Rate and Review: "Treehouse of Horror XXII" (NABF19)

[The Governor]

Maybe because sideshow bob has tried to kill bart and bart is homer's son? If that doesn't count sideshow bob also attempted to kill the entire family in "the italian bob" and "funeral for a fiend"...

BART:
Dad, Sideshow Bob's trying to kill me....again!

HOMER:
Meh, we've all got to go sometime, son.

BOB:
Mr. Simpson, I can say my desire to kill the fruit of your loins wouldn't be so exasperated if you weren't such a bad father--

HOMER: (angry, eye-twitching)
What? You shouldn't have said that! Oh...you've...crossed the line....Bob, you're a dead man....A DEAD MAN!!!!

[Shaunbadia]

Intro was pretty good and seemed fairly sinister with the twist, just what I like.

The first 2 segments were so fucking awkwardly paced I just couldn't get iinto either, there were some fun visuals with the Flanders story but it really could have used more time to develop. As for the Spider bite thing, it sucked but I can't help but feel I would have enjoyed the Spiderman musical gag a bit more if South Park hadn't done a WAY funnier job with it just a few days prior in "Broadway Bro Down". At least Matt and Trey can take pleasure in being told they finally beat The Simpsons to doing something first.

The Avatar segment....now THAT, while not a parody of any horror fiction, actually got a lot of laughs from me. It was a bit odd to start with but once it got to the female avatar character, it really picked up. The ending was a bit quick for my liking, and I couldn't help but be reminded of "The Futurama Holiday spectacular" with the curtain call, also it's sad but true that the Christmas shopping shit is gonna be forced down our collective throats for the next 2 months.

3/5. I'm being generous because it pains me to score a THOH special so poorly. Not to mention that Channel 4 showed Treehouse of Horror XV at 11.10 PM tonight just before I watched this one, so it was even more disappointing to see "Dail 'D' for Diddily" right after "The Ned Zone".

[Zombies Rise from the Sea]

He didn't tell flanders to kill the bullies or skinner because they aren't trying to MURDER his son. I really don't see how this is a stretch.

Not because they threatened to murder his son, but because they made Bart feel bad/threatened... What I was referencing was an entirely different situation, like Patty & Selma.

Are you using that scene where Bart ignores his dying father to send a text as a basis for your argument or something? Also, this is a treehouse of horror segment, so actions are going to be pushed to the extreme.

No, I didn't base it on that scene at all. I just don't see why Homer would go to extremes to kill Sideshow Bob, even in a ToH segment... I mean it's not like he was walking around the streets fully armed or something and it's not like he appears everyday... Like the rats that invade your home.

Who cares if his intentions have changed? You threaten someone's life, and you can't undo that. There's been 11 sideshow bob episodes. He's proven to be quite unpredictable.

Aware; noted. I mean the whole family kind of hated Bob but Bob only had a thing for Bart (and remembering previous episodes, some scrawls such as politics, insurance money, getting rid of TV.), the point what I'm making is that I can't see why Homer would have Bob murdered (note that he is listed as one of his enemies in the segment, anything else before that isn't mentioned.). I do say that Le Jake's post does accurately describe why Homer would want to murder Sideshow Bob though; I'm not commenting on his motives or the families emotions or even the life that's been threatened, I'm just asking a question to something that was shown in the segment.

[HMS pinafore]

That was scary

1/5

[Mr.]

For me the first segment was the worst and poorest TOH ever made. It was bearlly funny (since when Simpsons had this many fart jokes??), had zero-to no to do with Halloween or macabre and went so fast it felt like it didn't had more story then the Intro.

Ned Flanders segment had few good jokes but once agian wast too short and too fast.

I found Avatar segment boring but better then the first one.

Over all pretty bad Halloween episode... :/

[Cartoonnetwork]

I'm not defending the first segment. It was really pretty bad, and maybe even one of the worst ever...though at least two if not three of the segments in THOH XVIII were equally as bad. But , like I said, I think the situation of Homer being paralyzed by a spider could have been pretty scary or at least 'intense' in a psychological kind of way and great if they had done it right. I'm repeating myself, just because nobody comments on that, but the subjective sequence and Homer's voice over of his thoughts...that was Edgar Alan Poe's material. I know it's a really short scene in a short segment that it's mostly about farts, but this showed more potential than almost any segment they had done since classic era. And it's not a defense, actually, it makes me sad that they didn't realize the potential they had there. Using more subjective shots, explaining how Homer loses his mind in desperation. It could have been a great opportunity to see the world through Homer's eyes, which could have been both funny and scary. There was a lot of potential to be used instead of farts and Spiderman spoofs.

[lovebug]

I'm not defending the first segment. It was really pretty bad, and maybe even one of the worst ever...though at least two if not three of the segments in THOH XVIII were equally as bad. But , like I said, I think the situation of Homer being paralyzed by a spider could have been pretty scary or at least 'intense' in a psychological kind of way and great if they had done it right. I'm repeating myself, just because nobody comments on that, but the subjective sequence and Homer's voice over of his thoughts...that was Edgar Alan Poe's material. I know it's a really short scene in a short segment that it's mostly about farts, but this showed more potential than almost any segment they had done since classic era. And it's not a defense, actually, it makes me sad that they didn't realize the potential they had there. Using more subjective shots, explaining how Homer loses his mind in desperation. It could have been a great opportunity to see the world through Homer's eyes, which could have been both funny and scary. There was a lot of potential to be used instead of farts and Spiderman spoofs.

All of the segments were wasted potential.

[NoOneFamous]

Pretty awful episode, exactly what I've come to expect from THOH. I really wish they'd just stop doing these. Like I've said before, it couldn't be more obvious that they just half-ass them just to keep up with the tradition.

Intro: I know why the segment is longer - the four act structure, but still it was too long to be effective.

1st segment - honestly the premise would have worked better as a real episode where Homer is - temporarily - paralyzed. Then they didn't know how to end it, so uh... "Spiderman I guess."

2nd segment - okay premise, but no direction, no ending.

3rd segment - I haven't even seen Avatar and I could tell what an easy, cheap parody this whole segment was.

Closing - I thought this was pretty funny, as I absolutely hate how Christmas now takes up all of November and December.

But overall, 2/5

[jbauer]

It may not have been the most hilarious Treehouse episode ever made, but it was sure watchable, and the parodies were reasonably spot-on.

I was actually surprised to find that Homer was in fact impersonating god. Just like Flanders, I was buying the whole thing until the reveal. There's something about the way the dialogue was written that really fooled me. Kudos to Carolyn Omine (great Halloween nickname as well).

I also give kudos to the animation. This was probably the most violent and bloody Treehouse episode that I recall. If you can't get the laughs, up the ante on the violence. Matthew Faughnan managed to make it both gruesome and funny, and that's a hard combination to achieve.

Also, they finally changed Sam Simon's Halloween name. Took them 18 years, but finally we have something other than sayonara. Twitterror seems like an accurate way to describe his online personality.

4/5

[Xt'Tapalatakettle]

I'm repeating myself, just because nobody comments on that, but the subjective sequence and Homer's voice over of his thoughts...that was Edgar Alan Poe's material

I agree. I said something akin to it in my (short) review.

[Bleedin' Gums Murphy]

Gatorgod and Magic Meg if you are reading this, HOW ON EARTH COULD YOU GIVE THIS 5/5 ?!?

[The Governor]

"Magic Meg" is Gatorgod's bong.

[TriforceBun]

Definitely one of the more disappointing THOHs. The less interesting The Simpsons gets, the less inclined I am to write lengthy reviews. Here goes:

INTRO - Moderately funny, if strangely paced. I enjoyed the gag of Homer biting off the wrong arm, and the ending with the kids tricking their dad made it actually have a fairly complete and wrapped-up feel, which I can't say for any of the other segments. It's kind of ridiculous that the intro was the part of the episode I most enjoyed. 3/5

BUTTERBALL - This very short segment had at least twice as many fart jokes as the entire rest of the series combined, and that's ridiculous. This was an idea that should've never left the ground, especially considering Homer could still communicate with his eyes (which would be much easier and more pleasant than unrealistically breaking wind nonstop). This was way too broad for The Simpsons--even modern Simpsons--and it's a shame because some of the paralysis stuff was eerie and could've made for a memorable segment. Reminded me of Jaws Wired Shut in spots. 1.5/5

DIDDLY - Behind OFF, Ned probably has the most THOH episodes to himself. His gentle Christian nature definitely contributes to a fun turnaround on Halloween, but this segment just fell short. The killings were slightly fun but they went by in a flash, and the vaguely uncomfortable ending did the whole "we don't have a real ending here, so we'll just throw one crazy thing after another at the audience" spiel. And yeah, it was pretty much a weaker version of Radio Bart's Rod and Todd prank. 2.5/5

NA'VI - Was anyone else kind of weirded out by the barrage of sex jokes in this act, especially considering most of them are about a ten-year-old boy? Centering the parody around the Rigellians was a good idea, but I was disappointed to see that their home planet (which we've never seen before) is nothing more than Pandora. Meanwhile, we get a pretty by-the-numbers parody (although I enjoyed a few of the digs at the movie) and an act that just felt too long, boring, and not Halloweeny. I did like the anticlimactic demise of Skinner, but overall this was weak sauce. 2/5

Lame THOH all in all, one of the worst. 2/5 D/D+

[somejeff]

Awful.

The beginning was lame.

The ” locked-in” story was horrible. Oh, but he can still fart. That's funny. farting is hilarious. Seriously. Who is the target audience? Six year old boys? And a reference to spiderman on broadway? So funny. For reals. "Ass webs" are like snowflakes? This is embarrassingly bad.

Flanders as a killer stunk. It went nowhere and had no ending.

The Avatar themed episode was also not good. It felt very rushed as though jokes were funny enough to be shoehorned into the short running time.

The only thing the least bit scary about this is that someone found this to be funny enough to be on television. "Allen Gregory" is the only thing keeping "The Simpsons" from being worst show of the night.

[IceToSeeYou]

The falling islands joke was maybe the only joke that seemed somewhat clever. 1.5/5.

[Cybercubed]

I don't think I've ever been this bored watching a Halloween episode of this show.

This was truly horrible.

[Zombies Rise from the Sea]

Closing - I thought this was pretty funny, as I absolutely hate how Christmas now takes up all of November and December.

Eh... Apparently people have forgotten about Thanksgiving. No matter, I heard the Indians are in talks with Santa to give the "Thanksgiving" holiday to them, therefore giving them the ability to offer two Christmases in two months.

[Commander Flanders]

What happened to Halloween episodes?

They used to be somewhat related to the holiday and have plots even within the 7 minute timeframe... now it's just poor ripoffs/"parodies" of TV shows and movies... Avatar, 127 hours, etc. It's like they are not even trying anymore.


I gave it a 2. I managed to watch it all, but I think if this was a new show, and not the Simpsons, and they had this to offer, I would have stopped watching.

[Kiyosuki]

This was really, really bad. Almost depressingly so because it just had this overwhelming feeling of not caring all the way through. That first segment feels like it was written in under five minutes by one of the writers' 8 year old kids randomly blurting out anything, second one started out with promise but ended lazilly, and the third one felt like it was a chore. And it's such a shame too, not only because about a year or two ago the halloween episodes at least seemed like they were getting some new life put into them...but also because this episode actually managed to be on time right before halloween for once. That probably won't happen again. I think the only ones who care about making a halloween "episode" good are the guys at Bongo pretty much now. It's probably one of the worst they've ever done I think, and I agree with AVClub in that it just sets a really horrible tone for where this thing is now.

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

I hope they don't think they are being "edgy" with that eating arms thing.

[The Governor]

This was really, really bad. Almost depressingly so because it just had this overwhelming feeling of not caring all the way through.

To quote a "True Fan!" I was arguing with over the show's lack of quality: "The Simpsons have earned the right to suck!".

[Bella Drape 'er]

I only liked the 20/30 second Psycho parody.

Everything else...

[Diversity Pumpkin]

This was probably the most violent and bloody Treehouse episode that I recall. If you can't get the laughs, up the ante on the violence. Matthew Faughnan managed to make it both gruesome and funny, and that's a hard combination to achieve.

I didn't see any blood.

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

I didn't see any blood.

Oh, but that arm eating thing was gruesome, wasn't it.

[Jesse Pinkman]

To quote a "True Fan!" I was arguing with over the show's lack of quality: "The Simpsons have earned the right to suck!".

someone actually said that? jesus christ

was this in person or was this on a website (this, tv.com, any other website where people discuss simpsons...)

i could see that being said on a youtube video by some mindless irrational fan and it getting 100+ likes/thumbs ups from various people...

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

The majority voted for 2/5?

I CAST THIS THREAD TO HELL.

[Dark Homer]

cool fun fact:

In the very first cue of the show, the melody was played by an actual Theremin. So what’s the big deal about that? In 22 years of Halloween episodes it was the FIRST TIME we used an actual Theremin. In all the seasons past, we were unable to locate a Theremin player who could work under the rigors of live scoring for a TV show with a very tight time budget. So, we would use a synthesizer keyboard with a Theremin “sample”. Every year Matt Groening was disappointed with the synth Theremin and every year I explained that we couldn’t find the right player. But last season, we were forced to find one when Peter Gaffney & Steve Viksten wrote a scene where Milhouse tries to woo Lisa by playing a Theremin in NABF13 “Homer Scissorhands”. Now we HAD to find a Theremin player – and we did. Thanks, Charles Richard Lester, for doing a great job on “Homer Scissorhands” and on “Tree House of Horror XXII”

[Oh, that's raspberry!]

They reran Homer Scissorhands last week too if I remember correctly. Coincidence? Likely

[The Governor]

someone actually said that? jesus christ

I've seen the "The Simpsons have earned the right to suck!" on another web forum (I think tv.com) and a columnist from either EW or IGN used it around the time season 20 aired when they acknowledged the internet ire to the then current state of the show.

[Mr. Krikt]

Couple of questions:
Homer was able to operate his eyelids at the beginning of the episode. Why couldn't he blink morse code or using the system Lisa suggested?
Why did the devil appear at the end of the episode? Just to ask God for coffee?