"Treehouse of Horror XXIII" | |
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The Simpsons episode | |
![]() Promotional image for the episode. | |
Episode no. | Season 24 Episode 2 |
Directed by | Steven Dean Moore |
Written by | David Mandel Brian Kelley |
Production code | PABF17 |
Original air date | October 7, 2012 |
Guest appearance | |
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"Treehouse of Horror XXIII" is the second episode of the twenty-fourth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons . The episode was directed by Steven Dean Moore and written by David Mandel and Brian Kelley. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 7, 2012. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the episode aired on Sky 1 on March 24, 2013 with 1,312,000 viewers, making it the most watched program that week.
In this three-part anthology episode, a black hole appears in Springfield in the first installment, demonic activity occurs in the Simpson house in the second installment, and Bart travels back in time, which interferes with Homer and Marge's past, in the third installment. Jon Lovitz guest stars as Artie Ziff. The episode received positive reviews. Animator Paul Wee won an Emmy Award for Individual Achievement in Animation for this episode, which also received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Animated Program.
At the height of the Maya civilization, in the city of Chichen Itza, a sacrifice is about to take place to prevent the end of the world from happening at the end of the 13th Baktun and the Mayan Calendar. A Mayan Homer, who has been fattened up, showing that he is ready to be sacrificed, hears about it for the first time (as he did not pay attention during orientation) and attempts to back out to no avail. However, his wife, a Mayan Marge, tricks a priest, a Mayan Moe, into getting himself sacrificed instead by promising him sex. After the sacrifice, a Mayan Professor Frink confirms that the world will end after the 13th Baktun, which, accounting for the Gregorian calendar and the birth of Jesus, puts the end of days in the year 2012 (with the Mayan Mayor Quimby placing the blame on President Barack Obama).
In the present, Homer encounters three Mayan stone gods, mistaking them for the trick-or-treaters. One of them crushes Homer underfoot, then the second one jumps on Flanders' house. The stone trio start to wreak havoc on Springfield and the Earth with one stone god throwing fireballs at Springfield City Hall and throwing Lard Lad's donut at a UFO and then taking this to popular landmarks like moving the Eiffel Tower to crash it into Big Ben, ripping up the Great Wall of China; causing it to sink to a river of lava, making George Washington's head kiss Abraham Lincoln's head in Mount Rushmore; causing rivers of lava to appear, and splitting Earth into large fissures. Once their destruction is done, they high five to show their success on wreaking havoc in Earth, then fly off, only leaving the Earth to explode, replacing it with what appears to be the Earth's infrastructure or blood. The text reads the title of the episode.
The citizens of Springfield gather to witness the activation of the Springfield Particle Accelerator; they originally wanted to use the money to build a new baseball stadium, but Lisa convinced them otherwise. Professor Frink activates the machine and it works, but nothing exciting happens, and everyone blames Lisa for her suggestion. When everyone is gone, two particles collide with each other and create a small black hole which floats off. Lisa finds it, and after it sucks up Ralph and Nelson, she takes it home so that it will not cause any more trouble. The Simpsons put it in the basement and Lisa warns them not to throw anything in it or otherwise it will grow bigger. Despite the warning, Homer, Bart and Marge use it as a trash disposal, with Santa's Little Helper using it off-camera to get rid of Snowball II, and Homer even opens a business allowing people to throw their junk into it. The black hole becomes huge and consumes everything in sight. The only person who is not sucked in is Maggie, whose pacifier flies into the black hole, inexplicably stopping it. Meanwhile, all of Springfield has been warped to an alternate universe, where aliens worship their trash.
In a Paranormal Activity homage, [1] when strange events occur at the Simpson house, Homer sets up cameras to photograph what is haunting them. The culprit is revealed to be a Moe-like demon with whom Marge made a deal to save her sisters when they summoned the demon as part of a Satanic ritual. As part of the deal, the demon would return 30 years later to take Marge's favorite child as payment (which turns out to be Maggie, much to Lisa's shock). Homer manages to convince the demon to relinquish the bargain in return for Homer to reluctantly engage in three-way sex with him and another demon. After learning that the safe word is cinnamon, Homer throws his robe over the camera saying he'd like to try something and the Moe-like demon is heard yelling 'cinnamon'.
In a parody of Back to the Future , [1] Bart travels back to 1974 in Professor Frink's time machine to buy a comic book for 25 cents instead of the current $200 price at the Android's Dungeon. He then finds Homer in high school, just moments before he meets Marge for the first time (as seen in the season two episode "The Way We Was"). Before Bart returns to 2012, he selfishly tells Marge (who is already angry at teenage Homer for strangling Bart and constant demanding over her to be his prom date) to never marry Homer. When Bart returns to 2012, he finds that Artie Ziff is now his father and the family is rich and successful, to the point where Nelson Muntz is now hired as Bart's butler and personal punching bag. 1974 Homer, who stowed away in the trunk of the time machine, finds out about Marge and meets 2012 Homer, who wants Marge. The two summon every time incarnation of Homer (dubbed "The United Federation of Homers Throughout History") to beat up Artie. Though the Homers lose badly despite greatly outnumbering Artie, they wind up winning over Marge, who then takes pity on the beaten Homers and lets all of them live with her.
This is the first episode of The Simpsons co-written by David Mandel. [2] Executive producer Al Jean stated that the first act about the black hole ties in with the discovery of the Higgs boson in the summer of 2012. A preview of this segment was shown at San Diego Comic-Con in 2012. [3]
Jon Lovitz reprised his role as Artie Ziff in the Back to the Future parody. [3]
The episode received a 3.1 in the 18-49 demographic, coming second in the Animation Domination lineup behind Family Guy , which had a 3.4. It earned a total viewership of 6.57 million, also coming in second behind Family Guy, which had 6.70 million viewers, but beating American Dad! , Bob's Burgers , and The Cleveland Show . [4]
Robert David Sullivan of The A.V. Club gave the episode a B and gave a fairly positive review, commenting, "In the early years of The Simpsons, the annual 'Treehouse Of Horror' outing was a fun contrast to most of the show’s episodes. There was no warmth, no subtlety, no lessons learned, and no attempt at a coherent story—just a lot of gross-out humor and a chance to see Springfield stretched even further past reality. Now that entire show has adopted these qualities, the Halloween tradition doesn't seem as special. But, like the couch gag at the start of each episode, 'Treehouse Of Horror' tempts us with the chance to see something that doesn't feel borrowed (and a bit dumbed down) from the show’s glory years." [1]
Teresa Lopez of TV Fanatic gave the episode 4 out of 5 stars. She liked the final two acts, especially the look at the Ziff family in the final act. She thought the first act was the weakest because of the humor coming from aliens worshiping garbage. [5]
Screen Rant called it the best episode of the 24th season. [6]
Animator Paul Wee won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation at the 65th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards for this episode. [7] The episode also was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program at the same award ceremony. [8]
Writers David Mandel & Brian Kelley received a nomination for the Writers Guild of America Award for Outstanding Writing in Animation at the 65th Writers Guild of America Awards for their script to this episode. [9]
Composer Alf Clausen was nominated for the Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Music in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production at the 40th Annie Awards for this episode. [10]
"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 VI" is the sixth episode of the seventh season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the sixth episode in the Treehouse of Horror series. It first aired on Fox in the United States on October 29, 1995, and contains three self-contained segments. In "Attack of the 50-Foot Eyesores", an ionic storm brings Springfield's oversized advertisements and billboards to life and they begin attacking the town. The second segment, "Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace", is a parody of the A Nightmare on Elm Street film series, in which Groundskeeper Willie attacks schoolchildren in their sleep. In the third and final segment, "Homer3", Homer finds himself trapped in a three-dimensional world, Earth. It was inspired by the 1962 The Twilight Zone episode "Little Girl Lost". The episode was written by John Swartzwelder, Steve Tompkins, and David X. Cohen and was directed by Bob Anderson.
"Treehouse of Horror VIII" is the fourth episode of the ninth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on Fox in the United States on October 26, 1997. In the eighth annual Treehouse of Horror episode, Homer Simpson is the last Springfieldian left alive when a neutron bomb destroys Springfield until a gang of mutants come after him, Homer buys a transporter that Bart uses to switch bodies with a housefly, and Marge is accused of witchcraft in a Puritan rendition of Springfield in 1649. It was written by Mike Scully, David X. Cohen and Ned Goldreyer, and was directed by Mark Kirkland.
"Treehouse of Horror IX" is the fourth episode of the tenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on Fox in the United States on October 25, 1998. This is the ninth Treehouse of Horror episode, and, like the other "Treehouse of Horror" episodes, contains three self-contained segments: In "Hell Toupée", Homer gets a hair transplant and is possessed by the spirit of an executed criminal; in "Terror of Tiny Toon", Bart and Lisa are trapped in a special, extremely violent episode of The Itchy & Scratchy Show; and in "Starship Poopers", Marge reveals that Maggie is the product of a one-night stand with the alien Kang.
"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 13" is the first episode of the fourteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the thirteenth Treehouse of Horror episode. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 3, 2002, three days after Halloween. It is the second Halloween episode to have a zombie related segment, and the last Halloween to have three separate writers credited for writing three stories. It is also the first Halloween episode to be titled Treehouse of Horror in the opening credits, as all prior Halloween episodes were referred to as The Simpsons Halloween Special. It is the first of these episodes not to have a Roman numeral used in its opening title.
"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.
Joseph Stewart Burns, better known as J. Stewart Burns or simply just Stewart Burns is a television writer and producer most notable for his work on The Simpsons, Futurama, and Unhappily Ever After.
Steven Dean Moore is an American animation director. His credits include 65 episodes of the animated television series The Simpsons and several episodes of the Nickelodeon series Rugrats (1991–2004). Moore was also one of four sequence directors on The Simpsons Movie (2007). He was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2002.
The seventh season of the American animated television series The Simpsons originally aired on the Fox network between September 17, 1995, and May 19, 1996. The show runners for the seventh production season were Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein who would executive produce 21 episodes this season. David Mirkin executive produced the remaining four, including two hold overs that were produced for the previous season. The season was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Animated Program and won an Annie Award for Best Animated Television Program. The DVD box set was released in Region 1 on December 13, 2005, Region 2 on January 30, 2006, and Region 4 on March 22, 2006. The set was released in two different forms: a Marge-shaped box and also a standard rectangular-shaped box in which the theme is a movie premiere.
Treehouse of Horror is a series of annual Halloween-themed anthology episodes of the animated sitcom 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 34 episodes as of 2023, each Treehouse of Horror episode is numbered in Roman numerals, one less than the respective season it is in.
"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 XXIV" is the second episode of the twenty-fifth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons and the 532nd episode of the series. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 6, 2013. The episode was written by Jeff Westbrook and directed by Rob Oliver.
"Treehouse of Horror XXV" is the fourth episode of the twenty-sixth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, the 25th episode in the Treehouse of Horror series of Halloween specials, and the 556th episode overall. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 19, 2014.
"Halloween of Horror" is the fourth episode of the twenty-seventh season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 578th episode of the series overall. The episode was directed by Mike B. Anderson and written by Carolyn Omine. It originally aired in the United States on Fox on October 18, 2015.
"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 XXVIII" is the fourth episode of the twenty-ninth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, the 28th episode in the Treehouse of Horror series of Halloween specials, and the 622nd episode of the series overall. The episode was directed by Timothy Bailey and written by John Frink. It aired in the United States on Fox on October 22, 2017.
"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 XXXIII" is the sixth episode of the thirty-fourth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 734th episode overall. It aired in the United States on Fox on November 30, 2022. The episode was directed by Rob Oliver, and written by Carolyn Omine, Ryan Koh and Matt Selman. This is the first Treehouse of Horror episode to not have an opening sequence, and instead just opens on a book of the episode before going straight into the first segment. This is also the first Treehouse of Horror since season 14's to feature a different writer for each segment. This is the first Treehouse of Horror to air closest to Halloween since 2011 without going into November.