Difference between revisions of "Treehouse of Horror XIV"

Revision as of 08:47, March 13, 2010

This is one of several Simpsons episodes which are considered anthology episodes that features mini-stories.

Opening Sequence

Bart and Lisa, dressed as Charlie Brown and Lucy van Pelt from the Peanuts series discuss their Halloween treats, and Lisa claims that hers are better than Bart's. The two then fight until Homer intervenes and orders them to stop fighting. He throws an inflamed log at them, but misses and hits Grampa. Homer gets Bart and Lisa rolled up in the rug and "beats the lumps". A gun-wielding Marge intervenes and says that she does not approve of Homer's parenting techniques, then shoots homer, splattering his blood on the viewer's TV screen (revealing the title). From their spaceship, Kang and Kodos criticize the Simpson family for airing a Halloween special in November, while they have their Christmas decorations set up.^[1]

Plot

Reaper Madness

Death enters the Simpson house attempting to take Bart, but the family goes on a Benny Hill-style chase to elude him. However, Death eventually manages to pin Bart’s shirt to the wall with its scythe. As the Grim Reaper sentences Bart to an eternity of pain, Homer kills it with a bowling ball, but when he does, he learns that no one can die since the Grim Reaper is dead. The scene then cuts to two examples of a world where no one can die: Frankie the Squealer being shot by the Springfield Mafia and Moe hanging himself from the ceiling. On trash day, Marge tells Homer to take the dead Grim Reaper to the curb. Homer does, but puts on the robe, inadvertently turning himself into the new Grim Reaper. He kills many people on God’s list (and some who are not) until he is asked to kill Marge. Homer doesn’t want to kill his wife, and he tries to plead to God that he wants to get out of the job. Then Homer pulls a fast one on God by substituting Patty’s body for Marge. The annoyed deity tries to punish Homer with a (presumably lethal) sunbeam but Homer narrowly escapes on his motorcycle, prompting God to sigh "I’m too old and too rich for this." At the house Marge gives Homer an extra pork chop.

Frinkenstein

Homer gets a call telling him that he is the winner of the Nobel Prize; however, Lisa learns that it’s actually for Professor Frink. Frink is so excited that he decides to reanimate his father’s corpse in order to have him appear at the ceremony. Unfortunately, the corpse of Frink Sr. goes on a rampage looking for body parts. At the awards ceremony in Stockholm, Frink Sr. tries to make amends with his son for his recent behavior, but he goes another rampage through the audience, stealing brains of scientists and growing more and more intelligent. Frink Jr. manages to stop his father with a kick to the crotch, and he is able to hold on to his father's soul (which talks to him from a box).

Stop the World, I Want to Goof Off

Bart and Milhouse (in a parody of the Twilight Zone episode “A Kind of a Stopwatch”) get a stopwatch through an ad in an old comic book magazine for 50C that actually allows them to stop time. They have a great blast pulling pranks on Springfieldans, such as depantsing Principal Seymour Skinner and stealing Homers doughnuts. They almost get away with it, but they are outsmarted by Mayor Quimby. An angry mob goes after Bart and Milhouse. While they are on the run, Chief Wiggum shoots at them; they stop time and the watch breaks, causing Bart and Milhouse to be the only two people moving in a world where time has stopped. They soon take advantage of this and go on a world wide crime spree, kidnapping the pope for wedgying, stealing whatever they want and just generally doing anything they wish. They soon become bored though and realise they need to fix the watch. Although the watch repair manual is easy to follow, it takes the pair 15 years to get the watch fixed and for things to go back to normal. Once repaired, the pair position Martin Prince to take the blame, and he is killed when time returns. However, Lisa points out that Bart has become a grown man and has amassed vast riches. In the interest of being fair, Homer decides to let Lisa use the watch. She then discovers a second button which interferes with reality, causing the Simpsons to undergo various changes such as becomimg bobble heads, having their torsos separate from their bodies on jetpacks, and finally start hula-hooping to "Rock Around the Clock."

Notes

• This episode was nominated for the 2004 Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore).

• List of the Halloween names used by the staff on this episode:

BAT GROENING, JAMES "JUST ONE HUG" BROOKS, SAM "SAYONARA" SIMON, DAN (YOUR AD HERE) ANETA, KADAVER KAVNER, BLOOD CURDLING CARTWRIGHT, HANGED AZARIA, HARRY "I WANT TO OWN ALL THE MEDIA IN THE WORLD" SHEARER

• This episode marks the second time Homer was cast to be a Marvel Super Hero character (which also was a beast-like character); the first time was in 'I am Furious Yellow', where he lost his temper and temporarily acted as The Incredible Hulk.

• Referring to the remark about Homer talking about the previous episode, this also sort of happens in "Treehouse of Horror XI," where the Leprechaun from the first episode "Hex and the City" is seen on Bart's back in the last episode "Wiz Kids."
• The scene where Professor Frink kicks his father in the crotch is similar to the second Scooby-Doo movie, where Velma kicks the Black Knight ghost in the crotch, saying it was his 'weak spot'.

• When Lisa uses the stopwatch at the end of "Stop the World, I Want to Goof Off", the things that suddenly happen to the other members of the family are:

-The upper portion of their bodies become rockets and zoom around. -They turn into bobbleheads. -They turn into 'TV Guide' covers. -They turn into the Fantastic Four. -They return to normal, but are playing with hula-hoops

• When Lisa uses the stopwatch at the end of "Stop the world I want to goof off" Bart changes back from his 25 year old self back to his 10 year old self without explanation.