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Difference between revisions of "Treehouse of Horror V"

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|couchgag= Each member of the family enters with disfigured bodies.
 
|couchgag= Each member of the family enters with disfigured bodies.
 
|guests= [[James Earl Jones]] as [[Maggie Simpson|Alternate universe Maggie]]
 
|guests= [[James Earl Jones]] as [[Maggie Simpson|Alternate universe Maggie]]
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|showrunner=[[David Mirkin]]
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|showrunner1= David Mirkin
 
|writer= [[Greg Daniels]]<br>[[Dan McGrath]]<br>[[David S. Cohen]]<br>[[Bob Kushell]]
 
|writer= [[Greg Daniels]]<br>[[Dan McGrath]]<br>[[David S. Cohen]]<br>[[Bob Kushell]]
 
|director= [[Jim Reardon]]
 
|director= [[Jim Reardon]]
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== Synopsis ==
 
== Synopsis ==
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{{Desc|Treehouse of Horror V is an [[anthology episode]] that features mini-stories. "The Shinning" is a parody of ''{{W2|The Shining|film}}'' where the Simpsons become the winter caretakers of [[Charles Montgomery Burns|Mr. Burns']] mountain lodge and [[Homer Simpson|Homer]] goes insane and tries to murder the family. In "Time and Punishment", Homer repeatedly travels back in time and alters the future. He tries to change things back, but fails and settles for a reality close to his own. In "Nightmare Cafeteria", [[Seymour Skinner|Principal Skinner]] begins using detention students as cafeteria food. When [[Bart Simpson|Bart]] and [[Lisa Simpson|Lisa]] are about to be slaughtered, Bart wakes up and realizes it is a dream. But immediately afterward, in the closing sequence, he and the family are attacked by fog that turns people inside out.}}
+
{{Desc|In the fifth annual Halloween special, the Simpsons become the caretakers of [[Shinning Hotel|a hotel]] owned by [[Mr. Burns]], [[Homer]] accidentally creates a time-traveling toaster, and the teachers at [[Springfield Elementary School]] start slaughtering children to eat them.}}
  
 
== Plot ==
 
== Plot ==
−
=== Act I: "The Shinning" ===
+
=== Opening sequence ===
 +
[[Marge]] gives a warning about the episode and says that they're not allowed to air it. Instead, they air a clip from the movie ''[[200 Miles to Oregon]]''. The clip is cut off by [[Bart]]'s voice who starts to give an ominous message. [[Homer]] cuts in and ruins the mood. Bart then introduces The Simpsons Halloween Special. The camera pans through the [[Springfield Cemetery]], showing [[Moe]] getting hanged, [[Patty]] and [[Selma]] being burned as witches, and several adults having their heads cut off by [[Bart]].
 +
 
 +
=== The Shinning ===
 
[[File:The Shinning - Title Card.png|thumb|left]]
 
[[File:The Shinning - Title Card.png|thumb|left]]
−
In a parody of the Stanley Kubrick 1980 horror classic ''The Shining, ''the family gets invited to [[Mr. Burns]]' summer cottage to look after it while he goes away. On the way, Homer is forced to drive all the way back home to lock the front door to the house. And on the second drive, he is again forced to turn around to go and lock the back door to the house. On the third drive, Lisa points out that they left Grampa behind—Homer does not comply and keeps driving. Upon arriving, Mr. Burns takes them on a tour of the house.
+
On Tuesday, the [[Simpson family]] drives to [[Shinning Hotel|a hotel]] owned by [[Mr. Burns]] to become the caretakers of it. Marge asks Homer if he remembered to lock the front door, so they drive back to do that. On Wednesday, they almost make it again, but then have to drive back to lock the back door. On Thursday, [[Lisa]] points out that they left [[Grampa]] at the gas station, but they carry on regardless. They finally arrive and Mr. Burns shows them around the hotel. At the hedge maze, [[Bart]] cuts through it with a chainsaw, angering [[Groundskeeper Willie]]. When Bart reads Willie's mind, Willie tells Bart that he has "the shinning", which he can use to contact Willie if Homer goes crazy.
−
He tells them the long, colorful history of the house. It was built on an ancient Indian Burial Ground (like the Overlook Hotel in ''The Shining''), and was the setting of Satanic rituals, witch burnings, and five John Denver Christmas specials. An elevator opens up and blood spills out all over the entire floor (like in The Shining), prompting Mr. Burns to say "Hmm, that's odd. Usually, the blood gets off at the second floor". While outside, Bart cuts a shortcut in the hedgemaze with a hedgetrimmer, and annoys [[Groundskeeper Willie|Willie]] and reads his thoughts. Willie tells him that he has ''the shinning'' and says he should use it to call him if his dad starts to go loopy. Mr. Burns and [[Smithers]] cut the power cable and take all the beer away. Smithers comments that this may have been the cause of the previous caretakers to go insane and kill their families, but Mr. Burns simply bets that he owes Smithers a Coke if it happens this time again.
 
−
[[File:No TV and No Beer Make Homer Go Crazy (The Shinning).png|thumb|right|[[Marge]] learns of [[Homer]]'s descent into madness.]]
 
−
The absence of television and beer causes Homer to go insane. He tries to occupy himself, telling the family that he might "go check out that axe collection", causing Lisa to ask Marge if he's gonna kill them, she replies",I don't know. We're just gonna have to wait and see". Homer goes to the bar where [[Moe]], as a ghost, tells him he'll give him a beer if he murders his family. Homer is at first uncontent at murdering his family and questions Moe, who replies that they'd be much happier as ghosts. Homer points out that Moe doesn't look so happy, and he dishonestly replies that he is very happy",La-la, la-la, la-la-la, see? Now waste your family and I'll give you a beer!" Marge goes downstairs to check on him, and discovers a typewriter with paper in it ("What he's typed will be a window into his madness".). Marge reads it (" 'Feelin' fine'. Whew, that's a relief".), and then lightning lights up the room to reveal that Homer has written "No TV and no beer make Homer go crazy" all over the lounge. Homer then bursts through a door and tries to attack Marge. She defends herself with a bat as he chases her up the stairs. Homer falls down the stairs after seeing his reflection in a mirror and Marge locks him in the dry food cellar.  
 
  
−
Homer is unwillingly released by Moe and a band of demons (including Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Dracula, the Mummy, the Wolfman, and Pinhead). While the family is eating dinner, Homer chops down a door with an axe ("Heeeere's Johnny!"), but the room was empty. He chops into another room ("Daaavid Letterman!"), but it was just Grandpa. And then into the right room with a stopwatch in his hand ("I'm Mike Wallace, I'm Marley Safer, and I'm Ed Bradley! All this and Andy Rooney tonight on ''60 Minutes''!"), the family flees to escape the rampaging Homer. After Marge contacts the police (the crooked cop, Chief Wiggum) to no avail, Bart uses his ''shinning'' to call Willie to help. Willie immediately comes to their aid, only to get an axe in the back by Homer. Homer picks up a different axe from the collection hanging on the wall and chases the family outside into the snow and is ready to kill them until Lisa finds Willie's mini-TV in the snow. Homer immediately drops the axe to watch Kent Brockmen on Channel 6 News. The return of television brings back his sanity. He calls his family to sit in the snow with him to "bask in television's warm, glowing, warming glow" and they freeze while watching. However, Bart tells Homer to change the channel when the announcer informs them that the upcoming programming will be ''The Tony Awards'', hosted by Tyne Daly and Hal Linden, Homer replies, "Can't. Frozen,". As a theme plays, they all scream in terror, and Homer says, "Urge to kill rising."
+
Back at the hotel, Mr. Burns gets [[Smithers]] to cut the cable and take all the beer from the lodge. Homer acts calmly about this at first, but then quickly begins to go crazy. He goes to the bar and speaks to [[Moe]], who's a ghost. He tells Homer that he has to kill his family to get a beer from him. Homer snaps and writes "no beer and no TV make Homer go crazy" over the walls before he tries to goad Marge into hitting him with a baseball bat. Homer scares himself when he looks in a mirror and falls down the stairs, knocking himself out. Marge then locks him in the pantry and she and the kids carry on as normal. Moe and his group of ghouls drag Homer out and tell him to kill his family.
  
−
=== Act II: "Time and Punishment" ===
+
After axing down two wrong doors, Homer finally finds his family and chases them around the hotel. Marge tries to contact [[Chief Wiggum]] for help over the radio, but he assumes that it's over when Marge ends the transmission with "over". Bart then decides to contact Willie for help using his "shinning". When Willie gets the call, he runs to help, dropping his portable television in the snow outside. As he gets inside, Homer axes him in the back, killing Willie. The family then escape out of the hotel and into the snow. Lisa grabs the portable television that Willie dropped and shows it to Homer, getting him to stop his murderous rampage. The family all gathers around Homer to watch the television until they freeze. When the Tony Awards come on the television, the family is horrified that they can't change the channel because they are frozen.
−
[[File:Time and Punishment - Title Card.png|thumb|left]]
 
−
Homer is sitting down at the table, eating breakfast with the family, commenting that despite his troubles, he feels that he is a really lucky guy sitting down with them in their cozy home in this beautiful free country. Lisa destroys the mood by screaming, "Dad! Your hand is jammed in the toaster!" Homer panics and runs aroung frantically trying to get it off. He succeeds and throws it across the room, he sighs heavily in relief, and slumps down against the fridge. Bart cries, "Dad, it's in there again!" causing another panic to get it off. Homer attempts to fix it using the tools in the basement. The next morning, he takes it for a test-toast. The modifications to the toaster turn it into a time machine, and Homer is sucked into the time-space continuim. Homer states he's the first non-Brazilian person to travel back in time, but then he meets up with Sherman and Mr. Peabody from ''The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show'', and they both correct him on being the second. Homer travels back to the time of the dinosaurs, and realizes that touching anything will impact the future.  
 
  
−
When he accidentally kills a mosquito, he returns to find that [[Ned Flanders|Flanders]] is the unquestioned lord and master of the world. After escaping his "Re-Neducation" (a process that includes a glass of warm milk, a lie down, and a total frontal lobotomy), he goes back to the time of the dinosaurs in hopes to change the future, and ends up accidentally sitting on a fish ("Oh, I wish, I wish I hadn't killed that fish".). He returns only to find that Bart and Lisa are giants that mistake him for a bug that "looks a lot like Dad", they then try to smash him.
+
=== Time and Punishment ===
−
[[File:Homer Gets "Reneducated" - Time and Punishment.png|thumb|right|"What the hell are ''YOU'' smilin' at?"]]
+
[[File:Time and Punishment - Title Card.png|thumb|right]]
−
His third attempt to change the past succeeds in him wiping out all the dinosaurs by sneezing on a T-Rex, who in turn sneezes on another dinosaur, which also sneezes on another dinosaur and so on, and they all drop dead. Before returning to the future, Homer says grimly",This is gonna cost me". He returns to the future in the basement. He goes upstairs to see a large, fancy kitchen, he scans the room to see his family, who are all dressed elegantly. Homer, at first oblivious, cries, "D'oh! I mean, hey". Bart presents him with the morning paper, addressing him as "Father, dear". and Lisa asks if they're taking the new Lexus to Patty and Selma's funeral. Homer counts out the perfections in his life, exclaiming, "Whoo-hoo! I hit the jackpot!" As he sits down, he asks Marge, very kindly, to pass him a donut. Marge replies",What's a donut?" Homer screams uncontrollably and runs back to the basement and the sound of the time machine zapping is heard. After he is gone, donuts begin to fall from the sky and Marge says, "It's raining again", implying that the rain in this universe is donuts.
+
At breakfast, Homer manages to get his hand stuck in the toaster. After finally getting it free, he gets it stuck once more. After freeing it the second time, Homer tries to repair the toaster, rather than buy a new one. When he takes it for a test toast, it takes him back in time to the age of the dinosaurs. Homer remembers advice that his father gave him, not to step on anything. Homer kills a bug and then goes back to the future to find that it's different. [[Ned Flanders]] rules the world and brings in the Simpsons for "re-Neducation" when Homer insults Flanders. They're taken to the [[Re-Neducation Center]] where they go through various brainwashing procedures. When Homer finds that they're going to have a lobotomy, he runs back to the house and uses the toaster again.
  
−
Homer returns to his basement to discover Groundskeeper Willie in his kitchen. Willie says, "You're still not in your own world, Homer. I can get you home, but you have to do exactly as I--[screams]" he fall to the floor, showing that Maggie has killed him with an axe. Maggie takes out her pacifier and says in [[James Earl Jones]]'s voice, "This is indeed a disturbing universe". Homer returns to the dinosaur era. Holding a club, he yells, "Don't touch anything? I'll touch whatever I feel like!" and destroys anything in the past that he can before returning to the future. The family's house in the future ends up changing multiple times. First it changes to an igloo, then to a caveman house, then to a McDonald's, then to an underwater house, then to a giant shoe, then to Sphinx with Bart's head, where Kang and Kodos make their brief appearance, watching from their spaceship. Kang comments that Homer is totally unprepared for the effects of time travel, they both laugh at Homer's suffering. Homer finally stops and returns to the present. He returns to the kitchen and asks Marge several questions: his name, the color of the sky, and what of donuts. Marge answers them all accurately. Homer, now satisfied, sits down to eat with the family. Everything appears to not be what it seems when the family start eating a breakfast with lizard tongues. Homer decides it is close enough.
+
This time, Homer accidentally sits on a fish. When he gets back to the future, he finds that the rest of the family are giant. The next time he goes back in time, he sneezes, causing the deaths of every living creature. When he returns to the present time, he finds that the family are rich, have a nice house, and [[Patty]] and [[Selma]] are dead. However, when he finds that donuts don't exist in this world, he goes back in time once again. As he does, it starts to rain donuts outside. The next time he goes to the present, he finds Willie, who starts to tell Homer how he can get back to his own world. [[Maggie]] then axes Willie in the back, killing him, and says that it is a disturbing universe. The next time Homer goes to the past, he started to destroy everything, causing the universe to keep changing when he returns. Eventually, Homer finds that the family is mostly normal, except they have very long tongues. Homer decides that it's close enough and just eats his food.
  
−
=== Act III: "Nightmare Cafeteria" ===
+
=== Nightmare Cafeteria ===
 
[[File:Nightmare Cafeteria - Title Card.png|thumb|left]]
 
[[File:Nightmare Cafeteria - Title Card.png|thumb|left]]
−
At the start of a school day, before [[Mrs. Krabappel]] gets to the classroom, the students are taking the opportunity for some horseplay. [[Bart]] suggests that they face their desks backward before Mrs. Krabappel arrives, and his classmates all support the idea. But when Mrs. Krabappel arrives, only Bart's desk is facing backward. He is then sent to detention for being disobedient. A disgruntled Bart then heads to the Detention Room. [[Principal Skinner]] intercepts him and tells him he needs to spend his detention in the lunchroom, as the Detention Room is dangerously overcrowded. In the lunchroom, Principal Skinner bemoans the state of the Detention Room and [[Lunchlady Dora]] complains that because of [[Springfield Elementary School|Springfield Elementary]]'s budget cuts, she is forced to serve [[Grade F Meat]]. They agree that it would be nice if there was a common solution to both of their problems. As Lunchlady Dora passes by [[Jimbo Jones]], he trips her and accidentally spills green stew on himself. Skinner begins to threaten Jimbo, but then samples the spilled stew, finds it tasty, and gets an idea: he orders Jimbo to assist Lunchlady Dora. In the kitchen, Jimbo is heard cleaning a giant pot and complaining about meat tenderizer being spilled on him; the pot's lid is then closed on him. Later, the school's faculty are all eating hamburgers in the Teacher's Lounge. The teachers enjoy the burgers, and Mrs. Krabappel asks where the food came from. Skinner indirectly tells the staff that Jimbo was ground into hamburger meat and served for lunch. Mrs. Krabappel is at first shocked, but then lets out a "HA!".
+
At [[Springfield Elementary School]], the class is playing around. Bart then decides that the class should all turns their desks backwards as a prank. However, only Bart does this, causing him to get detention. Since the detention room is full, Bart is sent to the cafeteria instead. When [[Jimbo]] trips up [[Lunchlady Doris]] and a pot of sauce, he gets covered in it. [[Principal Skinner]] tastes Jimbo and finds him delicious, so he sends Jimbo to help Lunchlady Doris in the kitchen. Jimbo is then cooked and turned into burgers, which the staff find delicious. The next day, [[Üter]] cuts in line to get more food. He is then sent to detention and also turned into food, which is served the next day. [[Lisa]] finds it weird that kids are disappearing and then food named after them is being served. She and Bart go to Marge and ask for help. However, Marge refuses to help, saying that they are old enough to fight their own battles.
−
[[File:Nightmare Cafeteria (Cannibalistic Teachers).png|thumb|right|Springfield Elementary's staff become cannibalistic murderers.]]
 
−
Back in the cafeteria, the students are served "Sloppy Jimbos" and Bart notices that Jimbo himself is nowhere to be seen. [[Üter]], fond of the Sloppy Jimbos, cuts in line for another one. Principal Skinner walks up to Üter and tells him that eating a lot of Sloppy Jimbos is causing him to become fat, soft, and tender, and then sends him to detention for cutting in line. The school later has an "Oktoberfest" event, and [[Lisa]] comments to Bart that it's odd that Üter has disappeared and the school is suddenly serving a new dish called "Üterbraten". Skinner overhears her statement and tries to reassure her and Bart, but accidentally reveals that Üter has been killed and served as lunch. Bart and Lisa, panic-stricken, run home and tell [[Marge]] that students are being cooked in the school cafeteria. She tells them she cannot always fight their battles and instructs them to head back to school and face the issue themselves. Bart and Lisa reluctantly return to school. Mrs. Krabappel, now grotesquely obese from eating so many students, tells her class, consisting only of [[Wendell]], [[Ralph]], [[Milhouse]], Bart, and Lisa, that the classes have all been merged into a single one, because so many students are in "permanent detention". Wendell quivers and accidentally drops his pencil, and Mrs. Krabappel gleefully sends him to detention. She then reads a book called ''[[The Joy of Cooking Milhouse]]''. Milhouse, shocked, notices the book. He then suggests to Bart and Lisa that they should escape, because one of them will be murdered next.
 
  
−
The trio then sneak out of the classroom and into the hallway. Bart peeks inside of the Detention Room and notices students are either locked in small cages or walking free-range in the playground. Bart, Lisa, and Milhouse are then caught out by Lunchlady Dora, who approaches them with a spinning eggbeater. [[Groundskeeper Willie]] then appears in the hallway, saying that he will rescue them, but is quickly hit in the back with an axe by Principal Skinner. Skinner, [[Ms. Hoover]], Mrs. Krabappel, and Lunchlady Dora then herd the three students into a room with a wooden ledge above a giant food processor. Skinner turns it on and pulls its lever to the "Gooify" setting. At the end of the ledge, Bart tells Lisa and Milhouse that something will save them. Milhouse then trips and falls into the food processor. Bart confidently states that something will save him and Lisa, but the teachers close in and Bart and Lisa simultaneously fall into the food processor, screaming.
+
Soon, only a handful of students are left and are merged into one class. Bart, Lisa, and [[Milhouse]] decide to escape the classroom, but are then chased by the school's staff. As Willie tries to rescue them, he is axed in the back by Skinner, killing him. The kids end up in the blender room where Milhouse falls in. as Bart and Lisa talk about how something will save them, they also fall into the blender.
  
−
=== Epilogue ===
+
=== Closing sequence ===
−
[[Bart]] screams and wakes up to find out it was all a dream. [[Marge]] reassures him that there's nothing to worry about except the mysterious fog that turns people inside out. The fog then seeps in through the window and does just that. The family and [[Willie]] all begin to do a musical number (to the tune of "One" from ''{{W|A Chorus Line}}'') about being turned inside out. At the end, [[Santa's Little Helper]] drags Bart offstage by his intestines.
+
Bart screams and wakes up to find out it was all a dream. Marge reassures him that there's nothing to worry about except the mysterious fog that turns people inside out. The fog then seeps in through the window and does just that. The family and Willie all begin to do a musical number (to the tune of "[[One]]" from ''{{W|A Chorus Line}}'') about being turned inside out. At the end, [[Santa's Little Helper]] drags Bart offstage by his intestines.
  
 
== Production ==
 
== Production ==
−
The episode premiered on October 30, 1994, and was directed by [[Jim Reardon]]. The writers were [[Greg Daniels]], [[Dan McGrath]], [[David Cohen]] and [[Bob Kushell]]. [[James Earl Jones]] guest-stars as the voice of an alternate universe [[Maggie]], in his second appearance in a Simpsons Halloween episode.
+
Showrunner [[David Mirkin]] calls the episode the "most intense, disturbing Halloween show" that ''The Simpsons'' has done. The black and white live action footage for ''[[200 Miles to Oregon]]'' was inserted as there was concern from the network executives that the show would be too much to air and they wanted to censor it. Mirkin is heavily against censorship so he added the gag in as a response.<ref name="Mirkin">{{Com|Mirkin, David|Treehouse of Horror V|Sixth|(2005).|link=David Mirkin}}</ref>
 +
 
 +
The tombstone that says "Amusing Tombstones" on was added in because the writers had gotten tired of coming up with actual humorous tombstone messages.<ref name="Cohen">{{Com|Cohen, David X.|Treehouse of Horror V|Sixth|(2005).|link=David X. Cohen}}</ref>
 +
 
 +
[[Matt Groening]] originally pitched that the way Homer traveled in time was by jamming his hand in the toaster. However, the other producers rejected the idea as it was "too ridiculous". Groening was also confused by Homer saying that he was the "first non-Brazilian person to travel backwards through time" as he didn't understand it.<ref name="Groening">{{Com|Groening, Matt|Treehouse of Horror V|Sixth|(2005).|link=Matt Groening}}</ref> The original line was "first non-fictional person".<ref name="Cohen"/>
  
−
[[David Mirkin]] deliberately placed more graphic violence in the episode due to complaints about excessive violence in the show. The episode features a recurring joke in every story where [[Groundskeeper Willie]] is struck in the back with an axe when trying to help someone.
+
When the Simpson house rapidly changes, one of the original designs was a house made entirely out of squirrels. Background designer [[Lance Wilder]] actually drew the house. However, it got cut. Due to the art taking him a day and a half to draw, he started to use it as a Christmas card design.<ref name="Reardon">{{Com|Reardon, Jim|Treehouse of Horror V|Sixth|(2005).|link=Jim Reardon}}</ref>
 +
 
 +
An earlier draft of the script had Homer finding out that he had another son called Roy one of the realities.<ref name="Daniels">{{Com|Daniels, Greg|Treehouse of Horror V|Sixth|(2005).|link=Greg Daniels}}</ref> This idea was later used for "[[The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show]]" instead, where Roy was a lodger instead of another son.<ref name="Cohen"/> This idea came around because someone outside of the show had suggested they add in a new character to the family.<ref name="Groening"/>
 +
 
 +
A cut scene from the "Nightmare Cafeteria" segment had [[Sherri]] and [[Terri]] being cooked and eaten as "Terriaki steak with Sherri sauce". The scene where Bart and Lisa go to Marge was to originally have Homer in as well. Homer told the kids about writing a book of recipes on cooking Milhouse.<ref name="Cohen"/>
 +
 
 +
The inside out scene was inspired by an episode of ''{{W2|Lights Out|radio show}}'' called "The Dark", where gas seeped into homes and turned people inside out. This scared David Mirkin as a child so he wrote it into the episode. The dance number was then written in to end the show on a lighter note.<ref name="Mirkin"/>
 +
 
 +
<gallery>
 +
File:Treehouse of Horror V squirrel house 1.jpg|Production art of the "squirrel house"
 +
File:Treehouse of Horror V squirrel house 2.jpg|Finished version of the "squirrel house"
 +
</gallery>
 +
 
 +
== Reception ==
 +
In [[2003]], ''{{W|Entertainment Weekly}}'' named "Treehouse of Horror V" the ninth best episode of the show.<ref>[https://ew.com/article/2003/02/02/best-simpsons-episodes-nos-6-10/ Entertainment Weekly - "The best ''Simpsons'' episodes, Nos. 6-10"]</ref> In [[2010]], {{W|IGN}} called the episode the best episode of season 6 and called it "funniest Treehouse of Horror to date".<ref>[https://www.ign.com/articles/2010/01/08/the-simpsons-20-seasons-20-episodes IGN - "The Simpsons: 20 Seasons, 20 Episodes"]</ref> In [[2019]], ''{{W|Screen Rant}}'' ranked the episode 4th in their best episodes of every season listing and says that many fans "considered the very best Halloween episode".<ref>[https://screenrant.com/the-simpsons-best-episodes-ranked/ Screen Rant - "Treehouse of Horror V"]</ref> Also in 2019, ''{{W2|Time|magazine}}'' ranked the episode 3rd in a ranking by ''Simpsons'' experts.<ref>[https://time.com/5743465/best-simpsons-episodes/ Time - "We Asked Experts for 10 of Their Most Memorable Simpsons Episodes of All Time"]</ref>
 +
 
 +
Composer [[Alf Clausen]] was nominated for a {{W|Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series}} in the {{W|47th Primetime Emmy Awards}} for "Treehouse of Horror II". However, it lost to "{{W2|Daggers|seaQuest DSV}}" from ''{{W|seaQuest DSV}}''.<ref>[https://www.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners/1995/outstanding-music-composition-for-a-series-original-dramatic-score Television Academy - "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore) – 1995"]</ref>
 +
 
 +
As of September [[2022]], the episode has a 9.2 rating on {{W|IMDb}}.<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0701281/ IMDb - "Treehouse of Horror V"]</ref>
  
 
== Gallery ==
 
== Gallery ==
 
<gallery>
 
<gallery>
−
File:Treehouse of Horror V promo.jpg|Promotional image
+
File:Treehouse of Horror V poster.png|Poster for "Time and Punishment"
 
</gallery>
 
</gallery>
 +
 +
== References ==
 +
{{Reflist}}
  
 
{{Images|ep=yes}}
 
{{Images|ep=yes}}
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[[Category:Treehouse of Horror]]
 
[[Category:Treehouse of Horror]]
 
[[Category:Anthology episodes]]
 
[[Category:Anthology episodes]]
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[[Category:Music Composition Emmy nominated episodes]]
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[[Category:Primetime Emmy Award nominated episodes]]
 
[[Category:TV-14 Episodes]]
 
[[Category:TV-14 Episodes]]
 
[[Category:Episodes written by Greg Daniels]]
 
[[Category:Episodes written by Greg Daniels]]

Latest revision as of 12:22, April 14, 2024

Season 6 Episode
← 108 "Sideshow Bob Roberts"
109
"Treehouse of Horror V"
"Bart's Girlfriend" 110 →
← IV "Treehouse of Horror IV"
V
"Treehouse of Horror V"
"Treehouse of Horror VI" VI →
Treehouse of Horror Episode


Donut Homer.png This THOH is considered non-canon and the events featured do not relate to the series and therefore may not have actually happened/existed.

The reason behind this decision is: The episode is part of the Treehouse of Horror series.

If you dispute this, please bring it up on the episode's talk page.

"For the next half-hour, we will control what you see and hear. You are about to experience the terror and foul horror of... The Simpsons Halloween Special."
―Bart
"Treehouse of Horror V"
Treehouse of horror v title.png
Episode Information
Episode number: 109
Season number: S6 E6
Production code: 2F03
Original airdate: October 30, 1994
Couch gag: Each member of the family enters with disfigured bodies.
Guest star(s): James Earl Jones as Alternate universe Maggie
Showrunner: David Mirkin
Written by: Greg Daniels
Dan McGrath
David S. Cohen
Bob Kushell
Directed by: Jim Reardon
DVD features


"Treehouse of Horror V" is the sixth episode of season 6 of The Simpsons and the one-hundred and ninth episode overall. It is also the fifth installment in the Treehouse of Horror series and consists of three parts. It originally aired on October 30, 1994. The episode was written by Greg Daniels, Dan McGrath, David S. Cohen and Bob Kushell and directed by Jim Reardon. It guest stars James Earl Jones as alternate universe Maggie.

Synopsis[edit]

"In the fifth annual Halloween special, the Simpsons become the caretakers of a hotel owned by Mr. Burns, Homer accidentally creates a time-traveling toaster, and the teachers at Springfield Elementary School start slaughtering children to eat them."


Plot[edit]

Opening sequence[edit]

Marge gives a warning about the episode and says that they're not allowed to air it. Instead, they air a clip from the movie 200 Miles to Oregon. The clip is cut off by Bart's voice who starts to give an ominous message. Homer cuts in and ruins the mood. Bart then introduces The Simpsons Halloween Special. The camera pans through the Springfield Cemetery, showing Moe getting hanged, Patty and Selma being burned as witches, and several adults having their heads cut off by Bart.

The Shinning[edit]

The Shinning - Title Card.png

On Tuesday, the Simpson family drives to a hotel owned by Mr. Burns to become the caretakers of it. Marge asks Homer if he remembered to lock the front door, so they drive back to do that. On Wednesday, they almost make it again, but then have to drive back to lock the back door. On Thursday, Lisa points out that they left Grampa at the gas station, but they carry on regardless. They finally arrive and Mr. Burns shows them around the hotel. At the hedge maze, Bart cuts through it with a chainsaw, angering Groundskeeper Willie. When Bart reads Willie's mind, Willie tells Bart that he has "the shinning", which he can use to contact Willie if Homer goes crazy.

Back at the hotel, Mr. Burns gets Smithers to cut the cable and take all the beer from the lodge. Homer acts calmly about this at first, but then quickly begins to go crazy. He goes to the bar and speaks to Moe, who's a ghost. He tells Homer that he has to kill his family to get a beer from him. Homer snaps and writes "no beer and no TV make Homer go crazy" over the walls before he tries to goad Marge into hitting him with a baseball bat. Homer scares himself when he looks in a mirror and falls down the stairs, knocking himself out. Marge then locks him in the pantry and she and the kids carry on as normal. Moe and his group of ghouls drag Homer out and tell him to kill his family.

After axing down two wrong doors, Homer finally finds his family and chases them around the hotel. Marge tries to contact Chief Wiggum for help over the radio, but he assumes that it's over when Marge ends the transmission with "over". Bart then decides to contact Willie for help using his "shinning". When Willie gets the call, he runs to help, dropping his portable television in the snow outside. As he gets inside, Homer axes him in the back, killing Willie. The family then escape out of the hotel and into the snow. Lisa grabs the portable television that Willie dropped and shows it to Homer, getting him to stop his murderous rampage. The family all gathers around Homer to watch the television until they freeze. When the Tony Awards come on the television, the family is horrified that they can't change the channel because they are frozen.

Time and Punishment[edit]

Time and Punishment - Title Card.png

At breakfast, Homer manages to get his hand stuck in the toaster. After finally getting it free, he gets it stuck once more. After freeing it the second time, Homer tries to repair the toaster, rather than buy a new one. When he takes it for a test toast, it takes him back in time to the age of the dinosaurs. Homer remembers advice that his father gave him, not to step on anything. Homer kills a bug and then goes back to the future to find that it's different. Ned Flanders rules the world and brings in the Simpsons for "re-Neducation" when Homer insults Flanders. They're taken to the Re-Neducation Center where they go through various brainwashing procedures. When Homer finds that they're going to have a lobotomy, he runs back to the house and uses the toaster again.

This time, Homer accidentally sits on a fish. When he gets back to the future, he finds that the rest of the family are giant. The next time he goes back in time, he sneezes, causing the deaths of every living creature. When he returns to the present time, he finds that the family are rich, have a nice house, and Patty and Selma are dead. However, when he finds that donuts don't exist in this world, he goes back in time once again. As he does, it starts to rain donuts outside. The next time he goes to the present, he finds Willie, who starts to tell Homer how he can get back to his own world. Maggie then axes Willie in the back, killing him, and says that it is a disturbing universe. The next time Homer goes to the past, he started to destroy everything, causing the universe to keep changing when he returns. Eventually, Homer finds that the family is mostly normal, except they have very long tongues. Homer decides that it's close enough and just eats his food.

Nightmare Cafeteria[edit]

Nightmare Cafeteria - Title Card.png

At Springfield Elementary School, the class is playing around. Bart then decides that the class should all turns their desks backwards as a prank. However, only Bart does this, causing him to get detention. Since the detention room is full, Bart is sent to the cafeteria instead. When Jimbo trips up Lunchlady Doris and a pot of sauce, he gets covered in it. Principal Skinner tastes Jimbo and finds him delicious, so he sends Jimbo to help Lunchlady Doris in the kitchen. Jimbo is then cooked and turned into burgers, which the staff find delicious. The next day, Üter cuts in line to get more food. He is then sent to detention and also turned into food, which is served the next day. Lisa finds it weird that kids are disappearing and then food named after them is being served. She and Bart go to Marge and ask for help. However, Marge refuses to help, saying that they are old enough to fight their own battles.

Soon, only a handful of students are left and are merged into one class. Bart, Lisa, and Milhouse decide to escape the classroom, but are then chased by the school's staff. As Willie tries to rescue them, he is axed in the back by Skinner, killing him. The kids end up in the blender room where Milhouse falls in. as Bart and Lisa talk about how something will save them, they also fall into the blender.

Closing sequence[edit]

Bart screams and wakes up to find out it was all a dream. Marge reassures him that there's nothing to worry about except the mysterious fog that turns people inside out. The fog then seeps in through the window and does just that. The family and Willie all begin to do a musical number (to the tune of "One" from A Chorus Line) about being turned inside out. At the end, Santa's Little Helper drags Bart offstage by his intestines.

Production[edit]

Showrunner David Mirkin calls the episode the "most intense, disturbing Halloween show" that The Simpsons has done. The black and white live action footage for 200 Miles to Oregon was inserted as there was concern from the network executives that the show would be too much to air and they wanted to censor it. Mirkin is heavily against censorship so he added the gag in as a response.[1]

The tombstone that says "Amusing Tombstones" on was added in because the writers had gotten tired of coming up with actual humorous tombstone messages.[2]

Matt Groening originally pitched that the way Homer traveled in time was by jamming his hand in the toaster. However, the other producers rejected the idea as it was "too ridiculous". Groening was also confused by Homer saying that he was the "first non-Brazilian person to travel backwards through time" as he didn't understand it.[3] The original line was "first non-fictional person".[2]

When the Simpson house rapidly changes, one of the original designs was a house made entirely out of squirrels. Background designer Lance Wilder actually drew the house. However, it got cut. Due to the art taking him a day and a half to draw, he started to use it as a Christmas card design.[4]

An earlier draft of the script had Homer finding out that he had another son called Roy one of the realities.[5] This idea was later used for "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show" instead, where Roy was a lodger instead of another son.[2] This idea came around because someone outside of the show had suggested they add in a new character to the family.[3]

A cut scene from the "Nightmare Cafeteria" segment had Sherri and Terri being cooked and eaten as "Terriaki steak with Sherri sauce". The scene where Bart and Lisa go to Marge was to originally have Homer in as well. Homer told the kids about writing a book of recipes on cooking Milhouse.[2]

The inside out scene was inspired by an episode of Lights Out called "The Dark", where gas seeped into homes and turned people inside out. This scared David Mirkin as a child so he wrote it into the episode. The dance number was then written in to end the show on a lighter note.[1]

  • Production art of the "squirrel house"

  • Finished version of the "squirrel house"

Reception[edit]

In 2003, Entertainment Weekly named "Treehouse of Horror V" the ninth best episode of the show.[6] In 2010, IGN called the episode the best episode of season 6 and called it "funniest Treehouse of Horror to date".[7] In 2019, Screen Rant ranked the episode 4th in their best episodes of every season listing and says that many fans "considered the very best Halloween episode".[8] Also in 2019, Time ranked the episode 3rd in a ranking by Simpsons experts.[9]

Composer Alf Clausen was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series in the 47th Primetime Emmy Awards for "Treehouse of Horror II". However, it lost to "Daggers" from seaQuest DSV.[10]

As of September 2022, the episode has a 9.2 rating on IMDb.[11]

Gallery[edit]

  • Poster for "Time and Punishment"

References[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Mirkin, David (2005). Commentary for "Treehouse of Horror V", in The Simpsons: The Complete Sixth Season.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Cohen, David X. (2005). Commentary for "Treehouse of Horror V", in The Simpsons: The Complete Sixth Season.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Groening, Matt (2005). Commentary for "Treehouse of Horror V", in The Simpsons: The Complete Sixth Season.
  4. ↑ Reardon, Jim (2005). Commentary for "Treehouse of Horror V", in The Simpsons: The Complete Sixth Season.
  5. ↑ Daniels, Greg (2005). Commentary for "Treehouse of Horror V", in The Simpsons: The Complete Sixth Season.
  6. ↑ Entertainment Weekly - "The best Simpsons episodes, Nos. 6-10"
  7. ↑ IGN - "The Simpsons: 20 Seasons, 20 Episodes"
  8. ↑ Screen Rant - "Treehouse of Horror V"
  9. ↑ Time - "We Asked Experts for 10 of Their Most Memorable Simpsons Episodes of All Time"
  10. ↑ Television Academy - "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore) – 1995"
  11. ↑ IMDb - "Treehouse of Horror V"


The Saga of Carl - title screen.png Wikisimpsons has a collection of images related to "Treehouse of Horror V".
Season 6 Episodes
Bart of Darkness • Lisa's Rival • Another Simpsons Clip Show • Itchy & Scratchy Land • Sideshow Bob Roberts • Treehouse of Horror V • Bart's Girlfriend • Lisa on Ice • Homer Badman • Grampa vs. Sexual Inadequacy • Fear of Flying • Homer the Great • And Maggie Makes Three • Bart's Comet • Homie the Clown • Bart vs. Australia • Homer vs. Patty and Selma • A Star Is Burns • Lisa's Wedding • Two Dozen and One Greyhounds • The PTA Disbands • 'Round Springfield • The Springfield Connection • Lemon of Troy • Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One)
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