[MrBarlow]

Originally Posted by MacBlayne

THE SIMPSONS HALLOWEEN SPECIAL

Been catching up on some of the classic Simpsons Halloween specials. They’re all great, but I’m just going to mention my favourite parts.

Treehouse of Horror I

Best segment: The Raven

Beautifully animated and superbly narrated adaptation of the classic Poe tale. Although very humourous, it does capture the terrifying loneliness of the source material. This segment alone persuaded a very young me to borrow a Poe collection from my local library. Children should be forced to watch this episode to kickstart a love of literature.

Best line

Homer on the phone to the estate agent: “When you sold me this house, you forgot to mention one little thing. You didn’t tell me it was built on an Indian burial ground!... NO, YOU DIDN’T!... Well, that’s not my recollection… Yeah, well… all right. Goodbye. [hangs up] He says he mentioned it five or six times.

Treehouse of Horror II

Best segment: The Monkey’s Paw

This whole episode is a bit of a step down from the previous one, but The Monkey’s Paw is brilliant piece of satire mocking the programme’s cultural impact, as well the merchandising.

Best line

Kang the alien after being chased away by an irate Moe: “That board with a nail in it may have defeated us, but the humans won’t stop there. They’ll make bigger boards and bigger nails. Soon they’ll make a board with a nail so big it will destroy them all!”

Treehouse of Horror III

Best Segment

Ooh, a tough one. King Homer is funny, but Clown Without Pity and Dial Z For Zombies are loaded with incredible comedic moments and one-liners. CWP has the creepy merchant selling cursed frozen yoghurt (“which I call frogurt!”) and Z has Homer gunning down Washington, Einstein, and Shakespeare. As much as I adore Dial Z For Zombies, I’m going with Clown Without Pity for having the best line.

Best line

Homer pleading to Marge for help: “The doll’s trying to kill me and the toaster’s been laughing at me!”

Treehouse of Horror IV

Best Segment: The Devil and Homer Simpson

Every segment is a gem loaded with sparkling one-liners, but the first segment is chockful of imaginative animation. Homer’s descent to Hell is fantastic, as well as the Ironic Punishment labs bit where a demon gives Homer all of the doughnuts in the world.

Best line

Grandpa running in with a hammer and stake: “Quick! We have to kill the boy!”

Marge: “How do you know he’s a vampire?”

Grandpa: “He’s a vampire?” [runs off screaming]

Treehouse of Horror V

Best segment: The Shinning

Another laugh filled episode, with a tremendous running gag involving Groundskeeper Willie. The Shinning gets the top spot due to one genuinely impressive horror moment, when Marge learns about Homer’s state of mind. Her comment “Oh, this is not encouraging,” is a thigh-slapper.

Best line

Homer, after going back in time and accidentally killing all of the dinosaurs: “This is going to cost me…”

Treehouse of Horror VI

Best segment: Homer3

To be honest, this is one of the weaker episodes, but this segment has some (at the time groundbreaking) fascinating CG animation that the animators have a lot of fun with.

Best line

Groundskeeper Willie (channeling Freddy Kruger), before he kills the Latin-spouting Martin: “You’ve mastered a dead tongue. Can you handle a living one?”

Treehouse of Horror VII

Best segment: Citizen Kang

Possibly one of the funniest segments ever, almost every line and frame is designed to raise a chuckle. From a frustrated Homer screaming at fish, to Bill Clinton and Bob Dole holding hands – I’m always crying with laughter at this episode.

Best line

Arguably the greatest line ever. After being enslaved by aliens and forced to build a death laser cannon, Homer avoids all responsibility: “Don’t blame me. I voted for Kodos!”

The amount of times I watched these episodes and just about spat or choked on.my coffee is unbelievable.