Treehouse of Horror XXIX

Last updated
"Treehouse of Horror XXIX"
The Simpsons episode
TOHXXIXPoster.jpeg
Promotional poster
Episode no.Season 30
Episode 4
Directed by Matthew Faughnan
Written by Joel H. Cohen
Production codeXABF16
Original air dateOctober 21, 2018 (2018-10-21)
Guest appearance
Episode chronology
← Previous
"My Way or the Highway to Heaven"		Next →
"Baby You Can't Drive My Car"
The Simpsons (season 30)
List of episodes

"Treehouse of Horror XXIX" is the 643rd episode of the American animated television series The Simpsons , the fourth episode of season 30 and the twenty-ninth "Treehouse of Horror" episode. [1] The episode was directed by Matthew Faughnan and written by Joel H. Cohen. It was released on October 21, 2018.

Contents

Plot

Opening sequence

The episode starts in Fogburyport, birthplace of Green Clam Chowder. The Simpson family arrive there because a book stated it's a place to visit before they mysteriously disappear.

However, it was revealed to be a trap and that they will be devoured by Cthulhu. However, Homer states that he was promised an oyster eating contest against Cthulhu, and Homer beats him. Cthulhu pukes and asks what Homer wants as a reward. Homer whispers "I want to eat you."

Cthulhu is seen in a giant cooking pot and the Simpsons (except Lisa) enjoy a hot dog made of Cthulhu's tentacles. Homer then pokes Cthulhu's head with a trident, and his ink spells the title of the episode and the opening credits. This sequence is a reference to the novel The Shadow over Innsmouth by H. P. Lovecraft.

Intrusion of the Pod-y Switchers

The segment begins at the underwater base of Mapple, where Steve Mobbs (on a screen) tells about the new Myphone and the new unfunny version of himself to an excited audience. When everyone is on their phone, the unfunny Steve is revealed to be a plant alien on a mission. Now on the plant planet, they shoot spores to Earth (going right next to the Futurama ship with a cloth saying "BRING BACK FUTURAMA" and then getting blown up by The Orville). In Springfield, everyone turns into plant versions of themselves. The transformed citizens are transported to a utopian plant planet with no technology. The Plant People see the citizens with pods (Mapple products) and ask where they found those. Bart says they found it under the living Christmas tree.

Multiplisa-ty

After a sleepover at Milhouse's, he, Nelson, and Bart find themselves in a cell, trapped by Lisa, suffering from dissociative identity disorder (similar to James McAvoy's character from Split ), who closes them in again after they do not ask for an encore on her performance.

During a series of personality changes, Lisa attacks and kills Nelson, and transforms Milhouse into a "paper boy" before telling Bart what he did to anger her: Bart grabbed Lisa's spelling test, changing her answers, mocking Miss Hoover and granting her a F. Lisa has a last change and gives Bart a last chance to save himself and he apologizes and pledges his brotherly love for her, saving himself from being killed by trash. Returning to her normal self, Lisa confesses to Marge, admitting that the lack of affection she had received caused her to snap, and Marge admits she sympathizes with Lisa, revealing that she locked Homer in the trunk of her car for forgetting their anniversary.

Geriatric Park

In a parody of Jurassic Park , Mr. Burns opens up a Jurassic-themed retirement home, a park filled with elders rejuvenated mixing their DNA with dinosaurs. He brings Springfielders to the park, showing them the new "retirement home". At first they are all human, healthy and feeling young again, with incredible strength too. Once Homer raises the temperature after Grandpa complains about the temperature being too cold with Homer also quoting "I can't read, I'm on vacation" after seeing the warning sign, they transform into dinosaur versions of themselves.

Visitors and Mr. Burns are killed by the elders, Agnes Skinner as a Ludodactylus eats off Principal Skinner's arm, Jasper as a Dilophosaurus bites off Kirk Van Houten's head, and the Simpson family are threatened by Grandpa and Jacqueline Bouvier (turned into an Indominus rex-like theropod and a Parasaurolophus respectively). Lisa courageously confronts Grandpa and find out they all just needed to be cherished and respected. In the end, the Simpson family escape alive and unharmed, though their helicopter is being flown on the back of the transformed Agnes.

Reception

Tony Sokol of Den of Geek gave the episode 3 out of 5 points ranking, stating "Ultimately this is a disappointing Halloween installment, not horrifyingly though. We rely on The Simpsons' 'Treehouse of Horror' stories to be the high point of any season. They have consistently been immediate classics. But "XXIX" is only lukewarm. The series has been edging closer to the "clever" side of humor over the irreverently silly, and the laughs are increasingly muted. This episode hosts some of the largest creatures of the world of terror, dinosaurs and Cthulhu. It's a shame the laughs aren't bigger. [2]

Dennis Perkins of The A.V. Club gave the episode a C+ ranking, stating "It’s tempting after a dully serviceable outing like this to say it’s time to bury the ‘Treehouse of Horror’ concept as an unnecessary annual disappointment. But then you’d have to say that of the series itself, which, okay, some of you do. I’d maintain that The Simpsons’ decades-long role as pop cultural ‘not as good as it used to be’ punching bag could be reversed with some new creative blood in the form of those writers raised on The Simpsons who want nothing better than to jolt the lumbering comedy behemoth back to life. But, as the show plods on, it seems that that’s the one thing those in charge of the shambling enterprise are truly afraid of." [3]

Jesse Schedeen of IGN gave the episode a 5.6 out of 10 points ranking, stating "It almost never feels like there's enough room for the writers to really take advantage of these horror parodies. The result is a lot of easy, surface level gags. More and more I find myself wondering if the series would be better off switching to an hour-long format or, better yet, devoting the entire special to one story." [4]

“Treehouse of Horror XXIX” scored a 1.3 rating with a 6 share and was watched by 2.95 million viewers, making “The Simpsons” Fox’s highest rated show of the night. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treehouse of Horror V</span> 6th episode of the 6th season of The Simpsons

"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 the Fox network in the United States on October 30, 1994, and features three short stories: "The Shinning", "Time and Punishment", and "Nightmare Cafeteria".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treehouse of Horror IX</span> 4th episode of the 10th season of The Simpsons

"Treehouse of Horror IX" is the fourth episode of the tenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treehouse of Horror XIV</span> 1st episode of the 15th season of The Simpsons

"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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treehouse of Horror XVI</span> 4th episode of the 17th season of The Simpsons

"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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treehouse of Horror XIX</span> 4th episode of the 20th season of The Simpsons

"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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treehouse of Horror XXI</span> 4th episode of the 22nd season of The Simpsons

"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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treehouse of Horror XXIV</span> 2nd episode of the 25th season of The Simpsons

"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.

"Days of Future Future" is the eighteenth episode of the twenty-fifth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons and the 548th episode of the series. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 13, 2014. It was written by J. Stewart Burns and directed by Bob Anderson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treehouse of Horror XXVI</span> 5th episode of the 27th season of The Simpsons

"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.

"Simprovised" is the twenty-first episode of the twenty-seventh season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 595th episode of the series overall. The episode was directed by Matthew Nastuk and written by John Frink. It aired in the United States on Fox on May 15, 2016, and includes a three-minute live-animated segment in which viewers were able to ask Homer Simpson questions.

"Orange Is the New Yellow" is the twenty-second and final episode of the twenty-seventh season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 596th episode of the series overall. The episode was directed by Matthew Faughnan and written by Eric Horsted. It aired in the United States on Fox on May 22, 2016. The title is a spoof of the book and the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treehouse of Horror XXVII</span> 4th episode of the 28th season of The Simpsons

"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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treehouse of Horror XXVIII</span> 4th episode of the 29th season of The Simpsons

"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.

"Flanders' Ladder" is the twenty-first and final episode of the twenty-ninth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 639th episode of the series overall. The episode was directed by Matthew Nastuk and written by J. Stewart Burns. It aired in the United States on Fox on May 20, 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treehouse of Horror XXX</span> 4th episode of the 31st season of The Simpsons

"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. 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thanksgiving of Horror</span> 8th episode of the 31st season of The Simpsons

"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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treehouse of Horror XXXII</span> 3rd episode of the 33rd season of The Simpsons

"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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treehouse of Horror XXXIII</span> 6th episode of the 34th season of The Simpsons

"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 October 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.

References

  1. ↑ Pedersen, Erik (July 21, 2018). "'The Simpsons Treehouse Of Horror XXIX' Trailer: Spores? We Wanted S'mores! – Comic-Con". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved October 21, 2018.
  2. ↑ Sokol, Tony (October 22, 2018). "The Simpsons Season 30 Episode 4 Review: Treehouse Of Horror XXIX". Den of Geek . Retrieved January 8, 2019.
  3. ↑ Perkins, Dennis (October 21, 2018). ""Treehouse Of Horror XXIX" sees The Simpsons ladle out some tepid horrors". The A.V. Club . Retrieved October 22, 2018.
  4. ↑ Schedeen, Jesse (October 21, 2018). "The Simpsons: "Treehouse of Horror XXIX" Review". IGN . Retrieved October 24, 2018.
  5. ↑ Welch, Alex (October 23, 2018). "'The Simpsons' and 'Bob's Burgers' adjust up, 'Madam Secretary' and 'Alec Baldwin Show' adjust down: Sunday final ratings". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on October 23, 2018. Retrieved October 23, 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.