueger to persuade Homer to get back to "the project". I'll be charitable with my grade, but ultimately I do not share the view that this is one of the top-tier Treehouse of Horror segments. Plum's grade: 8

Time and Punishment: Homer has to fix the toaster (after getting his hand repeatedly stuck in it), but his repair efforts somehow cause it to become a time machine, sending him briefly back millions of years every time it's used. Remembering his father's words to him on his wedding night on how if he ever ends up traveling back in time to avoid changing anything, no matter how small, in order to avoid changing the future, Homer nevertheless causes several Butterfly Effects by both accidentally and intentionally killing various animals on his successive trips to the past. One timeline change sees Flanders become "the unquestioned Lord and Master of the Universe", while another briefly has Homer tormented by gigantic versions of his children. Still another has Homer return to his family being fabulously wealthy and living in a gorgeous mansion, with the added bonus that Patty and Selma are dead. This seems like Heaven, until Homer learns that there is no such thing as donuts in this reality (after he flees screaming to go back in time once more and fix things, we see numerous donuts falling from the sky, to which Marge notes, "It's raining again."). We get ultra-brief glimpses of several other Butterfly Effected realities before Homer decides to settle on one where his family have long frog-like tongues, rationalizing that it's "close enough".

Plum's take: Some pretty funny stuff here, starting off with Homer somehow getting his hand stuck in the toaster not once but twice to the various ways Homer somehow ends up changing the past, most amusingly by sneezing on a dinosaur and immediately killing off the entire species ("THIS is gonna cost me."). Plus, it's awesome to, however briefly, get James Earl Jones back, even if just for a single line, this time as the voice of Maggie. My preference will always be for the Treehouse of Horror episodes to just do horror instead of sci-fi like this one, but this is so good I'll give it a pass. I'll even go so far as to say that I think this episode would have benefitted from doing only 2 segments and stretching out both this segment and "The Shinning" longer to give them room to breathe. Plum's grade: 8

Nightmare Cafeteria: Principal Skinner has a twofold problem on his hand: namely, detention is getting overcrowded while the school's miniscule budget can no longer be stretched to adequately feed the students. He solves both moves with a single stroke, realizing that the detention students can be killed and served as food. Jimbo Jones gets served up as "Sloppy Jimbos" while Üter becomes "Üterbraten". The student body becomes smaller and smaller as the faculty develop a growing taste (no pun intended) for eating the students, to the point that Lisa, Milhouse, and, inexplicably, Bart become the last 3 students not in detention. The trio try to escape but eventually all 3 fall into a giant food processor, at which point Bart wakes up screaming in front of his family. 'Twas only a dream! What's real, though, is that there is a dangerous fog that turns everyone inside out, from which the Simpsons' home's "cheap weather stripping" fails to protect them. The whole family, including Grampa, gruesomely turns inside out and then does a song and dance rendition of "One" from "A Chorus Line" for the closing credits, as their movements cause blood and gore to fly in every direction while Santa's Little Helper gnaws on Bart's intestine and drags his bloody carcass offscreen.

Plum's take: Oh boy. I've softened on this one quite a bit, but I sure do remember how icky, gross, and disgusted it made me feel back in the day on first viewing. I know I'm a broken record at this point about wanting "horror" in my Treehouse of Horror episodes, but this just felt too disturbing and creepy. The series had always had its share of grisliness and gruesomeness, with plenty of characters being killed and eaten, to be sure (and admittedly, the first segment involved Homer trying to kill his family with an ax), but for me having all the children be killed and eaten wasn't cool (confession: the bit with the "free range children" always made me laugh, though). As for the song and dance number at the end...the less said, the better. The whole segment just felt mean, not fun.

But I have warmed up to it over the years somewhat. I still think it's the weakest segment of the episode, but I do have more fun with it now, and it's certainly better than 80-90% of the Treehouse of Horror segments that followed it. I would actually grade it a point higher if the segment just ended with Bart and Lisa falling to their deaths instead of the actual ending, but since it doesn't....Plum's grade: 7

Kang and Kodos: The Rigellians make a brief appearance in the 2nd segment, mocking the humans' inability to deal with the effects of time travel, just before Homer's latest butterfly effect then causes them to transform into Mr. Peabody and Sherman.

Other stuff: As noted above, this is the final time we get the full version of the Halloween special opening credits, and the final appearance of the "amusing tombstones."

We also get the welcome return of James Earl Jones.

One running gag throughout the episode has Groundskeeper Willie being killed with an ax to the back in all 3 segments: by Homer in "The Shinning", by Maggie (who then declares, through the voice of James Earl Jones, that "This is indeed a disturbing universe") in "Time and Punishment, and then by Principal Skinner in "Nightmare Cafeteria", to which Willie admits that he's "bad at this" just before dying.

During Homer's first trip back in time in the 2nd segment, he encounters Mr. Peabody and Sherman, from the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons, in the timestream. The cartoon duo reappear a few moments later when Kang and Kodos are transformed into them as a result of Homer's time-meddling.

The final segment is the first (and possibly only?) one in the Treehouse of Horror series in which Homer, or some version of him, does not appear at all.

Plum's overall reaction: Similar to my mild bewilderment that "The Shinning" is held up by some to be among the greatest Treehouse of Horror segment, if not THE greatest, I am similarly baffled by those who rank this episode as the series' best, in a world where Treehouses III and IV presumably still exist. It's good, and compared to what the series will be in 10-15 years, it's practically a classic, but I can't consider this episode anything but a comedown from the previous 2 years. Also, while this is clearly only a matter of taste, this episode marks the (unwelcome for me) trend of at least one segment per episode being sci-fi or even fantasy instead of horror, which---even when it's good, like "Time and Punishment" in this installment---is not what I personally want in my Halloween specials.

Adding up the 3 scores gives us....23.

Time and Punishment is a classic, IMO. I'm not a big fan of the other two segments, but Homer's accidental alterations are hilarious. Flanders as a cheerful but ruthless dictator is also funny. The section with Abe - from Homer's memory of his wedding day - is sublime (as is Abe's advice).

I understand what you mean about it being science-fiction not horror but it's so well done; I just love it. I actually have this on DVD and I bought it solely for Time & Punishment. I don't own any other Simpsons episodes on any format.

I remember when this episode first aired, and I was shocked when Milhouse was gorily liquefied in that giant blender on camera. It looks like I wasn't the only one, since I noticed that shot was missing from reruns, and it's not on Disney+ either.

Sounds like I stopped watching at the right time. I have strong memories of the first four Treehouses, but I am oretty sure I never saw V and beyond ...

Hmm...I have to say, my memory could be wrong, but I remember it always being that way, that it cuts away an instant before the violence instead of showing it. I wonder if anyone else remembers it the way you do?

I believe I had the original broadcast version recorded on VHS for several years but threw many of those away once they became useless, or I could check.

It stayed good through 1996, because the one where Kang and Kodos each run for President (spoofing the 96 election) was solid.

Well, it's been almost thirty years, and I'm sure my own memory is impeccable.

Seriously, I do remember a holy shit reaction to seeing Milhouse disintegrate into a blob of red at the bottom of the blender, and my roommates actually yelling, but maybe it was all theatre of the mind. It was my third year of college, so I was probably definitely drunk.

Did they ever collect all the Halloween specials into one DVD collection?

Maybe they would after the series is finally canceled.

Just this single disc that has Treehouse of Horror V-VII, XII.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00009N80Z/?tag=imwan-20

That one will be getting a very high score tomorrow!

The way things are going, DVDs will be completely over before the show is.

Treehouse of Horror VI
Airdate: October 29, 1995
Written by: John Swartzwelder/Steve Thompkins/David S. Cohen
Directed by: Bob Anderson/David Mirkin

Intro: Krusty the Clown, in the guise of the Headless Horseman, rides through the woods and throws his (Krusty's) head at the screen, we get "The Simpsons Halloween Special VI" title card, and then a couch gag of the whole family dying by hanging. The whole thing takes barely 20 seconds, quite a difference from the lengthy intros of specials past.

Attack of the 50-Foot Eyesores: Homer is bitter that the "colossal donut" he buys at the Lard Lad Donut shop is nowhere near the size of the fake donut held by the giant Lard Lad statue out front. That night, out of revenge he steals the big metal donut and brings it home, just before a freak ion storm strikes the Lard Lad statue and brings it to life, seeking its lost donut. The storm brings numerous other giant advertising statues to life as well and they wreak havoc on Springfield, destroying most of the city. Realizing that advertising needs attention for it to be effective, Lisa and special guest Paul Anka perform a jingle advising the citizens of the town to stop paying attention to the monsters, and soon enough they lose their powers and collapse lifeless to the ground.

Plum's take: A good start to the episode, although you do have to remember that we were well into the "jerkass Homer" era at this point. Otherwise it's hard to imagine Homer could really think he would be getting a donut the size of a tractor tire. But this one has some great gags, like the giant Mr. Peanut-like figure twisting open a car (like a peanut) and eating the people inside, or Homer's reaction to seeing Lard Lad come to life---first lying to him that Ned Flanders has the giant donut and then remarking to himself, "He came to life. Good for him." For some reason, my roommates and I, on original viewing, got the biggest laugh out of Lard Lad kicking the neighborhood dog into the distance, which perhaps does not speak well for our respective characters. That said, I think it's merely "pretty good" and not one of the classic segments, although I believe it is the final Treehouse of Horror contribution from legendary Simpsons writer John Swartzwelder (I will correct myself later if I'm wrong). Plum's grade: 7

Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace: In this spoof of A Nightmare on Elm Street, Bart has a nightmare in which he is attacked by Groundskeeper Willie, who slashes him with a rake. At school, Bart learns that several other students were also attacked by Willie in their dreams, but that Willie has mysteriously disappeared. In school, Martin is allowed to take a nap at his desk and is murdered by Willie in his dream. When the Simpson kids tell their parents, they learn that Willie was killed in an accident at school (which was Homer's fault) and is taking his revenge from the grave on the parents of Springfield by going after their children in their dreams. Bart decides to try and confront Willie in the dreamscape in order to lure him back out into the real world for a final showdown, but ultimately it is baby Maggie who defeats Willie, who is seemingly dead for good. However, he soon appears at the Simpson home to try and terrorize them some more, only to realize he forgot his gun on the bus that brought him, and he chases after it to the tune of a Yakkety Sax-ified version of the Simpsons theme.

Plum's take: Okay, I'm going to go ahead and admit that this segment---parts of it, anyway---legitimately scared me back in the day, which is pretty impressive for a cartoon, and a comedy one at that. Specifically, the bit in Bart's dream where the seemingly defeated Willie rises behind him in the gigantic form of a combination of a massive spider and a colossal set of bagpipes. If you haven't seen the segment, you have to be wondering if I'm insane or something, but it genuinely creeped me out my first several viewings. Even so, this is still by far the funniest segment of the episode. My favorite bit is probably actually in the real world, when poor Martin's corpse is being wheeled away on a stretcher, only for the sheet covering him to get stuck and pulled off, causing all the children in his class to scream, and then in the rush to get his corpse out it is accidentally wheeled into the kindergarten class next door instead. I love this segment, and it works for me as a spoof of the original movie in a way that "The Shinning" the year before doesn't really---it still feels like a complete story that works even if you've never seen the original movie, instead of just a collection of scenes. This is one of the great Treehouse of Horror segments. Plum's grade: 9

Homer³: This segment is based on the "Little Girl Lost" episode of the original Twilight Zone, which in turn was based on a short story of the same name by Richard Matheson. Homer tries to dodge his visiting sisters-in-law, Patty and Selma, by hiding behind a bookcase, only to realize that the wall contains a portal to a different world where everything appears in 3-D (instead of the 2-D world of standard animation), and he suddenly becomes rendered in computer animation. He is scared and can't find his way back to his own world, although he and his family can still hear each other. Several family friends arrive to help, including Professor Frink, who explains to the gathered group that Homer has entered the fabled 3rd dimension. Homer accidentally breaks the space/time continuum in the 3rd dimension, causing a black hole which slowly begins to consume the entire world. Bart enters the portal as well in an attempt to save his father but fails and is pulled back to safety just as Homer falls through the singularity. He crashes into our non-animated world, which terrifies him (and the passersby who encounter his weirdly-shaped self) until he is intrigued by a store selling erotic cakes.

Plum's take: I do enjoy this one a lot, but I also think the idea of it is a bit more fun than the reality. The 3-D computer animation was pretty mind-blowing at the time (and I love the meta-joke of Homer feeling like he's costing a fortune even when he's just standing there), but I don't think they got as much comedically out of it as they could have. Most of the good jokes actually happen on the traditionally-animated side of the segment, although I do love that Bart is the one who (futilely) tries to save his father. Still, it's memorable and I always enjoy so I will be charitable. Plum's grade: 8

Kang and Kodos: The Rigellians appear very briefly in the first segment. We see them out in the desert trying to hitch a ride to "Earth Capital" when Lard Lad's giant donut goes rolling past them, prompting Kodos to say "Oh, shazbot."

Other stuff: As noted, this episode features a guest appearance by Paul Anka as himself in the first segment.

This is the first Treehouse of Horror episode since the original to feature more than 1 credited director, although David Mirkin only directed the brief live-action scene at the end of the episode. That scene is, in fact, the first live-action footage in the series.

Plum's overall reaction: I like this one quite a bit more than the previous year's, so it feels weird that its cumulative score is only one point higher, but that's okay. We get one truly great horror segment out of the show with the Freddy Krueger spoof, and two other enjoyable segments as well. In fact, I may be wrong, but I think it is probably the last Treehouse of Horror installment where I genuinely loved all 3 segments. It's a bummer that we don't get the full opening sequence anymore, but this is still a really good episode.

Adding up the 3 scores gives us...24