The General Discussion Lounge

[HobNob]

I've just watched Treehouse V and is it just me or is the second act awful? I cannot STAND it. The shinning is cool and the soylent green one is fab

[Rhodan]

"Time and Punishment" is IMO one of the best segments ever.

[HobNob]

Nooo! It just seems pointless to me. There are very few episodes I really don't like, but I really dislike that segment

[Postmaster]

Yes it probably is pretty much just you.

[TheForbiddenDonut]

Nooo! It just seems pointless to me.

This seems highly contradictory; if any segment screams 'pointless', it's Nightmare Cafeteria, which ends in a dream leading into a musical number. How can you seem to dislike pointlessness, when the segments which you do like have the word written all over them? I mean, pointlessness, if anything, is the main theme of THOH episodes. THOH IV ends with a spur-of-the-moment Charlie Brown parody and the ending to each THOH III segment is completely random and nonsensical.

[grissom]

I could maybe understand some dislike of Nightmare Cafeteria, even though I think it's brilliant, but Time And Punishment is widely considered among the best.

Out of cursiosity, what are your top 5 THOH segments?

Mine:
1. Citizen Kang
2. The Shinning
3. Bart Simpson's Dracula
4. The Devil And Homer Simpson
5. Bad Dream House

That changes on an almost daily basis though. My top 2 always stay, but I can never make a final decision on the rest.

[brody]

1. The Shinning
2. Time and Punishment
3. The Devil and Homer Simpson
4. Citizen Kang
5. The Raven

Will probably change.

[TheForbiddenDonut]

Probably something like:
1. The Devil and Homer Simpson
2. The Raven
3. The Shinning
4. Citizen Kang
5. Nightmare at 5 1/2 Feet

[grissom]

Probably something like:
1. The Devil and Homer Simpson
2. The Raven
3. The Shinning
4. Citizen Kang
5. Nightmare at 5 1/2 Feet

Am I the only person who really doesn't see what's so great about this segment? It's not terrible, but still probably one of my least favorite classic era segments.

[TheForbiddenDonut]

^The reason I find it so funny is that I've seen what it's a parody of, and therefore makes it far more funny than when I first saw it. The animation direction is perfect, it's scary, it has one of my all time favorite Ralph lines ('You're deceptive.'), 'Wang Computers' never fails to make me laugh, Ned and the gremlin is just hilarious, Moleman makes a spot-on appearance, and who can forget how great Skinner was?

'The only monster on this bus is a lack of proper respect for the rules.' and

'Right or wrong, your behavior was still disruptive, young man! Perhaps spending the remainder of your life in a madhouse will teach you some manners.'

are two perfect Skinner lines.

[grissom]

The ending has always irritated me a little bit. I know the point is for Skinner to be unreasonable, but he's going a little overboard.

[TheForbiddenDonut]

I think it's classic Simpsonian humor. THOH's always stretch characterizations; for instance Homer being driven to murder in the Shinning. It seems that the fact that it's a THOH segment gives Skinner an excuse to be a bit overboard; because the way he phrases his statement is just perfectly within the confines of Skinner's character, and because the whole concept is absurd, I think the ending works pretty well.

[Charlie]

Probably something like:
1. The Devil and Homer Simpson
2. The Raven
3. The Shinning
4. Citizen Kang
5. Nightmare at 5 1/2 Feet

I thought it was Terror at 5 1/2 feet...

Anyway, my top five:

1) Citizen Kang
2) The Shinning
3) The Devil and Homer Simpson
4) Time and Punishment
5) Bad Dream House

[BrideofMoleman]

Out of cursiosity, what are your top 5 THOH segments?

1. Nightmare on Evergreen Terrance
2.The Shinning
3.Nightmare Cafeteria
4.Terror of Tiny Toons
5.Fly VS Fly

That was an extremely tough list to do. There were some really great ones out there. Nightmare on Evergreen Terrance was there because it was hilarious, had a good plot, parodied Nightmare on Elm Street well, and had a happy ending which I always love. Not to mention it always makes my sadistic side climax with Willy burning and crying in agony, Martin's screaming as Willy attacks him in his sleep, and of course, the kindergarteners screaming at Martin. Wow...I sound extremely creepy

The ending has always irritated me a little bit. I know the point is for Skinner to be unreasonable, but he's going a little overboard.

Oh come ON. You know that it's just a hyperbole.

I've never really liked the early random endings in the Treehouse of Horrors. The Tony Awards Inside-Out Musical always creeped me out. Nightmare Cafeteria is one of the most frightening horror segments I have ever seen, comedy or not

[Imperciph]

Nooo! It just seems pointless to me. There are very few episodes I really don't like, but I really dislike that segment

It is not really that pointless. One might think the segment just consists of Homer's crazy antics as he travels back in time but in true THOH-esque fashion the segment not only tells a surreal interesting and humourous but also manages to satirise the general storytelling conventions usually associated with such plots. The usual conventions in telling a story about travelling back in time is mocked brutally in Time and Punishment : such as Homer being the first non-brazillian to travel back in time, such Abe warning Homer about time travel in his wedding day, Homer's killing a mosquito in the past changing Flanders into master of the world and then doing something as devastating as killng all dinosaurs bascially giving him his perfect life. Not to mention the parodies and references are plentiful : from subtle "1984" to not so subtle Back To The the Future homages to Dr. Seuss parodies.

1.The Devil and Homer Simpson
2.The Shinning
3.Time and Punishment
4.Citizen Kang
5.Terror at 5 and1/2 feet

[TheForbiddenDonut]

I thought it was Terror at 5 1/2 feet...

You're right; I was just thinking about Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace and I jumbled up the words.

[sung]

My top THOH segments

1. The Shinning
2. The Devil And Homer Simpson
3. Send In The Clones
4. Bart's Nightmare
5. Stop The World I Want To Goof Off

Is it just me, or is Stop The World I Want To Goof Off is underrated?? Although the some of recent THOH ones are meh-ish compared to great classic ones, I think this one's the most hilarious THOH segment I've seen so far.
I didn't really appreciate the story of The Shinning at the first time I watched the segment, but just like Last Exit To Springfield, it grew on me as I watched more of it

[HAZCHEM]

Am I the only person who really doesn't see what's so great about this segment? It's not terrible, but still probably one of my least favorite classic era segments.

It would be in my least favorite THoH segments too.
What is it parodying exactly?

[Channel Surfer]

What is it parodying exactly?

Nightmare at 20,000 Feet

One of my favorites actually. More than even "The Shinning", it is probably the single most effective TOH segment in building an effectively suspenseful, thrilling story while still being very hilarious. The ending especially is perhaps the most brilliantly twisted conclusion ever done.

[Nebuchanezzar]

1. The Shinning
2. The Raven
3. Time & Punishment
4. Nightmare Cafeteria
5. Life's a Glitch, then you die.

[HobNob]

Sorry I spoke...I was just voicing my opinion!

Anyway, at least it lead to a good discussion!

[Henrik P]

My top 5:
1. The Shinning
2. Time and Punishment
3. The Devil and Homer Simpson
4. Citizen Kang
5. Bart Simpson's Dracula

[HobNob]

I don't remember what it is called but I like the Harry potteresque one where Smithers is a Snake called Slithers... any ideas?

[Adam R]

^Wiz Kids, easily the worst segment ever.

1. The Shinning
2. Citizen Kang
3. Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace
4. The Devil and Homer Simpson
5. Terror at 5 1/2 Feet

Sorry to derail a little, but I wanted to bring this up. I finally started season 8 and I was watching A Milhouse Divided and I must say that what really stood out to me was the great structure of this episode. I'm sure the only reason for this is that I'm comparing it to Milhouse of Sand and Fog though. In that episode it pretty much all Van Houtens until act 3, when they abandonded them in favour of a Homer and Marge plot and never really resolved their story, which made the episode a lot worse than how it started. Now in A Milhouse Divided, it starts off with bits about Homer and Marge's marriage and when they introduce the Van Houtens' marriage troubles, they leave Homer and Marge's as a subtle underlying theme, until it is brought into the main plot. And finally, when Homer and Marge have resolved their problems, the Van Houtens' story has an ending. I think that this structure works really well as it is and comparing it's plot to that of Milhouse of Sand and Fog is pretty much like comparing any film and it's sequel in terms of plot.

[Flimpson Tide]

I've been liking A Milhouse Divided since I saw it on the season 8 DVD. I think it's one of those that people aren't big fans of (I agree it could've focused on Milhouse more) but I find it to be great because of the humor and what you said.

I was watching The Crepes of Wrath, and Bart eating candy and "magically" being able to speak French is a terrible resolution. It would've been just as easy, maybe even quicker to simply have the policeman follow Bart to the home. I'd say it's more unrealistic than Moe's face getting crushed and becoming ugly again or trying to bomb MAD Magazine, really.

[grissom]

A Milhouse Divided is one of my favorites of season 8. Pretty underrated actually.

[TheFlandersMan]

Time and Punishment is my least favorite of those three segments. It has some cool alternate dimensions but it's a bit boring and monotonous.

[Charlie]

A Milhouse Divided is one of my favorites of season 8. Pretty underrated actually.

I agree. I hadnt seen it much before I got the DVD, but this and Homer vs. the 18th Amendment are the episodes that I have been watching the most on the sets.

The entire plot is really good and emotional, but it has some great jokes, including one of my favourites from the entire series: "I'll be back....pr...probably".

[The "Urban" Lenny]

Hey, I was watching "Homer vs. the 18th Amendment", and one thing I've noticed is that throughout the course of the series is that I can't recall Moe ever drinking on the show. Can anyone remember a time when Moe ever drank any alcohol?

[Dental Plan!]

I've been debating this in my mind for quite a while...and I think there is a slight difference, but I can't put my finger on it.....help me out.