Treehouse of Horror XX
"Treehouse of Horror XX"
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Episode Information
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"'Treehouse of Horror XX" is the fourth episode of The Simpsons twenty-first season. The episode first aired on October 18, 2009 on Fox. The twentieth Treehouse of Horror episode, it contains three self-contained segments. An estimated 8.59 million viewers tuned in to watch the episode.
Contents
Opening Sequence
Monsters come to life, and they're bullied by Jimbo, Dolph, and Kearney. They buy costumes at a shop and put them on. Then they go to the Simpson house. They meet and fall in love with women at the party. Then their wives come in and they're mad at them. The wives are furious at Homer, so they tear off his head and it falls in the punchbowl.(Unhappy Ending)
Lisa is mad at Miss Hoover for not choosing her to represent the class at the reading roundup, and she gives Lisa detention. She sees Bart there, too. He tells her that he'll get revenge on Miss Hoover if she gets revenge on Mrs. Krabappel for putting him in detention. Lisa ding-dong-ditches Mrs. Krabappel, but Bart kills Miss Hoover. Lisa tells Bart she'll tell Principal Skinner, but Bart has killed him, too. So Lisa decides she has to kill Bart. She chases him with her knife but when they get on the merry-go-round, Lisa decides not to kill him, so she throws her knife in the air but when it falls to the earth, it lands on Bart and stabs him in the head. (Unhappy Ending)
Don't Have a Cow, Mankind
Kent Brockman is reporting Krusty's new Burger². He tries it, and his eyes lose their pupils and get red underneath and he goes crazy(becomes a muncher). He bites Krusty, who also becomes a muncher. Munchers bite regular people, so they become munchers, too. Later, Bart is hungry, so he sneaks out and eats a Burger², but he doesn't become a muncher. The rest of the family wonder why. There is everyone who has became a muncher at the Simpson house, and they're trying to turn the Simpsons into munchers, too. Rainier Wolfcastle tells them if they want to be safe, they should go with him, but he is soon bitten by the munchers. Apu comes just in time to save them, and he drives them over to the dump. Apu gets out to push them over a heap of garbage. Then the Simpsons drive away, leaving Apu behind, who gets turned into a muncher. The car then runs out of gas, so they have to walk to the safe zone, and protect Bart, so they'll all be immune to muncher bites, since he is. On the way to the safe zone Homer gets bitten by Mr. Burns (muncher) and turns into one, luckily Bart takes the gun off Homer and trap him in a cage. They get to the safe zone, everyone has to drink soup that Bart has to bathe in to become immune.(Happy Ending)
There's No Business Like Moe Business
This is a play where Homer and Marge are at Moe's Tavern together. Homer falls down the door that leads to the boiler room, and Moe doesn't want Marge to know that this happened, so he tells her that Homer wants to leave her to see what it's like to be gay. They drink beer together(which got mixed with Homer's blood). Marge decides to say yes, but later, Homer appears with what pumps the beer at the bar attached to him and attacks Moe. Even though Homer has a pump through his back Marge still loves Homer.(Happy Ending)
Closing Sequence
At the end everybody in the episode sings the theme song on the stage used in No Business Like Moe Business with these lyrics: "We hope you have enjoyed this years Halloween Show, Treehouse of Horror, number XX!"(Happy Ending)
Airdate in Australia
It was aired on the 3 November in Australia on channel 10.
Cultural References
The first segment is a pastiche of numerous Alfred Hitchcock films. The main plot derives from Strangers on a Train, where two men plot to kill off each others' enemies, while other elements of North By Northwest, Vertigo and other Hitchcock movies are included. Hitchcock himself is shown in a brief cameo stepping out of a bus (as he did in the title sequence of North By Northwest).
The second segment is a parody of both 28 Days Later and Children of Man, in that a plague of pseudo zombies are ravaging the world, and that a child holds the key to mankind's salvation and must be protected at all costs. It could also be a slight parody of the horror-comedy movie Zombieland, since both epidemics started via a contaminated burger.
The third segment does not completely parody any existing work, but instead seems to be a diegetic play staged by Marge, Moe and Homer for the consumption fo the denizens of Springfield.
References
the third segment is a parody of the broadway musical/movie Sweeney Todd
Goofs
- In the second segment, when Bart and Homer initially step outside and Homer blows their cover, Kirk Van Houten is seen in the back right of the muncher mob breaking down the front door to try to get to the Simpsons. Yet, when they make it to the safe zone, Mr. Van Houten is clearly seen in the front of the crowd before the Simpsons push themselves through. While it may be a goof, it could also be someone similar to him, though the physical features are astonishingly alike.
Trivia
- This is the first episode since Treehouse of Horror X to air in October
- The segment, Don't Have a Cow Mankind, is the second time Springfield has been over run by zombies (the first being Treehouse of Horror III)
- At the end of the second segment, Homer still hasn't been changed back to normal
- The ending song is the first time the main theme has been used for a song sung by the Simpsons
