The Simpsons: "The Simpsons Halloween Special," AKA "Treehouse Of Horror"

Premiered October 25, 1990.

"Quoth the Raven 'Eat My Shorts!'"

Marge Simpson (Julie Kavner) opens the episode, breaks the fourth wall and warns viewers that it will contain material that might frighten younger viewers.  She suggests parents send their children to bed  "instead of writing us angry letters."

We cut to Homer (Dan Castellaneta) who has gone trick-or-treating and is admiring his candy.  He decides to listen in on his children Bart (Nancy Cartwright) and Lisa's (Yeardley Smith) conversation in their treehouse.  

He hears them telling scary stories.

Bart tells the story of the...

"Bad Dream House":

The Simpsons move into a very large house Homer purchased at a bargain.  

However, before they finish unpacking, strange things occur.  A disembodied voice orders the Simpsons to "GET OUT, " a vortex to another dimension appears in the kitchen...

...and blood runs down the walls of the house.  

Marge wants to leave immediately, but Homer convinces her to sleep on it, since he paid so little for the house.   That night, the voice tells Bart, Lisa, Homer and Maggie to kill each other!  

What is the secret of the house?

Lisa isn't impressed with the story, so Bart ups the ante with a "maca-bree" story called...

"Hungry Are The Damned":

During a backyard barbecue, the Simpsons are beamed on board a flying saucer.  

They're greeted by two alien Rigellians who introduce themselves as Kang (Harry Shearer) and Kodos (Castellaneta).  They say they're taking the Simpsons to Rigel 4, which they describe as " world of infinite delights" which will "tantalize" their senses and challenge their intellect.  They serve a banquet of delicious food to the Simpsons.

Lisa gets suspicious of Kang and Kodos' motives and investigates the ship.  Her worst fears are realized when she finds a book called "How To Cook Humans!"  

Back in the real world, Lisa reads Edgar Allan Poe's all-time classic Halloween poem...

"The Raven":

While Lisa reads "The Raven," the roles of its narrator and the raven are played by Homer... 

and Bart!

J.A. Morris says:

I didn't catch this when it first aired (I caught the rerun the following year), but "The Simpsons Halloween Special" is part of my annual Halloween viewing.  It set the template for future editions of "Treehouse Of Horror" episodes and The Simpsons has expanded the format to include non-Halloween episodes like "Thanksgiving Of Horror."  This episode is still great three decades after its premiere.  

"Bad Dream House" is a takeoff on The Amityville Horror, with nods to other horror films as well.  

"Hungry Are The Damned" is a parody of the classic Twilight Zone episode "To Serve Man."   In both of these stories, the Simpsons turn out to be the "monsters" (as Lisa states).  "Hungry" introduces Kang and Kodos, who would make appearances in every Halloween episode.  

The best comes last with the adaptation of "The Raven."  It's beautifully animated and (mostly) sticks to Poe's words.  Casting Homer and Bart in their respective roles was a stroke of genius.  

James Earl Jones guest stars in this episode and his voice can be heard in every story.  Jones narrates "The Raven," voices a mover in "Bad Dream House" and portrays "Serak, the preparer" (a Regillian cook) in "Hungry Are The Damned."  Jones' presence adds a lot of gravitas to "The Simpsons Halloween Special."

As we said at the top of this page, Marge introduces this episode alone on a stage.  

This is an homage to Frankenstein (1931), which featured a similar stage introduction by actor Edward Van Sloan.

When I was a kid, Frankenstein was a movie that was frequently televised around Halloween.  Referencing it is a nice way of tying this episode to Halloweens Past.  

"The Simpsons Halloween Special" is one of the best episodes of The Simpsons and gets my highest rating.

J.A. Morris' rating:

4 jack o'lanterns!

RigbyMel says:

The first Halloween episode of The Simpsons marks the genesis of a Halloween tradition that's been going strong for 30 (!) years now.   

I remember watching "The Simpsons Halloween Special" with my brothers when it first aired way back in 1990.   We thoroughly enjoyed it then and continue to watch it year after year.  

It's interesting to note that the Halloween episodes of The Simpsons are now referred to collectively as "Treehouse of Horror" due to the framing device of Bart and Lisa telling scary stories in their treehouse in this episode.   However, the Halloween specials did not officially (i.e., in the opening credits) get called "Treehouse of Horror" until "Treehouse of Horror XIII" aired in 2002, long after the treehouse was used as a setting.  

All 3 segments of this first anthology edition of the show feature clever parodies of classic horror.  We even sort of get a double Edgar Allan Poe reference in this episode with "The Raven" (obviously) and also "The Fall of the House of Usher"-esque ending of "Bad Dream House."  

We also get introduced to salivating aliens Kang and Kodos, who have appeared in every Halloween Simpsons episode since as well as the Halloween-ed opening credits sequence with a spooky version of the theme music. 

I think my favorite segment of this episode remains "The Raven".  The casting of Bart and Homer as antagonist and narrator (respectively) is inspired and I have always enjoyed the way the James Earl Jones narration interplays with the character voices.  Plus, it's a loving and reasonably faithful rendition of Poe's most famous poem.  

Subsequent Halloween installments of The Simpsons have become increasingly more elaborate over the years, but without this first episode, we'd not have the enduring "Treehouse of Horror" tradition 30 years later. 

RigbyMel's rating: 

4 jack o'lanterns

A Carol For Another Christmas

Premiered 28 December 1964.

Daniel Grudge (Sterling Hayden) is a wealthy business man and war veteran who doesn't care about anyone else.

His nephew Fred (Ben Gazzara) visits him.  Fred is upset that a professor from the university where he works lost his credentials to teach abroad due to Grudge's interference.  Fred's project is shot, a year's work down the drain.  Grudge doesn't believe in cultural exchanges and refers to Fred's work and politics as the "domestic and international orders of the bleeding heart".

Fred visits his uncle, Daniel Grudge on Christmas Eve.

Fred reminds Grudge that they both cared deeply for Grudge's son,  Marley.  He died on Christmas Eve while fighting in a war.  Fred questions why mankind still allows such dying to happen. Grudge says missiles and bombs will bring peace.  Fred leaves.

As soon as his nephew has left, Grudge sees a ghostly presence at his front door.

Grudge finds himself on  a ship transporting dead soldiers.  He's greeted by a man in a soldier's uniform (Steve Lawrence).  This  man turns out to be the Ghost Of Christmas Past and it's 1918.  The ghost and Grudge talk about the millions of soldiers killed in various wars.  The ghost suggests that diplomacy would prevent lots of unnecessary carnage.  Grudge doesn't think talking to other countries is worthwhile, saying wars will never stop. The ghost asks what harm there is in trying to prevent wars.

Grudge and the Ghost Of Christmas Past visit Hiroshima.

The ghost the brings Grudge to "a foreign place" he had "a feeling about at one time": Hiroshima.  Grudge was there in 1945, shortly after the bombing.  Grudge from the past visits a makeshift hospital ward where some school girls horribly burned and blinded by the bombing are being cared for and he is very insensitive.  Grudge doesn't care that victims were school girls, not soldiers.  A WAVE named Lt. Gibson (Eva Marie Saint) is shocked by the horrors and disgusted by Grudge's attitude.  Present-day Grudge doesn't seem to have been much moved by the Ghost of Christmas Past's visitation.

Grudge proceeds through a doorway and finds a man in the dark, sitting at a long table filled with food who identifies himself as the Ghost Of Christmas Present (Pat Hingle).  He shows Grudge people starving in a prison camp.  Grudge is repulsed by the fact that the ghost is feasting in view of the starving people. The ghost points out that there are starving people all over the world whether or not they are right in front of you.  He asks Grudge how he justifies his "selective morality" and uses Grudge's own words against him.

Finally, Grudge encounters the Ghost of Christmas Future (Robert Shaw) and is shown a post-apocalyptic nightmare world.  He is shocked to see his town's meeting house destroyed and burnt out. Nations have dropped nuclear bombs on each other and civilization seems to be pretty much at an end.  Grudge asks why the UN didn't step in to stop that.

Robert Shaw as the Ghost Of Christmas Future.

The Ghost replies that "we dropped out...or they dropped out."  A rowdy crowd of survivors enters the burnt out town hall carrying a man on their shoulders who calls himself  the "Imperial Me" (Peter Sellers).  He is an insane dictator who preaches a gospel of looking out for yourself at the expense of everyone else that may still be alive.

The Imperial Me addresses his subjects.

Grudge's butler Charles (Percy Rodrigues) shows up.  He pleads with the crowd to consider an alternate course of mutual cooperation without which (what's left of) the world will end.  The crowd laughs and roughs up Charles.  Imperial Me charges him with treason and Charles attempts to escape.

Grudge wants to know where he is in this future world.  Did he die before it got this way?   He then asks if the world that he's been shown is the world as it must be, or the world as it might be?

Grudge wakes up on Christmas morning.  He has a bit of a rapprochement with Fred and goes to have breakfast in the kitchen with his butler, Charles.    Perhaps the visits from the spirits have helped Grudge to learn that "there must be involvement" if the world is to save itself.

J.A. Morris says:
A Carol For Another Christmas is a fascinating product of its time.  It was funded by Xerox and was intended to promote the diplomatic goals of the United Nations.

The special was written by Rod Serling, who was famous for hosting The Twilight Zone and for writing many of its most memorable episodes. This special feels a lot like an extra-long episode of that series.  You expect Serling to pop up on screen and announce "Daniel Grudge doesn't know it yet...but he's about to spend Christmas Eve...in the Twilight Zone."

This is both good and bad.  The Twilight Zone was sometimes heavy-handed in delivering its messages.  That's the main problem with A Carol For Another Christmas. The other thing that gets old is that the ghosts all give speeches that go on a few minutes too long.  

But this odd Dickens adaptation has other qualities that make it worth watching.

I found it interesting partially due to the fact that I have a history degree, with a concentration on Cold War studies.  Its message, while somewhat awkwardly delivered, is essentially saying diplomacy will prevent nations of the world from destroying each other.

Sellers fans should seek out A Carol For Another Christmas.  His performance as Imperial Me brings lots of life and excitement to the "Christmas Future" portion of the special.  Sellers was one of the most gifted comic actors of his time, but he rarely played serious roles.  He is so downright scary here, that I almost forgot that this is the actor who was famous for portraying the bumbling Inspector Clousseau.  It's worth noting that Sellers and Sterling Hayden also both appeared together in another film earlier that year that dealt with Cold War politics, the classic Doctor Strangelove.

Robert Shaw is also good in his role as the Ghost of Christmas Future.  I thought he was the strongest of the film's three Ghosts.    

I should mention that A Carol For Another Christmas is much darker than the average Christmas special.  Grudge visits the site of the Hiroshima atomic bombing and observes children who are dying from radiation poisoning.  This is a powerful scene and is one of the more effective moments of the special, but is not recommended if you're in the mood for lighthearted holiday fare.

A Carol For Another Christmas is a flawed special, but it is worth watching because of the moment it represents in World History and for Sellers' riveting performance.

J.A. Morris' rating:

2 and a half candy canes.

RigbyMel says:

To my mind,  A Carol For Another Christmas is an interesting Cold War artifact, but that doesn't necessarily make for great general audience viewing.    The message is very well meaning, but muddy and as a result comes off as a bit hollow when all is said and done.    It is also presented in a VERY heavy-handed manner and would benefit from a bit more showing than telling in its narrative structure.

Even though there are lots of dramatic possibilities in any variation on A Christmas Carol,  I think that many of those chances are a little wasted and that Grudge's transformation is a little too small to be satisfying.

However,  the involvement of a great writer like Rod Serling and great actors like Sterling Hayden and Peter Sellers save A Carol For Another Christmas from being unwatchable.

It is interesting to note that this special is a bit of a rarity,  having only been shown on network television one time in 1964 and not again until it resurfaced on Turner Classic Movies in recent years. It is unavailable on disc, but seems to be cropping up regularly in TCM's December schedule in recent years.

It's not great, but it is of interest, especially if you are a fan of Sellers, Serling or history.

RigbyMel's rating:

2 candy canes


    

The Simpsons: "The Simpsons Halloween Special II"(A.K.A. "Treehouse Of Horror II")

Premiered October 31, 1991

Dammit, Smithers, this isn't rocket science, it's brain surgery!

- Mr. Burns

I wish for a turkey sandwich on rye bread with lettuce and mustard. And... and I don't want any zombie turkeys, I don't want to turn into a turkey myself, and I don't want any other weird surprises, you got it?
-Homer Simpson

We open with a special "warning" from Marge Simpson that the Halloween episode isn't suitable for younger viewers.

Marge (dressed as the Bride of Frankenstein), Bart (an executioner), Lisa (a totem pole) and Maggie (a witch) have come home after night of trick or treating. Marge says they can have only one piece of candy, because eating candy late at night causes bad dreams. The kids (and Homer) ignore her, all the candy is gobbled up in seconds.



We get a series of vignettes, each representing one of their nightmares:

Lisa dreams that her family is vacationing in Marrakesh, Morocco, where Homer approaches a street vendor. He sees a monkey's paw and wants to buy it. The paw will grant its owner four wishes. The vendor cautions him, saying it will bring misfortune to the Simpsons.

Homer ignores the warning and buys the paw, they bring it home and they all take turns making wishes:Maggie wishes for a new pacifier and gets it. Bart wants wealth and fame for the Simpsons, the wish is granted. Suddenly, they have cash appearing all over the house and the Simpsons are best selling recording artists.

They're given VIP treatment wherever they go, but many citizens of Springfield quickly get tired of hearing about the Simpsons. Lisa wishes for world peace and gets it. Soon, all nations are working together and all weapons are destroyed. This lack of weapons is noticed by Kang and Kodos, two aliens who are monitoring Earth. They decide that the lack of weapons makes Earth the perfect planet to conquer! The monkey's paw has doomed the world! But Homer has one more wish. Will he use it to save the world or waste it on something selfish?


In Bart's dream, a Rod Serling-esque narrator tells of an omnipotent being who rules Springfield and the world. The being turns out to be Bart Simpson! Bart can read their minds and everyone is forced to cater to his every whim, especially Marge and Homer. His parents finally tire of Bart's oppression and Homer tries to kill him. Before he can do so, Bart
transforms Homer into a jack-in-the-box. Marge decides Bart has gone too far and takes him to Psychiatrist Marvin Monroe. Dr. Monroe says the root of Bart's evil is Homer's failure to bond with his son. Can Homer be a better father as a jack-in-the-box than he was as a human being?

In Homer's dream,he's caught sleeping on the job. His boss Mr. Burns directs his toady Smithers to fire Homer immediately. Burns thinks Homer can be replaced with a robot he's been (secretly) constructing. But he needs a brain to place inside the robot body.
Desperate for work, Homer gets a job as a grave digger. After hours of digging, he falls asleep in the grave.



Burns and Smithers are out grave robbing and mistake Homer for a corpse. When they notice he isn't dead, Smithers bludgeons him to death with a hammer. They cut open Homer's head and place his brain inside the robot.


But Burns' plan backfires, the robot still retains all of Homer's bad habits, like laziness and an obsession with donuts. His robot is a failure, Burns decides to return the brain to Homer (who isn't dead) and kicks the robot...which has disastrous consequences!

J.A. Morris says:
In case anyone who reads this hasn't seen "The Simpsons Halloween Special II", I  didn't want to spoil the endings of any of the nightmares.
For two decades running, The Simpsons Halloween episodes have been highlights of the Fall TV season. Some of the best episodes of the series have been Halloween shows, this one is no exception. It's filled with nice homages to classic horror and scifi. Bart's nightmare is a parody of a "Twilight Zone" episode, as is Lisa's wish that all wars come to an end. Mr. Burns' screams "it's alive" when his robot moves, an obvious (but fun) reference to Universal's "Frankenstein" movie.
The fame and fortune followed by a public turning on the Simpsons (in Homer's nightmare) is a parody of the Simpsons mania of the early 90s (the Simpsons were "meta" before most of us knew what "meta" meant).

And the opening credits show the Peanuts gang in their "ghost" costumes from It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.



But "The Simpsons Halloween Special II" is more than just a collection of pop culture references, it's a classic in its own right.

My rating:
4 jack o'lanterns





RigbyMel says:

One cannot possibly go wrong with a Simpsons "Treehouse of Horror" Halloween episode at this, the spookiest time of the year.  I always enjoy each new installation of the "Treehouse of Horror" every year,  but I find that my favorite installations tend to come from the early years of the series, such as this one.  (Whether this preference is due to being younger and more impressionable when the earlier episodes first aired, I do not know.)  
I think my favorite vignette from this episode is Lisa's nightmare, which is based on "The Monkey's Paw", a famous horror story by W.W. Jacobs.   Huzzah for intelligent, spooky television fun!

My rating:
4 jack o'lanterns