Treehouse of Horror XXIII
| "Treehouse of Horror XXIII" | |
|---|---|
| The Simpsons episode | |
 Promotional image for the episode. | |
| Episode no. | Season 24 Episode 2 |
| Directed by | Steven Dean Moore |
| Written by | David Mandel Brian Kelley |
| Production code | PABF17 |
| Original air date | October 7, 2012 |
| Guest appearance | |
| |
"Treehouse of Horror XXIII" is the second episode of the
Plot
Opening sequence
At the height of the Maya civilization, in the city of Chichen Itza, a sacrifice is about to take place to prevent the end of the world from happening at the end of the 13th Baktun and the Mayan Calendar. A Mayan Homer, who has been fattened up, showing that he is ready to be sacrificed, hears about it for the first time (as he did not pay attention during orientation) and attempts to back out to no avail. However, his wife, a Mayan Marge, tricks a priest, a Mayan Moe, into getting himself sacrificed instead by promising him sex. After the sacrifice, a Mayan Professor Frink confirms that the world will end after the 13th Baktun, which, accounting for the Gregorian calendar and the birth of Jesus, puts the end of days in the year 2012 (with the Mayan Mayor Quimby placing the blame on President Barack Obama).
In the present, Homer encounters three Mayan stone gods, mistaking them for the trick-or-treaters. One of them crushes Homer underfoot, then the second one jumps on Flanders' house. The stone trio start to wreak havoc on Springfield and the Earth with one stone god throwing fireballs at Springfield City Hall and throwing Lard Lad's donut at a UFO and then taking this to popular landmarks like moving the Eiffel Tower to crash it into Big Ben, ripping up the Great Wall of China; causing it to sink to a river of lava, making George Washington's head kiss Abraham Lincoln's head in Mount Rushmore; causing rivers of lava to appear, and splitting Earth into large fissures. Once their destruction is done, they high five to show their success on wreaking havoc in Earth, then fly off, only leaving the Earth to explode, replacing it with what appears to be the Earth's infrastructure or blood. The text reads the title of the episode.
The Greatest Story Ever Holed
The citizens of Springfield gather to witness the activation of the Springfield Particle Accelerator; they originally wanted to use the money to build a new
Un-normal Activity
In a Paranormal Activity homage,[1] when strange events occur at the Simpson house, Homer sets up cameras to photograph what is haunting them. The culprit is revealed to be a Moe-like demon with whom Marge made a deal to save her sisters when they summoned the demon as part of a Satanic ritual. As part of the deal, the demon would return 30 years later to take Marge's favorite child as payment (which turns out to be Maggie, much to Lisa's shock). Homer manages to convince the demon to relinquish the bargain in return for Homer to reluctantly engage in three-way sex with him and another demon. After learning that the safe word is cinnamon, Homer throws his robe over the camera saying he'd like to try something and the Moe-like demon is heard yelling 'cinnamon'.
Bart and Homer's Excellent Adventure
In a parody of
Production
This is the first episode of The Simpsons co-written by David Mandel.[2] Executive producer Al Jean stated that the first act about the black hole ties in with the discovery of the Higgs boson in the summer of 2012. A preview of this segment was shown at San Diego Comic-Con in 2012.[3]
Reception
Ratings
The episode received a 3.1 in the 18-49 demographic, coming second in the Animation Domination lineup behind Family Guy, which had a 3.4. It earned a total viewership of 6.57 million, also coming in second behind Family Guy, which had 6.70 million viewers, but beating American Dad!, Bob's Burgers, and The Cleveland Show.[4]
Critical reception
Robert David Sullivan of The A.V. Club gave the episode a B and gave a fairly positive review, commenting, "In the early years of The Simpsons, the annual 'Treehouse Of Horror' outing was a fun contrast to most of the show’s episodes. There was no warmth, no subtlety, no lessons learned, and no attempt at a coherent story—just a lot of gross-out humor and a chance to see Springfield stretched even further past reality. Now that entire show has adopted these qualities, the Halloween tradition doesn't seem as special. But, like the couch gag at the start of each episode, 'Treehouse Of Horror' tempts us with the chance to see something that doesn't feel borrowed (and a bit dumbed down) from the show’s glory years."[1]
Teresa Lopez of TV Fanatic gave the episode 4 out of 5 stars. She liked the final two acts, especially the look at the Ziff family in the final act. She thought the first act was the weakest because of the humor coming from aliens worshiping garbage.[5]
Screen Rant called it the best episode of the 24th season.[6]
Awards and nominations
Animator Paul Wee won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation at the 65th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards for this episode.[7] The episode also was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program at the same award ceremony.[8]
Writers David Mandel & Brian Kelley received a nomination for the Writers Guild of America Award for Outstanding Writing in Animation at the 65th Writers Guild of America Awards for their script to this episode.[9]
Composer Alf Clausen was nominated for the Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Music in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production at the 40th Annie Awards for this episode.[10]
References
- ^ a b c Sullivan, Robert David (October 7, 2012). "The Simpsons "Treehouse of Horror XXIII"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (April 16, 2019). "'Veep' Showrunner David Mandel Inks Overall Deal With HBO". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
- ^ a b Roots, Kimberly (August 25, 2012). "Exclusive Simpsons Scoop: Get All the Details on Season 24's Treehouse of Horror!". TVLine. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
- ^ Kondolojy, Amanda (October 9, 2012). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'Once Upon a Time' & 'The Amazing Race' Adjusted Up; '60 Minutes' Adjusted Down + Final Football Numbers". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on October 11, 2012. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
- ^ Lopez, Teresa (October 7, 2012). "The Simpsons Review: The 13th Baktun". TV Fanatic. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
- ^ Sim, Bernardo (September 22, 2019). "The Simpsons: The Best Episode In Every Season, Ranked". Screen Rant. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
- E! Online. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
- ^ "65th Primetime Emmys: Complete List of Nominations". Variety. July 18, 2013. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
- ^ Kim, Wook (February 18, 2013). "2013 WGA Awards: The Complete List Of Winners". Time. Retrieved February 23, 2019.
- ^ King, Susan (December 3, 2012). "'Brave,' 'Wreck-It Ralph' among nominees for the Annie Awards". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
External links
- "Treehouse of Horror XXIII" at IMDb
- "Treehouse of Horror XXIII" Archived December 29, 2018, at the Wayback Machine at theSimpsons.com
