"Treehouse of Horror XIX" | |
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The Simpsons episode | |
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Episode no. | Season 20 Episode 4 |
Directed by | Bob Anderson |
Written by | Matt Warburton |
Featured music | "Psycho Killer" by Talking Heads |
Production code | KABF16 [1] |
Original air date | November 2, 2008 |
"Treehouse of Horror XIX" is the fourth episode of the twentieth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons . It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 2, 2008. This is the nineteenth Treehouse of Horror episode, and, like the other Treehouse of Horror episodes, contains three self-contained segments: in "Untitled Robot Parody", Transformer robots run amok in Springfield; in "How to Get Ahead in Dead-Vertising", Homer is hired by advertising agents to kill celebrities so their images can be used for free; and in "It's the Grand Pumpkin, Milhouse", Milhouse summons a man-eating pumpkin in a parody of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown . It was written by Matt Warburton and directed by Bob Anderson. Shortly after airing, the episode was criticized by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) because a Nelson Muntz uses "gay" as an insult.
A total of 12.48 million viewers tuned in to watch during its first airing, more than any other episode since "The Wife Aquatic". The episode received mixed reviews from critics, with "It's the Grand Pumpkin, Milhouse" generally regarded as the best segment; critic Matt Zoller Seitz cited the segment as one of The Simpsons' "flashes of greatness" in the later seasons.
In the opening scene, Homer tries to vote for Democratic candidate Barack Obama in the 2008 United States presidential election. However, the voting machine is rigged to register his vote for Republican candidate John McCain. After six attempts to vote (including actually voting for McCain once in the hopes that it would register for Obama), Homer heads out to report the mishap, but the machine sucks him in and kills him to hide the truth, then shoots his body out of the voting booth. Jasper sticks a patriotic-themed "I voted" sticker on Homer's forehead. The title of the episode and opening credits are shown in red, white and blue in front of him.
In a parody of Transformers , Bart buys Lisa a Malibu Stacy convertible as a Christmas present. However, the car turns out to be a Transformer. The robot transforms all of the technology in Springfield into robots so they can wage war with each other. Just as the two machine factions' leaders prepare to face off, Marge asks why the robots are at war with one another; as it turns out, they cannot even remember. Thanking Marge, the two factions of sentient machines work together to overthrow humanity and use Springfield's residents in a game of human foosball.
Homer takes Maggie to a daycare and encourages her to enjoy a mural featuring Krusty the Clown to make her feel better while she is away from her parents. However, Krusty is already there to have the images of his face sandblasted from the mural, as his likeness is trademarked and had been used without his permission. This leaves Maggie upset and an outraged Homer shoves Krusty in retaliation, accidentally sending him flying into a wood chipper, shredding him alive. Homer is later approached by two advertising agents who have heard of his deed and explain their plan to use celebrities' likenesses in advertising without issues over permission by simply killing those who refuse to lend their names to advertising. Homer is then hired as a celebrity assassin, taking out such famous faces as actor George Clooney, singer Prince, and astronaut Neil Armstrong. In Heaven, the dead celebrities are outraged by this and stage an attack on the living, with Homer as their main target. Krusty's angel kills Homer, who gets revenge by locking all the celebrities out of Heaven, leaving only himself and the apparently gay Abraham Lincoln.
In a parody of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown , Bart makes up a character called the Grand Pumpkin, which Milhouse begins to believe in. Milhouse is unable to summon the Grand Pumpkin in front of his friends, who leave for a Halloween party. He starts to cry and his tears and childlike belief bring the Grand Pumpkin to life. However, the Grand Pumpkin (who happens to be racist against yellow pumpkins) is appalled to find that orange pumpkins are carved and eaten on Halloween, and he eats Homer, Nelson Muntz and Groundskeeper Willie for this reason.
Realizing that Milhouse can bring things to life by believing in them, Lisa tells him about "Tom Turkey", a symbol of Thanksgiving. Milhouse starts to believe in Tom Turkey, who comes to life and kills the Grand Pumpkin, freeing everyone he ate. However, when Tom Turkey learns that people eat turkeys on Thanksgiving, he vows revenge and starts angrily chasing children around the school, devouring them as Marge wishes the viewers happy holidays.
The opening segment of the episode, which was leaked onto the internet weeks before the episode aired, [2] features Homer voting for Barack Obama. Rather than taking sides in the election, executive producer Al Jean says it is "mostly a comment on what many people to believe to be the irregularities in our voting system." [3] "Untitled Robot Parody" is modeled on the live action Transformers film, rather than the cartoon. [4] Al Jean said it was "just really fun to do transformations [and] you can see why they enjoyed doing that film." [4] "How to Get Ahead in Dead-Vertising" featured a parody of the title sequence of Mad Men . Jean was a fan of the series and pitched the scene. [5]
The final segment is based on the Halloween cartoon It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown . It could not be titled "It's the Great Pumpkin, Milhouse" to exactly match its namesake because of a "big legal issue", according to Al Jean. [6] However, the characters were redesigned to resemble the style of Peanuts , and they also obtained rights to use Vince Guaraldi's music. [4] Jean said in 2011 that "For years we had never been able to parody Charlie Brown's Halloween special, which is one of the all-time top three animated shows ever. The Vince Guaraldi music is such a huge part of it, so we got to clear it. It was just a dream come true to satirize it. I thought it was a really funny idea that instead of not ever seeing the Grand Pumpkin, it comes to life, and he's really horrified at the way humans cook pumpkins into pies, and eat pumpkin seeds, which are basically pumpkin fetuses...." [7]
The first segment of the episode is a parody of Transformers . [8] The second segment features a parody of the opening of Mad Men and Homer kills several celebrities, including Kate Winslet, Prince, George Clooney, and Neil Armstrong, set to the song "Psycho Killer" by Talking Heads. [9] [10] Krusty getting killed in a woodchipper references the woodchipper scene from the movie, Fargo . Other celebrities shown include Golda Meir, Edward G. Robinson, John Wayne and John Lennon, who says "All we're saying is 'Let's eat some brains'", a reference to the chorus of "Give Peace a Chance" by the Plastic Ono Band. [11] The commercial "Planet of the Taste" is a parody of the 1968 film Planet of the Apes . [11]
The final segment, "It's the Grand Pumpkin, Milhouse" is a parody of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (and was supposed to be named "It's The Great Pumpkin, Milhouse," but for legal reasons, was renamed) and contains several references to the Peanuts series. In the segment, Milhouse wears the same clothes and plays the same role as Linus van Pelt. Lisa is modelled after Sally Brown and Bart looks like Charlie Brown; he even says "good grief", echoing Charlie Brown's catchphrase. The main theme to Peanuts "Linus and Lucy" is played several times. A redesigned version of Santa's Little Helper can be seen sleeping on top of his dog house and Homer is seen sleeping on top of his house in a manner similar to Snoopy. [12] When Marge first speaks, she uses a muted trombone. This is a parody of the "wah wah wah" voice that is used for adults in the various Peanuts specials. [13] At the end of the segment, she says to the audience that they can send complaints to an address which she only says in more muted trombone noises. Milhouse' prayer to the Grand Pumpkin is similar to the Nicene Creed. [14] The dance scene during the Halloween party is a parody of the dance scene in A Charlie Brown Christmas right down to Kang and Kodos in a nonspeaking cameo as the twins 3 and 4. [15]
In its original airing, the episode was viewed by 12.48 million viewers and achieved a 4.9 Nielsen rating. [16] It was the highest rated episode of the night in the 18–49 demographic, the sixteenth highest rated show of the week, and the fourth highest rated on Fox after two airings of the World Series and House . It was the highest rated episode since season 18's "The Wife Aquatic". [8]
"Treehouse of Horror XIX" received mixed reviews from critics. Rick Bentley of the Seattle Times described it as a "paint-by-numbers episode". [15] Robert Canning of IGN gave the episode a 7.9/10, calling it "funny, entertaining and even nostalgic [which] only makes this yearly tradition that much better." [10]
"It's the Grand Pumpkin, Milhouse" was regarded by reviewers as the best segment in the episode. Canning wrote, "this segment may not be all that gory, but it's funny and, quite honestly, it will just make you feel good", [10] and Bentley described it as "a dead-on comedy assault of the Charlie Brown animated Halloween special." [15] Rob Owen of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette concurred, writing that it "succeeds because it offers sly cultural commentary." [14] Show Patrol wrote "The nostalgia factor makes “Grand Pumpkin” the best of these amusing bits for me, but they all lack that trademark “Simpsons” brand of satirical smartness." [9] Hal Boedecker of the Orlando Sentinel gave the episode a 4/5 and called the final segment a "witty parody of Charlie Brown's Halloween classic. [...] The best gag, though, is a subtle one. Marge plays a trombone, a loving salute to the way the Peanuts specials portrayed adult voices." [17] Film and television critic Matt Zoller Seitz has cited the segment as one of The Simpsons' "flashes of greatness" in the later seasons, writing in 2016 with Alan Sepinwall that "Whenever you're about to count The Simpsons out, it produces a magnificent segment like... 'It's the Grand Pumpkin, Milhouse'". [18] [19]
Director Bob Anderson received an Annie Award nomination for "Best Directing in an Animated Television Production" but lost to Avatar: The Last Airbender . [20]
The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), which was in the middle of running a campaign to prevent casual use of the adjective "gay", criticized Nelson Muntz's lyric in the "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" parody, "the Grand Pumpkin's super gay". A spokesperson for the GLSEN said "many people say gay without even realizing what they're saying is bad, we're trying to educate people that this is a term that is hurtful to young people when used in a negative way." [21] The spokesperson added, "Nelson should send an apologetic e-card to Milhouse." [22]
Songs in the Key of Springfield is a soundtrack/novelty album from The Simpsons compiling many of the musical numbers from the series. The album was released in the United States on March 18, 1997, and in the United Kingdom in June 1997. This was the second album released in association with the Simpsons television series; however, the previous release, The Simpsons Sing the Blues, contained original recordings as opposed to songs featured in episodes of the series.
"Treehouse of Horror IV" is the fifth episode of the fifth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons and the fourth episode in the Treehouse of Horror series of Halloween specials. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 28, 1993, and features three short stories called "The Devil and Homer Simpson", "Terror at 5+1⁄2 Feet", and "Bart Simpson's Dracula".
"Treehouse of Horror II" is the seventh episode of the third season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on Fox in the United States on October 31, 1991. It is the second annual Treehouse of Horror episode, consisting of three self-contained segments, told as dreams of Lisa, Bart and Homer and is the only Treehouse of Horror episode to date where each segment name is not stated inside the episode. In the first segment, which was inspired by W. W. Jacobs's short story "The Monkey's Paw" and The Twilight Zone episode "A Small Talent for War", Homer buys a Monkey's Paw that has the power to grant wishes, although all the wishes backfire. In the second part, which parodies the Twilight Zone episode "It's a Good Life", Bart is omnipotent, and turns Homer into a jack-in-the-box, resulting in the two spending more time together. In the final segment, Mr. Burns attempts to use Homer's brain to power a giant robotic laborer.
"Treehouse of Horror III" is the fifth episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on October 29, 1992. The third annual Treehouse of Horror episode, it features segments in which Homer buys Bart an evil talking doll, Homer is a giant ape which is captured by Mr. Burns in a parody of the 1933 version of King Kong, and Bart and Lisa inadvertently cause zombies to attack Springfield.
"Treehouse of Horror V" is the sixth episode of the sixth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the fifth entry in the Treehouse of Horror series. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on October 30, 1994, and features three short stories: "The Shinning", "Time and Punishment", and "Nightmare Cafeteria".
"Treehouse of Horror XI" is the first episode of the twelfth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, the 249th episode overall, and the eleventh Halloween episode. The episode features "G-G-Ghost D-D-Dad", "Scary Tales Can Come True" and "Night of the Dolphin" and was written by Rob LaZebnik, John Frink and Don Payne and Carolyn Omine and directed by Matthew Nastuk.
"Treehouse of Horror XIV" is the first episode of the fifteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 2, 2003. In the fourteenth annual Treehouse of Horror episode, Homer takes on the role of the Grim Reaper, Professor Frink creates a Frankenstein-version of his deceased father ("Frinkenstein") and Bart and Milhouse obtain a time-stopping watch. It was written by John Swartzwelder and directed by Steven Dean Moore. Guest stars in the episode include Jerry Lewis, whose character in The Nutty Professor served as the inspiration for recurring Simpsons character Professor Frink, as Frink's father, and Jennifer Garner, Dudley Herschbach, and Oscar De La Hoya as themselves. The episode was nominated for the 2004 Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series.
"Treehouse of Horror XVI" is the fourth episode of the seventeenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 6, 2005. In the sixteenth annual Treehouse of Horror, the Simpsons replace Bart with a robot son after Bart falls into a coma, Homer and various other characters find themselves on a reality show where Mr. Burns hunts humans for sport, and costumed Springfieldians become whatever they are wearing, thanks to a witch who was disqualified from a Halloween costume contest.
"Treehouse of Horror XVII" is the fourth episode of the eighteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the seventeenth Treehouse of Horror episode. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 5, 2006. In "Married to the Blob", Homer eats green extraterrestrial slime and morphs into a rampaging blob with an insatiable appetite; in "You Gotta Know When to Golem", Bart uses Krusty's golem to wreak havoc on his tormentors; and in "The Day the Earth Looked Stupid", the residents of a late-1930s Springfield refuse to believe news of an actual alien invasion after being duped by Orson Welles's The War of the Worlds radio broadcast.
Treehouse of Horror is a series of annual Halloween-themed anthology episodes of the animated sitcom and spin-off of The Simpsons. Also known as The Simpsons Halloween Specials, each episode typically consists of three separate, self-contained segments. Each segment involves the Simpson family in some comical horror, science fiction, or supernatural setting; plot elements operate beyond the show's normal continuity, with segments exaggeratedly more morbid and violent than a typical Simpsons episode. With 35 episodes as of 2024, each Treehouse of Horror episode is numbered in Roman numerals, one less than the respective season it is in.
"Treehouse of Horror XVIII" is the fifth episode of the nineteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 4, 2007. In the eighteenth annual Treehouse of Horror episode, Bart harbors Kodos the alien in "E.T., Go Home," Homer and Marge are husband and wife assassins who try to take each other out in "Mr. & Mrs. Simpson," and Ned Flanders is given God-like powers during his demonstration on the wages of sin in "Heck House." It was written by Marc Wilmore and directed by Chuck Sheetz. Maggie Simpson does not appear in this episode.
"Treehouse of Horror XX" is the fourth episode of the twenty-first season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. The episode was directed by Mike B. Anderson and Matthew Schofield and was written by Daniel Chun. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 18, 2009.
"Treehouse of Horror XXI" is the fourth episode of the twenty-second season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 7, 2010. This is the 21st Treehouse of Horror episode, and, like the other Treehouse of Horror episodes, consisted of three self-contained segments: In "War and Pieces", Bart and Milhouse discover a real-life board game that they must win to return home; in "Master and Cadaver", Marge and Homer go on a honeymoon on a sailboat, and rescue a mysterious castaway named Roger; and in "Tweenlight", Lisa falls in love with a vampire named Edmund.
"Treehouse of Horror XXII" is the third episode of the twenty-third season and the twenty-second Halloween episode of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 30, 2011. The episode is part of the Treehouse of Horror series, which is an episode divided into three separate stories and an opening that is a parody of scary or Halloween themed stories. This episode's stories were primarily spoofs of the French film The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, the television series Dexter, and the American film Avatar. The opening was a parody of the autobiographical film 127 Hours, in which the subject Aron Ralston loses an arm.
"Treehouse of Horror XXVI" is the fifth episode of the twenty-seventh season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, the 26th episode in the Treehouse of Horror series of Halloween specials, and the 579th episode of the series overall. The episode was directed by Steven Dean Moore and written by Joel H. Cohen. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 25, 2015.
It's the Great Pumpkin may refer to:
"Treehouse of Horror XXVII" is the fourth episode of the twenty-eighth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, the 27th episode in the Treehouse of Horror series of Halloween specials, and the 600th episode of the series overall. The episode was directed by Steven Dean Moore and written by Joel H. Cohen. It aired in the United States on Fox on October 16, 2016.
"Treehouse of Horror XXX" is the fourth episode of the thirty-first season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 666th episode overall as well as the thirtieth Treehouse of Horror episode, consisting of an opening sequence parodying The Omen and three self-contained segments: "Danger Things", "Heaven Swipes Right", and "When Hairy Met Slimy". It aired in the United States on Fox on October 20, 2019. The episode was written by J. Stewart Burns, and was directed by Timothy Bailey.
"Thanksgiving of Horror" is the eighth episode of the thirty-first season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 670th episode overall. It aired in the United States on Fox on November 24, 2019. The episode was written by Dan Vebber, and was directed by Rob Oliver.
"Treehouse of Horror XXXII" is the third episode of the thirty-third season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 709th episode overall. It aired in the United States on Fox on October 10, 2021, and unlike the previous season, aired at the appropriate time to avoid conflict with Major League Baseball’s post-season, which stretched into November. The episode was directed by Matthew Faughnan and written by John Frink.