Treehouse of Horror IX
"Treehouse of Horror IX" | |
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The Simpsons episode | |
Episode no. | Season 10 Episode 4 |
Directed by | Steven Dean Moore |
Written by | Hell Toupée: Donick Cary The Terror of Tiny Toon: Larry Doyle Starship Poopers: David X. Cohen |
Production code | AABF01 |
Original air date | October 25, 1998 |
Guest appearances | |
| |
Episode features | |
Couch gag | The family never makes it to the living room; Bart slips while skateboarding and hits his head, Lisa gets catapulted into the roof of the garage after tripping over Bart while cycling, and Homer gets run down by Marge's car. In the living room, Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees are on the couch wondering where the Simpsons are.[1] |
Commentary | Matt Groening Mike Scully George Meyer Ron Hauge David X. Cohen Donick Cary Steven Dean Moore |
"Treehouse of Horror IX" is the fourth episode of the
"Treehouse of Horror IX" was written by
In its original airing on the Fox Network, the episode had an 8.6
Plot
Opening sequence
The opening sequence is exactly the same as normal, but with a dark twist, as Bart does the chalkboard lines in red paint, and then the entire family is killed one by one as they arrive home (Bart falls off his skateboard when he lands on the car, Lisa is catapulted into the garage wall when she strikes Bart in the driveway, and Homer is crushed by Marge and Maggie, who presumably also die in the crash). On the couch, Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees are waiting for them and wonder where they are.
Hell Toupée
In a parody of the , and Bart are all witnesses; Snake vows to kill them all.
After the execution, which happens on live TV, Homer visits
The Terror of Tiny Toon
In a parody of Stay Tuned,[4] Marge forbids Bart and Lisa from watching the Itchy & Scratchy Halloween special while she goes trick-or-treating with Maggie, removing the batteries from the remote control. When Marge leaves, Bart finds plutonium in Homer's toolbox and hammers it into the remote's battery slot. When they use the remote, the kids enter the world of Itchy and Scratchy, and begin to laugh at their antics, angering the cat-and-mouse duo, who proceed to hunt them to teach them a lesson. Both groups even pass by Poochie at one point.
Back in the Simpson house, Homer enters the living room and watches the show. Oblivious to what he sees, Homer decides to change the channel and Bart, Lisa, Itchy, and Scratchy wind up on
Unfortunately, Itchy and Scratchy also escape. At first, the family is terrified, but soon realize how small the pair actually are, and decide to keep them as pets. After seeing Scratchy fall in love with
Starship Poopers
Marge discovers Maggie's first baby tooth, which appears to be a sharp fang. Maggie later loses her legs and sprouts her green tentacles. Maggie's pacifier sucks contact the alien duo Kang and Kodos. They arrive at the Simpson house, coming to retrieve Maggie. Marge reveals that Kang is Maggie's real father and explains how it happened.
Kang and Kodos demand that the Simpsons give Maggie to them, but Homer refuses which starts a big fight between Kang and Homer until Bart suggests that they appear on The Jerry Springer Show to resolve their issues. When an audience member criticizes Kang, he vaporizes her, as well as the rest of the audience and the film crew. Everyone looks guiltily as host Jerry Springer does a monologue encouraging them to put their differences aside and do what is best for Maggie. However, Maggie attacks Springer, killing him, causing Kang and Homer to fight again, much to Marge's embarrassment.
After leaving the studio, Kang and Kodos threaten to destroy every politician in
Production
Like the other Treehouse of Horror episodes to that point, the segments of "Treehouse of Horror IX" were credited to different writers. "Hell Toupée" was written by Donick Cary.[5] "Terror of Tiny Toon" was written by Larry Doyle.[6] "Starship Poopers" was written by David X. Cohen and, until season 32's "Podcast News", was the last writing credit he ever received for the show.[7] The episode continues the Treehouse of Horror tradition of having the credits re-written as "scary names". Cohen's executive producer credit is "David 'Watch Futurama' Cohen" is a reference to the show Futurama, created by Cohen and Matt Groening, which premiered 5 months later.[7]
Much of the animation in the first segment, "Hell Toupée", was worked on by assistant director Chris Clements.[8] Moe's death scene was originally more violent, but it was toned down at the request of Mike Scully.[8]
The title of the second segment, "Terror of the Tiny Toon", is a reference of the
The title of the third segment, "Starship Poopers", is a reference to the film Starship Troopers.[1] During this segment, there is a shot of sound waves emanating from Springfield. At one point, there is a shot of North America and it appears that Springfield is located in Louisiana.[9] The mystery of the location of Springfield is a running joke in The Simpsons, and a number of fans assumed that Louisiana was where the family lived.[9] However, the animators had drawn the waves so that they were coming from the center of the screen, and they never intended to have them emanate from a specific location.[8] In one scene, Marge is abducted by Kang and Kodos, who lasso her then pull her into the ship. According to Cohen, it is a running gag that Kang and Kodos' abduction methods are never the same.[7] Maggie has a line at the end of the episode, where she sounds like Kang. She was voiced by Harry Shearer.[5]
The couch gag features
Reception
In its original airing on the Fox Network, the episode had an 8.6
The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, wrote, "Another collection of horrors, of varying degrees of wit. The Itchy and Scratchy one is by far the best, and Starship Poopers is only really amusing once the Jerry Springer segment begins."[1] Colin Jacobson of DVD Movie Guide gave the episode a positive review saying "The series usually rises to the occasion of its Halloween episodes, and 'IX' doesn’t disappoint. Each of the three stories satisfies, as they offer a lot of clever, amusing moments. 'Toupée' is probably the best, though, as it's the most creative of the bunch. While funny, the other two can be a bit predictable."[11] Kay McFadden of The Seattle Times wrote that the episode is "certainly not on a par with that all-time doppelganger classic, 'Treehouse of Horror VII', [...] still, No. 9's dialogue is sharp and there's reassuring continuity to such beloved institutions as Itchy and Scratchy."[12]
In 2008, "Starship Poopers" was named the tenth best Treehouse of Horror segment by
References
- ^ a b c "Cult - The Simpsons: Season Ten Episode Guide - Treehouse of Horror IX". BBC. Retrieved 2010-08-28.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-06-098763-3.
- ^ Dessem, Matthew (2020-03-14). "The Episodes of Amazing Stories That Are Actually Worth Watching". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 2020-10-17.
- ^ "13 Great Simpsons Treehouse of Horror Halloween Stories". Den of Geek. 2019-10-30. Retrieved 2020-10-17.
- ^ a b c Cary, Donick (2007). Commentary for "Treehouse of Horror IX", in The Simpsons: The Complete Tenth Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
- ^ Hauge, Ron (2007). Commentary for "Treehouse of Horror IX", in The Simpsons: The Complete Tenth Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
- ^ a b c d Cohen, David X. (2007). Commentary for "Treehouse of Horror IX", in The Simpsons: The Complete Tenth Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
- ^ a b c d e f Moore, Steven Dean (2007). Commentary for "Treehouse of Horror IX", in The Simpsons: The Complete Tenth Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
- ^ a b c Scully, Mike (2007). Commentary for "Treehouse of Horror IX", in The Simpsons: The Complete Tenth Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
- South Florida Sun-Sentinel. The Associated Press. 1998-10-29.
- ^ "The Simpsons: The Complete Tenth Season (1998)". Dvdmg.com. Retrieved 2010-08-28.
- ^ McFadden, Kay (1998-10-29). "The Simpsons still deliver house of everyday horrors". The Seattle Times.
- ^ Iverson, Dan, Goldman, Eric, Zoromski, Brian (November 5, 2010). "Top 10 Segments from The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror". IGN. Retrieved 2022-01-23.
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Emmy.com. Retrieved 2010-08-28.