Rate & Review: "Treehouse Of Horror XIV" (EABF21)

**Tibor** · 11-02-2003, 06:50 PM

Best since THOH IX. Reaper Madness (A-) was awesome, the payoff at the end with Selma disguised as Marge was hilarious, but the funniest bit was Jasper and Homer/Death. I was, however, expecting Homer to paraphrase Oppenheimer when he put the robes on, and bemused that he didn't. It also had awesome direction and Clausen's music was great. Frinkenstein (C) was bland, uninspired. Jerry Lewis did a pretty good spot, though. Stop The World (B+) was great, as I predicted. Nice silly ending. The intro was... weird, and unfunny. The Kang and Kodos comments were funny though. All of the shorts seemed kind of meandering and the Frinkenstein segment was quite thin laughwise, but all in all, it was quite enjoyable.

B overall

And the promos (My Mother The Carjacker) were good for a change.

**Woogie31** · 11-02-2003, 06:53 PM

Jerry Lewis's guest spot made the first skit. And the Clockstoppers spoof was a classic, especially the part with Homer and Nelson being naked. The second one was rather dull. All in all...

4/5

**DotheBartman** · 11-02-2003, 06:53 PM

Guess its time to review again...

Opening: OUCH. At least at first. I realize this is a halloween episode but...do we really need to watch Homer beating up on the kids with a baseball bat, Bart stabbing Homer, and Marge blowing Homer's guts out? It was just disturbing, not funny, and the dialogue was horrible. Conversely, Kang and Kodos cracked me up (especcially their Christmas decorations

). But this going back and forth between stupid and hilarious seems to be the theme for the rest of the episode. At least they finally added the spooky names in again (or were they in the last one? I don't remember now).

Reaper Madness: Geez, what a mixed segment. I liked the chase scene. I liked the revelation that he'd actually killed Patty instead. There were some other nice little touches. But there was also a lot of horrible dialogue and jokes that just didn't make sense, and the pacing still seemed too fast, even for a THOH. Plus, while I tried to go into this with an open mind, it started reminding me of the "Family Guy" episode way too quickly. Hey, didn't they accuse FG of being a rip of in the last THOH?....
C/C+

Frinkenstein: I repeat...what a mixed segment. Again, the pacing is hard to follow and overly strange even for a THOH, and some things just seem to fail. There's even an unneeded (and horribly unfunny) guest appearance. Then again, there's a lot to like. Frink's mannerisms (same with his father's for the most part, particulary his first lines when he wakes up), Lisa's explanation of the 21st century, Ned's death, Skinner's spine loss...too bad its all buried under such a mess.
Again, C/C+

Stop the World: Probaby the best one, though I'm not sure what that amounts to. It started off very well, and I loved watching Bart and Milhouse's initial hijinks. Basically everything up until Homer's head falls off was good. But it did deteriorate after that, and I don't think that's anymore evident anywhere else then it is in the ending with Lisa switching the versions of the family around. It just felt so...out of place, again even for a THOH.
B-

Overall: I'm not really sure what to say. Its just such a mixed bag, every sketch, nearly every moment. The whole thing just never seemed to stay particularly bad or particularly good for more then a minute or so. It seemed to hop back and forth between the hilarious and horribly unfunny. Its really very odd how mixed the whole thing was. I do need to give props to the animation direction, but the pacing was terrible.

C/C+ and I think I'm being kind of generious. I really hate to say this, but, maybe they should just stop doing THOH?

**newhook_1** · 11-02-2003, 06:54 PM

Opening 3/5: Kang, Kodos and Grandpa where funny but the rest seemed a bit blah.

Reaper Maddness 4/5: Thought it was very funny, but the story was terribly disjointed.

Frinkenstein 3/5: eh, it was ok I thought the whole noble prize bit at the end was overdone.

Stop The World I Want To Goof Off
5/5: One of my favorite THOH segments ever.

Overall 4/5 Great start to Season 15

**Tomacco** · 11-02-2003, 06:57 PM

Originally posted by DotheBartman
Guess its time to review again...

Opening: OUCH. At least at first. I realize this is a halloween episode but...do we really need to watch Homer beating up on the kids with a baseball bat, Bart stabbing Homer, and Marge blowing Homer's guts out? It was just disturbing, not funny, and the dialogue was horrible. Conversely, Kang and Kodos cracked me up (especcially their Christmas decorations ). But this going back and forth between stupid and hilarious seems to be the theme for the rest of the episode. At least they finally added the spooky names in again (or were they in the last one? I don't remember now).

Reaper Madness: Geez, what a mixed segment. I liked the chase scene. I liked the revelation that he'd actually killed Patty instead. There were some other nice little touches. But there was also a lot of horrible dialogue and jokes that just didn't make sense, and the pacing still seemed too fast, even for a THOH. Plus, while I tried to go into this with an open mind, it started reminding me of the "Family Guy" episode way too quickly. Hey, didn't they accuse FG of being a rip of in the last THOH?....
C/C+

Frinkenstein: I repeat...what a mixed segment. Again, the pacing is hard to follow and overly strange even for a THOH, and some things just seem to fail. There's even an unneeded (and horribly unfunny) guest appearance. Then again, there's a lot to like. Frink's mannerisms (same with his father's for the most part, particulary his first lines when he wakes up), Lisa's explanation of the 21st century, Ned's death, Skinner's spine loss...too bad its all buried under such a mess.
Again, C/C+

Stop the World: Probaby the best one, though I'm not sure what that amounts to. It started off very well, and I loved watching Bart and Milhouse's initial hijinks. Basically everything up until Homer's head falls off was good. But it did deteriorate after that, and I don't think that's anymore evident anywhere else then it is in the ending with Lisa switching the versions of the family around. It just felt so...out of place, again even for a THOH.
B-

Overall: I'm not really sure what to say. Its just such a mixed bag, every sketch, nearly every moment. The whole thing just never seemed to stay particularly bad or particularly good for more then a minute or so. It seemed to hop back and forth between the hilarious and horribly unfunny. Its really very odd how mixed the whole thing was. I do need to give props to the animation direction, but the pacing was terrible.

C/C+ and I think I'm being kind of generious. I really hate to say this, but, maybe they should just stop doing THOH?

You just made my life really easy by writing my review word for word.
Dammit, I hope this is one of the last times I agree with DTBM because last season, I was praising, and he was bashing.

**MacGyver 666** · 11-02-2003, 07:00 PM

The intro wasn't really that great but Kang and Kodos were hilarious.

Reaper Madness: Good first segment, (a lot of people say this is a Family Guy rip-off, but I don't think that is the case necessarily, people becoming death wasn't exactly invented by Family Guy) probably the most amusing part would have to be Jasper's interaction with Homer. If this was a Family Guy rip-off, the Simpsons pulled it off much better in my opinion; B+/B

Frinkenstein: Not much to say about this one, I was excepting a lot from it, but it left me disappointed; C

Stop The World I Want to Goof Off: I was pleasantly surprised by this one. I was laughing almost the whole way through. I think this segment was helped by it not giving away some of it's jokes in any of the commercials. Overall I would have to say this may be the best TOH segment it years; A

Overall; B+

**eric** · 11-02-2003, 07:01 PM

"Stop the World, I want to Goof Off" was by far the funniest act, especially the very end of it. Awesome way to end an otherwise mediocre THOH. I was expecting much more out of "Frinkenstein" .... the majority of the jokes in that act fell flat for me.. which is weird since Frink's one of my favorite characters. "Reaper Madness" had some amusing moments but wasn't anything special IMO. Great opening with Kang & Kodos though.

Reaper Madness: B-
Frinkenstein: D
Stop the World: A
Overall: C+/B-

**Icedragon** · 11-02-2003, 07:09 PM

meh meh meh

Opening - The Charlie Brown Costumes were great (Bart should have gotten a rock...) the voilence seemed similar to the fight in the FG ep "Lethal Weapons", but it was different enough for me to not care that much.

Kang and Kodos - Being I love Monty Python more than I love the Simpsons, the metacomment from those two was great. I always wondered why the hell they put the THOH after the first Sunday after or on Halloween.

Rreaper Madness - total meh. I love the FG episode "Death is a Bitch", and as some people here think, FG did the plot 10 times better than this one. The motorcyle bit seemed deja vu-ish (thought I saw something like that last season or so).

Frinkenstien - I hate senseless celebrity cameos. It shows that a plot is thin, and writers are not putting enough effort into it. Jennifer Garner was not needed. The plot was thin, and the segment was long. The only redeeming quality was Homer wishing he was still Death. Worst segment.

Stop the World, I Want to Goof Off - Best segment out of the bunch. Not really creepy as I would think THOH segments would be, but funny anyway. See above comment about Garner for thoughts on De La Hoya cameo.

I am anxious for next week's ep, though.

**Kefka** · 11-02-2003, 07:20 PM

Rreaper Madness - total meh. I love the FG episode "Death is a Bitch", and as some people here think, FG did the plot 10 times better than this one. The motorcyle bit seemed deja vu-ish (thought I saw something like that last season or so).

and that chasing bit... yea I haven't seen THAT before.

**DotheBartman** · 11-02-2003, 07:21 PM

Originally posted by Tomacco
You just made my life really easy by writing my review word for word.
Dammit, I hope this is one of the last times I agree with DTBM because last season, I was praising, and he was bashing.

Well, remember that I started to agree with you more towards the end, and was actually enjoying most episodes in the last two or three months of the season.

Still, yeah, I really hope this THOH doesn't indicate the quality of the rest of the season. They can obviously write some really good jokes, but there seems to be a pretty severe quality control issue, at least for this episode, in terms of which jokes go in and which don't. I almost wonder if they need some outside sources at this point to come in and give advice about which jokes work and which don't.

**Tibor** · 11-02-2003, 07:22 PM

How was Reaper Madness episode similar to "Death is a Bitch" in any way other than the basic concept that Death is put out of commission- trouble ensues? From the synopsis Spooner posted in the spec thread, they don't sound that similar at all.

**The Governor** · 11-02-2003, 07:25 PM

Well, it's hard to be really excited when the best joke was in the credits: "Everybody Loves Mike Scully." Even so, the whole episode was a 3/5 across the board with each short having their moments. The only real complaint was the "Frinkenstein" seemed to drag on really, really, long.

**Stackhouse** · 11-02-2003, 07:25 PM

I think Robin said it best: Holy negative reviews, Batman!

Opening: Pretty meh, actually... Kang and Kodos were great, but everyone trying to kill everyone seemed.. odd. C-

Reaper Madness: Awesome. Myself never had seen the Family Guy episode, it didn't bother me at all. Great jokes. Top-notch stuff. B+

Frinkenstein: Ouch. Worst of the Bunch. It really wasn't that great, and I even kinda wanted it to end. Lewis did a great job guest-starring, and I liked a couple of jokes ("I wish I was death again.. that was cool") but alot of stuff bogged it down. And "penis" should never be used in the simpsons. D+

Stop the World, I want to goof off: Classic THOH material. Ties with Send in the Clones for the best THOH segment since the classic era. Very fun to watch, and had great jokes... A

Overall: Well, better than last years. Surely. I enjoyed it, and I thought it would be doing better on here. B-

On another note, next week is set to rock.

**vox** · 11-02-2003, 07:26 PM

Tonight’s episode was the best THOH in a while. The intro was funny, but Kang and Kodos seemed tacked on, and OFF killing each other was random. “Reaper Madness”, while not as good as I expected, was entertaining nonetheless. The Three Stooges bit was among the funnier parts. “Reaper Madness” gets an 8/10. “Frinkenstein” also failed to live up to expectations. It went on for a bit too long and it featured an absolutely pointless celebrity cameo. The penis joke was pretty tasteless as well. There were some funny parts, including Agnes’ comment to Seymour about his spine and Jerry Lewis was hilarious, but even he couldn’t save this segment from a 5.5/10. “Stop the World...” definitely takes the cake this year. It surpassed my expectations by a lot and there was barely a dull moment. Bart and Milhouse’s antics had me ROFL, and the Homer/Nelson scene was the best part of the whole episode. “Stop the World...” gets 9.5/10. THOH as a whole gets an 8/10.

**JonMDavis** · 11-02-2003, 07:27 PM

Originally posted by Tibor
How was Reaper Madness episode similar to "Death is a Bitch" in any way other than the basic concept that Death is put out of commission- trouble ensues? From the synopsis Spooner posted in the spec thread, they don't sound that similar at all.

Death visits the family, he's injured at their house, there's a period where nobody can die so there are scenes of people shooting and trying to kill each other but nothing is happening, the father takes over his job, the father abuses his power, and so on. It was a rip off, if you ask me, and a poorly done one at that.

**Icedragon** · 11-02-2003, 07:27 PM

1)Death comes after one of the members of the family

2)Death is unable to do his duties, so the father has to take on the role.

3)Both kill people instantly by merely touching them.

4)Peter can't go through with his killing the kids from Dawson's Creek. Homer cant go through with killing Marge. Both are also told to do it or they themselves will die.

**JMS** · 11-02-2003, 07:28 PM

There have been better Treehouse of Horror's episodes. This one was no "Shinning" though.

Opening was good. First part was alot like the Family Guy episode "Death is a Bitch", but it was still good. The whole Marge's hair on Patty at the end was funny. I didn't like the Frakenstein one too much, it had it moments though like with Principal Skinner. The time stopping one was ok. Kinda funny, especially when they implemented the future Bart and Millhouse and used Martin as a scapegoat.

**Spooner** · 11-02-2003, 07:28 PM

Friggin parents with their friggin HBO and their friggin Carnivale...

I missed it. Anyone knwo where I can illegally DL it?

**DotheBartman** · 11-02-2003, 07:28 PM

Tibor: well, aside from the basic concept itself, the "feeling" was very similar....way to Peter Griffin/"captain wacky". Plus, there were little things like Death tripping (thus instigating Homer/Peter to become Death) and both characters being reluctant to have to kill someone. Personally, I'm not sure it was so much of a rip-off as it was a case of "been there, done that". Which is still pretty sad given that Family Guy always was a little derivative of other programs to begin with.

**Icedragon** · 11-02-2003, 07:31 PM

Originally posted by Spooner
Friggin parents with their friggin HBO and their friggin Carnivale...

I missed it. Anyone knwo where I can illegally DL it?

Kazaa, try that in about 24 hours. Doubt any are up right now, but you never know.

**Tibor** · 11-02-2003, 07:32 PM

The thing is, somehow I doubt John Swartzwelder watches Family Guy.

**JMS** · 11-02-2003, 07:32 PM

Originally posted by Tibor
How was Reaper Madness episode similar to "Death is a Bitch" in any way other than the basic concept that Death is put out of commission- trouble ensues? From the synopsis Spooner posted in the spec thread, they don't sound that similar at all.

There were a few lines that were almost identical to the FG episode like the "You've created a world without death" quote. There was another that was strikingly similar when they mention that there cannot be death if death is not there, or something like that. The whole shooting of the mobster scene was alot like the barfight scene too.

But I'm not complaining. It was an ok episode.

**Tibor** · 11-02-2003, 07:35 PM

Those situations/gags would be bound to come up, even with the concept developed independently. They're gimmees.

**Rekart** · 11-02-2003, 07:36 PM

Ehh, 3/5. The shorts weren't all that good, the best getting a B+ and the worst a D+. Here they are:

Reaper Madness: Not the best short I've ever seen, but not especially bad. No really good jokes, although a few ok ones. I see where it can be compared to Death is a Bitch, though. Peter becomes Daeth, Homer becomes Death. Peter is supposed to kill someone, doesn't. Homer is supposed to kill someone, doesn't. But other than those similarities, two different things. Death is a Bitch was also better. B-

Frinkenstein: SUCKS. No good jokes, and it just wasn't funny. Frink didn't have any good lines, so the others didn't. D+

Stop the World, I Want to Goof Off: Best one, with a few good jokes. Homer & the donut thing, Nelson laughing at Homer naked, becomes naked too, it taking Milhouse and Bart 15 years to read that easy book, etc. But, these weren't hilarious. Entertaining short, but not spectacuarly so. B+

**Spooner** · 11-02-2003, 07:39 PM

Ha, it's so fun to see the excuses we've used to defend Family Guy employed by Simpsons fans.

Sound like near duplicates, but I won't judge until I illegally download and watch it for myself.

**pat** · 11-02-2003, 07:44 PM

You and me both Spooner. I had to set the timer on the VCR to tape it because of work...and the football game runs late. I'm forced to download too, and I still don't know what to expect. I've seen mixed reviews so far.

**jesse** · 11-02-2003, 07:46 PM

Reaper Madness would've been good, but it's waaaaaay too Family Guy. Some good jokes but overall mediocre. The classic door segment was hilarious even though it's been done to death before and saved it. The plot wasridiculously condensed. 7.5/13 or a weak B-

As much as I love Frink, "Frinkenstein" was stupid and pointless. Devoid of humour except for a few chuckles at the Nobel Prize awards.
C-

Stop the World was great, chock full of laughs. Many actually funny popculture refs and a strong plot line and tons of WTF-LOL's. A-

Total: B-

**HundredGears** · 11-02-2003, 07:55 PM

I gave it an extra point for cleverly using two character's catchphrases;

Bart's "aye-carumba!" in the opening, and Nelsons "Haw! Haw?!" in Goof Off.

Reaper Madness Great hook. Disguising Selma (or was it Patty?) for Marge, and then God chasing Homer but relinquishing the chase at the tracks. ("I'm too old and rich for this.") Solid comedy gold. And another thing; Family Guy "borrowed" so much from the Simpsons that I think the the Simpsons "borrowing" back is more than acceptable.

Frinkenstein The only redeeming joke in this mess was Homer's allusion to the first segment. Ho-hum. Pointless gore. Blah. Although Garner was on later at 8, and the guest spot reminded me to tape Alias. Yowza.

Stop the World, I Want to Goof Off Excellent story telling. Milhouse is still the dork we want him to be, and the ending was goof-tacular. Maybe not the best, but laughable.

4/5

**Spark Moon** · 11-02-2003, 08:10 PM

First Segment: Yah, it was very similiar to the 'Family Guy' episode, but I like both shows, so no big deal. Afew good laughs here and there.
B

'Frinkenstein': I got so bored with this within the first 2 minutes, I decided to watch something else, so I can't really comment. (But thank God for a TV that'll let you watch two things at once, heh)
D-

'Stop the World, I Want to Goof Off': LMFAO! This has to be one of the funniest THOH segments yet. So I pretty much echo the sentiments of everyone else.

A-

Over all, a 4/5 sans 'Frinkenstein', and a 3/5 with 'Frinkenstein'.

**Channel Surfer** · 11-02-2003, 08:12 PM

My Review

Sort of agree with the board in that "Stop the World" was the best, but I think it's a bit of a stretch to call it a classic though. Conversely, I don't think "Frinkenstein" was as trashy as others make it out to be. It really wasn't any worse than "Reaper Madness". All three segments could've worked on their endings, and the writers probably should've expanded "Reaper Madness" and condensed "Frinkenstein".

Actually, DotheBartman more or less summed up my feelings already, though I'm about a grade higher with all segments. All the complaints about pacing aside, all three segments still generally entertained, which is all I really ask. And none of these segments are worse than "The Fright" and "Island of" in last year's Halloween Special either.

Grade: B-

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