Treehouse of Horror IV

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"Treehouse of Horror IV"
Bill Canterbury
Production code1F04
Original air dateOctober 28, 1993 (1993-10-28)
Guest appearances
Episode features
Couch gag
The family (as zombies) enter through the living room floor before sitting on the couch.
CommentaryMatt Groening
James L. Brooks
David Mirkin
Conan O'Brien
Greg Daniels
Bill Oakley
Josh Weinstein
David Silverman
Episode chronology
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"Marge on the Lam"
The Simpsons season 5
List of episodes

"Treehouse of Horror IV" is the fifth episode of the fifth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons and the fourth episode in the Treehouse of Horror series of Halloween specials. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 28, 1993,[1] and features three short stories called "The Devil and Homer Simpson", "Terror at 5+1⁄2 Feet", and "Bart Simpson's Dracula".

The episode was co-written by

Bill Canterbury, and directed by David Silverman
. As with the rest of the Halloween specials, the episode is considered
Nielsen rating
of 14.5, and was the highest-rated show on the Fox network the week it aired.

Plot

In the wraparound, Bart introduces each of the three segments by walking through a gallery of paintings and each time choosing one of them as the focus of his story.

In "The Devil and Homer Simpson",

the devil, who takes the form of Ned Flanders, for a donut. After Marge and Lisa
plead with Ned, he agrees to put Homer on trial. At the trial, Marge saves Homer from being sent to Hell by displaying a photo from their wedding day. On the back of the photo, Homer has written that, in return for Marge giving him her hand in marriage, he pledges his soul to her forever; therefore, it was not his property to sell at the time of his deal with Ned. The case is dismissed, and Ned frees Homer, but Ned gets his revenge by turning Homer's head into a donut.

In "Terror at 5+1⁄2 Feet", Bart tries to warn the passengers on the school bus that a gremlin is loosening the lug nuts on one of the wheels, but nobody can see the gremlin. In desperation, Bart climbs halfway out the window to scare off the gremlin with an emergency flare. As Bart is pulled back into the bus by Principal Skinner and Groundskeeper Willie, he drops the flare on the gremlin, who catches fire and falls from the bus, but is found by Ned. Even though everyone sees the damage when they make it to school, Bart is sent to a psychiatric hospital for his disruptive behavior. Bart is relieved as he is finally able to rest, but is once again petrified when the gremlin appears in the back window of the ambulance, holding Ned's severed head.

In "Bart Simpson's Dracula", the Simpson family is invited to Mr. Burns' castle in Pennsylvania for a midnight feast. Bart and Lisa discover a secret staircase descending to a basement with coffins. Vampires emerge from the coffins and encircle them while Lisa reads through Burns' autobiography Yes, I Am a Vampire. Lisa escapes and tries to warn her parents that Burns has bitten Bart, but Homer and Marge pay little attention until Bart tries to bite Lisa later that night. Homer drives a stake through Burns' heart, and kills him, as Lisa believes doing so will restore Bart. The next morning, Lisa discovers that everyone else in the Simpson family is a vampire, with Marge as their head. The family breaks character and wishes the audience a happy Halloween; they then begin humming "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing".

Credits

In all Simpsons Treehouse of Horror shows, the names on the credits include middle name nicknames, in quotation marks, which reflect some association with Halloween or horror.

Conan O'Brien's credits all reference his new role as host of Late Night with Conan O'Brien, including a credit that says "Watch Conan O'Brien" and another which says "Watch My Show" as his "middle" name. O'Brien had just begun his tenure on September 13, 1993, roughly a month before the 1993 Treehouse of Horror episode aired.

Production

Conan O'Brien was one of the writers of the episode.

"Treehouse of Horror IV" was directed by

Show runner David Mirkin thought the Treehouse of Horror episodes were the hardest episodes to do because the staff had to fit in all three stories in only 22 minutes. Mirkin said, "Things had to happen really fast. They're really just crammed with jokes and story beats and everything."[4]

"The Devil and Homer Simpson" was written by Daniels and McGrath.

Chernabog from Fantasia (1940); Silverman particularly admired the animation in that sequence.[6] Oakley loved the idea of Flanders being the Devil because he was the character whom viewers would least expect. He also thought Harry Shearer did a good job of playing Flanders in a much darker way, while remaining very true to the character.[7] Many scenes had to be cut to shorten the segment, including one that showed Homer's severed head being used as a bowling ball by a demon in hell. This scene later appeared in the clip show episode "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular", which aired in the show's seventh season.[4]

"Terror at 5+1⁄2 Feet" was written by Oakley and Weinstein. It was inspired by

Üter, a German exchange student, makes his first appearance in this segment; he was conceived as a one-time joke, but reappeared in later episodes because Mirkin felt he was "such a perfect stereotype".[4]

"Bart Simpson's Dracula" was written by Canterbury and based on Francis Ford Coppola's film Bram Stoker's Dracula. Mirkin was a big fan of the film and pushed for a segment inspired by it. He liked the final result and felt Mr. Burns was perfect in the role of Dracula.[4] Dracula and his castle were designed by Silverman. Mirkin, a "big" Peanuts fan, came up with the idea for the ending of "Bart Simpson's Dracula".[6]

Cultural references

The wrap-around segments are a reference to Rod Serling's Night Gallery.[8] The paintings seen in these segments are parodies of well-known works, including van Gogh's Self-Portrait, September 1889, Munch's The Scream, Magritte's The Son of Man, David's The Death of Marat, Dalí's The Persistence of Memory, Picasso's Three Musicians and Escher's Ascending and Descending, all featuring members of the Simpson family. (The last painting, shown before "Bart Simpson's Dracula", is Dogs Playing Poker.) Marge says that the following episode is scary, and that maybe viewers should listen to the War of the Worlds broadcast instead.

"The Devil and Homer Simpson" is a parody of

Chernabog from Fantasia.[5] After Homer discovers a technicality and boasts that he's "smarter than the devil" the Devil turns into the Chernabog-esque demon and intones, "I'll see you in Hell yet, Homer Simpson!" The scene in Hell where Homer is fed all the doughnuts in the world, and asks for more, is a direct parody of the cartoon Pigs is Pigs, in which the character Piggy is taken in by a scientist and forced to eat all the food in the world.[6] The demon who feeds Homer all the donuts in the world says: "I don't understand it. James Coco went mad in fifteen minutes!"[9] Coco was an actor known for his culinary talents and best-selling cookbooks.[10] The "jury of the damned" includes John Wilkes Booth, Lizzie Borden, John Dillinger, Blackbeard, Benedict Arnold, Richard Nixon (who points out that he is not yet dead)[a][1] and the starting lineup of the 1976 Philadelphia Flyers
, a reference to their days as the Broad Street Bullies, when they were notorious for their violent playing style.

"Terror at 5+1⁄2 Feet" is a parody of

Hans Moleman is beside the bus driving an AMC Gremlin
. Otto, assuming this is what he's referring to, sags "No problemo, Bart dude!" and runs Moleman off the road.

"Bart Simpson's Dracula" is a parody of

Salem's Lot. The family's plan to kill the head vampire is also a reference to both the film and novel. In particular, the twist revelation that Burns is not the head vampire is also a reference to the twist ending of The Lost Boys.[6] The segment ends with the family singing "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" à la A Charlie Brown Christmas
.

Alf Clausen's closing credits composition is a version of the Simpsons theme that combines the electric guitar used in The Munsters theme with the harpsichord and clicking from The Addams Family theme.[4]

Reception

In its original American broadcast, "Treehouse of Horror IV" finished 17th in the ratings for the week of October 25 to October 31, 1993, with a

Nielsen rating of 14.5, translating to 13.6 million households. The episode was the highest-rated show on the Fox network that week.[11]

Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, said the episode included many notable sequences and was "probably the best" Treehouse of Horror episode. They particularly liked the scenes in Hell where Homer is punished by the Devil, and

Central Michigan Life's John Thorpe named it the tenth best episode of the series, and wrote: "The best part comes when Homer decides not to eat the last part of the doughnut, thus saving him from hell. Hilarious."[14] DVD Talk's Bill Gibron gave the episode a 4 out of 5 score.[15]

Kim Nowacki of Yakima Herald-Republic named "Treehouse of Horror IV" her "all-time favorite" episode. She praised the parodies of The Twilight Zone and A Charlie Brown Christmas.[16] The episode's reference to Bram Stoker's Dracula was named the 32nd greatest film reference in the history of the show by Total Film's Nathan Ditum.[17] James Whitbrook of Gizmodo called "Bart Simpson's Dracula" the "best sketch in what is the best Treehouse of Horror."[18]

References

  1. ^ In real life, Nixon died 5 months after this episode aired.
  1. ^
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    ..
  2. ^ O'Brien, Conan (2004). The Simpsons season 5 DVD commentary for the episode "Treehouse of Horror IV" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  3. ^ Brooks L., James (2004). The Simpsons season 5 DVD commentary for the episode "Treehouse of Horror IV" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Mirkin, David (2004). The Simpsons season 5 DVD commentary for the episode "Treehouse of Horror IV" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  5. ^ a b Daniels, Greg (2004). The Simpsons season 5 DVD commentary for the episode "Treehouse of Horror IV" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  6. ^ a b c d e Silverman, David (2004). The Simpsons season 5 DVD commentary for the episode "Treehouse of Horror IV" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  7. ^ a b Oakley, Bill (2004). The Simpsons season 5 DVD commentary for the episode "Treehouse of Horror IV" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  8. ^ a b Martyn, Warren; Wood, Adrian (2000). "Treehouse of Horror IV". BBC. Retrieved 2007-03-21.
  9. ^ ‘Treehouse of Horror IV’ script Archived 2021-06-19 at the Wayback Machine, Simpson Crazy.
  10. ^ The Simpsons offers Homer Donut Hell, Fried Donut Ho
  11. ^ Moore, Frazier (November 4, 1993). "Prime-Time TV Ratings". Rocky Mountain News. p. 18D.
  12. ^ Jacobson, Colin (2004-12-21). "The Simpsons: The Complete Fifth Season (1993)". DVD Movie Guide. Retrieved 2009-01-24.
  13. ^ Bromley, Patrick (2005-02-23). "The Simpsons: The Complete Fifth Season". DVD Verdict. Archived from the original on 2009-01-16. Retrieved 2009-01-24.
  14. ^ Thorpe, John (November 15, 2000). "Top 10 Simpson's episodes ever". Central Michigan Life. Archived from the original on January 22, 2009. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
  15. ^ Gibron, Bill (2004-12-21). "The Simpsons — The Complete Fifth Season". DVD Talk. Retrieved 2009-01-24.
  16. ^ Nowacki, Kim (October 15, 2004). "Howl of Fame — Dedicated to the Younger Set". Yakima Herald-Republic.
  17. ^ Ditum, Nathan (June 6, 2009). "The 50 Greatest Simpsons Movie References". Total Film. GamesRadar. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  18. ^ Whitbrook, James (October 30, 2019). "Bart Simpson's Dracula Is the Best Treehouse of Horror Sketch, It Just Is". Gizmodo. Retrieved January 16, 2022.

External links

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