Alien

For the decoration in The Simpsons: Tapped Out, see The Simpsons: Tapped Out decorations/Superheroes decorations#Alien.

Alien is a science fiction horror franchise which has spawned several movies (including crossovers with Predator) and numerous other media such as comic books, graphic novels, books and video games. The franchise tells the stories of humanity's encounters with an insectoid extraterrestrial species generally referred to as "Aliens", or sometimes as "Xenomorphs".

The Aliens' characteristics include having acid for blood, being generally hostile, having a social order which resembles that of ants or termites, and reproducing by implanting their embryos into unwilling hosts (often hapless humans). When the embryos mature into larvae, they violently burst out of the host's body, killing the host.

The first film of the franchise was promoted under the tagline "In space no one can hear you scream", which quickly became a pop-culture catchphrase and one of the most recognizable movie slogans of all time.

The Alien franchise and creatures have been referred to several times in the Simpsons universe, both in television episodes and comic stories.

References

Episodes

Picture Season Episode number Episode name Reference 5 96 "Deep Space Homer" During the Itchy & Scratchy cartoon, Itchy bursts out of Scratchy's stomach, similar to Kane's death scene in Alien. 100 "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song" The sequence where Groundskeeper Willie chases Santa's Little Helper through the air ducts parodies scenes from the first three movies: Principal Skinner opens a grate and peers into the duct, similar to Corporal Hicks lifting a suspended ceiling panel in Aliens. Willie catches vague glimpses of SLH running past the junctions in the ductwork, similar to the Alien in Alien 3. Skinner watches via a scanner as SLH catches Willie, similar to the scene in Alien where the Alien catches Dallas while Parker and Lambert watch the scene unfold on a tracking device. 10 207 "Treehouse of Horror IX" Two scenes in the episode are sight gags on facehugger attacks in the Alien movies: During the "Hell Toupee" segment, when Homer tears Snake's hair from his head, the hair leaps from the floor and attacks Bart, wrapping around his face. During the "Starship Poopers" segment, Maggie (in a Rigellian "hybrid" form) attacks Jerry Springer, wrapping her tentacles around his head. 11 247 "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge" Homer stretches his hand out on the kitchen table and stabs each of his fingers in turn with a knife. Marge admonishes him, "No knife games on the kitchen table!", to which Homer retorts, "I never touched your precious table." This is a parody of the "knife trick" scene near the beginning of Aliens. The android Bishop stretches Hudson's hand out on a table, then very rapidly stabs a knife into the tabletop around and between Hudson's fingers. Unlike Homer, however, Hudson is unharmed thanks to Bishop's excellent dexterity. 14 296 "Helter Shelter" When Homer and Marge visit Comic Book Guy an Alien figurine can be seen behind him on top of his shelf. 21 456 "Stealing First Base" In Alien 3, there was a scene from the film where the alien was about to kill Ellen Ripley. The alien didn't, because the alien queen was inside her. (The image was shown near the end of the episode, during the montage of famous kissing scenes.) 22 468 "Treehouse of Horror XXI" When Professor Frink walks in front of his X-ray machine, an Alien embryo is seen inside him. 23 489 "Treehouse of Horror XXII" Alien (Maggie Simpson) bursts out of her brother's chest. 24 516 "To Cur, with Love" While Mr. Burns is giving awards, a flying mutated Blinky fish appears. In addition to wings, it has a rigid tongue with its own set of jaws, like an Alien's. 250px 25 532 "Treehouse of Horror XXIV" During the opening sequence, an Alien is among the movie creatures and characters seen in the field next to the Simpsons' house. 548 "Days of Future Future" Jerry is a parody of the aliens from Alien. He also kisses Jenda in an "Alien" way. 26 556 "Treehouse of Horror XXV" An alien version of Married... with Children appears on Syfy, with Peggy Bundy being an alien from Alien and Al Bundy being a black hole alien. 562 "The Man Who Came to Be Dinner" An Alien is among the creatures on display in the zoo on Rigel 7. 27 578 "Halloween of Horror" When Lisa is scared by the Halloween-themed exhibits at Krustyland, she goes to a security office for help. The office, however, proves to be a ruse and yet another scary exhibit, as a set of Alien jaws burst out of the guard's chest and lunge at Lisa, frightening her even more.

Comics

Picture Comic issue Story name Reference Bart Simpson #31 Handy Pop Culture Quotes For All Occasions! Comic Book Guy recommends Pvt. Hudson's "Game over, man!" line from Aliens as being an appropriate quote to use when you lose at a video game. One of CBG's advanced tips for using pop culture quotes is to replace the subject noun to adapt the quote to your needs. He uses the Alien tagline as an example, reworking it so that it reads, "In Noiseland Arcade, no one can hear you scream." Bart Simpson #77 For a Limited Time Only The license plate on Larry H. Lawyer's car reads "LV-426", the same as the numerical designation for the planet where the aliens are encountered in the first two movies. Bart Simpson's Treehouse of Horror #7 In Springfield No One Can Hear You Scream The story title is a pun on the first film's tagline, "In space no one can hear you scream". The story's plot is a parody of the creatures and storylines of the Alien film series. Bart and Maggie watch an Itchy & Scratchy cartoon titled "Facehuggin' Frolics" which is also an Alien parody. The Simpsons Winter Wingding #1 Springfield's Letters to Santa In Comic Book Guy's letter to Santa Claus, one of the things he wants is an original 1979 18-inch Alien action figure from the first movie. Bongo Comics Free-For-All 2016 Spend Your Next Vacation on Rigel VII The tagline at the bottom of the travel ad reads, "In space, nobody can hear you dream!", referencing the Alien tagline. Simpsons Comics #41 Bart Simpson and the Krusty Brand Fun Factory During an Itchy & Scratchy cartoon, Itchy dumps Scratchy into a vat full of "Poppin' Rocks" candies, then sprays them with seltzer water. The candies explode, and Scratchy screams as the explosions make holes in him and send him flying into the air and into outer space, where his screams are replaced by a speech balloon that is empty except for an asterisk. The asterisk directs the reader to a footnote that says, "In space, no one can hear you scream." Kang & Kodos #1 The Big Kang Theory! When Bart puts Kang on an exercise program, he says, "In space, no one can hear you sweat", referencing the Alien tagline. Chief Wiggum's Felonious Funnies #1 Future Cop! In Chief Wiggum's dream of being a cop in the future, Officer Shooty arrests Snake for a street theft. When Shooty reads Snake his rights, he says, "If you are in space, you have the right to have no one hear you scream", referencing the Alien tagline. Wiggum and his ape partner Officer Cornelius respond to a domestic dispute. The couple in the dispute are an Alien Queen and a Yautja warrior from Predator. The conflict between the couple escalates and the Predator activates the self-destruct device in his wrist gauntlet. The resulting explosion destroys the entire neighborhood and Wiggum and Cornelius escape barely in time. The visual as they fly away is similar to the end of Aliens, when the atmosphere processing station explodes.

Books

Picture Book Reference Comic Book Guy's Book of Pop Culture Comic Book Guy cites Hudson's "Game over, man!" line from Aliens and the "In space, no one can hear you scream" tagline from Alien as two of the greatest quotes of all time.

Other

Picture Source Reference The Simpsons Ride On a wall near the entrance to the ride, Comic Book Guy can be seen wearing a shirt that reads "In cyberspace no one can see your man-breasts", referencing the first film's tagline. Halloween Update Trailer 2014 In a commercial for the Treehouse of Horror XXV event of The Simpsons: Tapped Out, Homer returns home to find Bart lying in the back yard with a Rigellian wrapped around his head, similar to an Alien facehugger.

External links

• Alien at Wikipedia

Cultural references

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