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Treehouse of Horror
The Simpsons Season 02 Episode 03
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
Marge's warning sucks! This is the first time the Simpsons speak directly to the audience though? Treehouse of Horror I is only known as the Halloween Special at the moment. Tombstone gags include Garfield, Grateful Dead, and Paul Mcartney. It's actually cute that the three siblings are getting along and hanging out with each other on Halloween.
Bart tell's Bad Dream House wherein the Simpsons move into a cursed house. The bleeding walls are a favorite of mine. Also portals to another dimension used like a garbage disposal is awesome. It's a fixer upper! The house pretends to be Bart's conscience while convincing him to kill everyone. Maggie's head spins around ala the Exorcist. While everyone is about to kill each other, Marge is preparing a sandwich with a large knife. How come she's the only one unaffected? Marge knows something is wrong because the family has never had knife fights before. My favorite taunt from the house is "Possibly your brains will start coming out of your nose!". I wonder if homeowners insurance covers this sort of thing.
Next Bart tells Hungry are the Damned after Lisa (and I) are unimpressed by Bad Dream House. First appearance of the aliens Kodos and Kang. English by an astonishing chance is exactly the same as Rigilean! The ship has everything they could ever want - tons of food, Itchy and Scratchy, but no HBO. Pong! "Anyone from a species that has mastered intergalactic travel raise your hand!" Stupid aliens, making so many suspicious jokes. And weighing them? What the hell is that about? You can't fault the Simpsons for beings suspicious but this has always been a big fear of mine, what if aliens decide to judge us as a species on any random average family? Also I don't know what the inspiration is for the art direction in this segment? Kubrick? It's awesome though. "If you wanted to make Serak the Preparer cry, mission accomplished." I believe Serak the Preparer is voiced by James Earl Jones.
Speaking of James Earl Jones, he's back for the reading of Poe's Raven, the final segment. I really love this segment. Homer is reading Forgotten Lore, vol II and details like the extra picture frame to show the reset of Lenore (Marge's) hair is great. Quote the raven, "Eat My Shorts".
CONCLUSION
Totally excellent intro to the Treehouse of Horror series. I love these for all the absurd situations they put the Simpsons universe into that just can't be done in the normal run of the show.
THIS EPISODE'S RATINGS
  4/5 donuts from Statler
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RATINGS LEGEND
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PLOT SUMMARY FROM WIKIPEDIA
The story begins on Halloween, with Bart, Lisa, and Maggie in their treehouse telling scary stories, while Homer eavesdrops on them, while commenting on the fact that he loves Halloween. In the first story, "Bad Dream House", the Simpsons move into an old house, wondering at its low cost. Their questions are answered when the walls begin to bleed and objects begin to fly through the air. Marge expresses the desire to leave, but Homer asks her to sleep on it. That night, the house possesses Homer and the children, manipulating their minds and making them chase each other with axes and knives. Marge intervenes and confronts the house, demanding that it treat them with respect during their stay. The house thinks it over, and eventually opts to destroy itself rather than live with the Simpsons.
In the second story, "Hungry are the Damned", the Simpsons are in their backyard having a barbecue when they are abducted by extraterrestrial life forms (specifically Kang and Kodos). They explain that they are taking the Simpsons to their homeworld. En route they present the family with enormous amounts of food and watch eagerly as they gorge themselves. Suspicious of the alien's intentions, Lisa sneaks into the kitchen and finds a book titled How To Cook Humans. She takes the book and shows it to the aliens, who explain to her that part of the title was obscured by space dust, which they then blow away to reveal the title How To Cook For Humans. Lisa, skeptical at this, blows off more space dust, revealing the title to be How To Cook Forty Humans. The aliens blow off the last of the space dust, finally revealing the real title How To Cook For Forty Humans. Enraged at Lisa's distrust, they return the Simpsons to Earth, explaining that Lisa ruined the family's chance at paradise on the aliens' home planet.
In the third story, "The Raven", Lisa reads "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe. In this adaptation, Bart is depicted as the raven, Homer finds himself in the role of the poem's lead character, while Lisa and Maggie are seraphim. Marge appears briefly as a painting of Lenore. James Earl Jones narrates. The episode then returns to the treehouse and Bart, Lisa and Maggie, who are not frightened by any of the stories. They climb down from the treehouse and sleep peacefully the whole night. Homer, on the other hand, lies in his bed terrified. Bart, as the raven, appears outside the window, laughing at him, Homer says he now hates Halloween.
Accessed from Wikipedia on Feb. 25, 2010