Review of [5F02] "Treehouse of Horror VIII"
Mark Aaron Richey
Review:
While this "Treehouse" isn't one of the best ones, it's still chock full
of laughs and great black humor in the great Simpsons Halloween
tradition.
"The Homega Man"-A bit rushed (the only one of the three that feels that
way), but very funny, nevertheless. Only Homer would react to being the
last person alive by taking in a David Spade/Chris Farley movie and
dancing naked in church. As I said, the mutant attack was a little too
quick (maybe a little less setup), but had an appropiately gory ending.
Grade: B+
"Fly vs. Fly"-Bart's wrongheaded attempt to turn into SuperFly instead
made him a SuperFreak (don't you just love my 70's refs?) in a
suprisingly sharp parody of "The Fly". One good moment was when Bart
realized that Homer and Marge couldn't hear him, and there was a
genuinely creepy moment when Bart and Lisa realized that the FlyBoy was
on the ceiling. Some great stuff at Prof. Frink's garage sale and a
good Halloween twist to the usual Homer-chases-Bart scene. The fate of
SLH and Snowball II was also very humorous. Grade: A-
"Easy-Bake Coven"-Natually, Springfield (I mean Sprynge-Fielde) would be
spending 1649 burning the entire female population at the stake in an
effort to figure out which witch was which. Not so predictably was that
Marge would turn out to be the only real witch in town (of course, she
is the sister of Patty and Selma-their witchhood came as a big
surprise). Unfortunally, the episode veered a little bit out of control
when it was revealed that Marge was an evil witch, witch...er, which was
out of character (it was a Halloween episode, but still...) and I'd have
rather seen Marge attempting to fit in Sprynge-Fielde or try to be her
old mothering self than originate trick-or-treating. Still, it was very
clever and highly enjoyable. Grade: B+
So, throw in the A- I give the opening, and this "Treehouse" gets a B+
DYN's
...the actual rating is TV-PG-V?
...the correct P-code is on the script?
...Marge says "...chopping off her head" as the credit for Ron "The
One-Headed Man Hause appears?
...the cans of steak and beans in the bomb shelter?
...the multi-ringed planet above Rigel-4?
...the aliens on Rigel-4 don't have helmets?
...one of the alien makes the crazy sign with his (her?) tentacle?
...the comic book store guy is eating a hot dog?
...the body of Kirk Van Houten?
...Marge wiffs?
...Maggie, SLH, Snowball II, and the TV are "the rest"?
...the expression on Bart's face when Homer makes it home?
...Lisa flinches when she fires?
...Maggie is clinging to Marge when they stare at the mutants' bodies?
...Homer sounds like Dick Vitale when he transports to the top of the
stairs?
...Lisa is apparently at the toilet when Homer punches her (it's a good
thing he didn't go through his plan)?
...in his fantasy, Bart flies to Springfield Elementary?
...Homer grabs a beer through the transporter while Lisa and FlyBoy are
fighting?
...Moe's Inn?
...Snake in the stocks?
...Goodie Krabappel has The Scarlet Letter?
Mistakes
Don't nuclear bombs destroy everything, not just roast humans?
When Homer first pulls up to the traffic light, there are two cars
between him and Kirk's. In subsequent shots, they are the only two cars
at the intersection.
The animal butts walk back into the transporter, but don't get
transported.
The number of gingerbread children increases between the time Maude
picks up the plate and the time she gives them to the witches.
Louanne Van Houten was burned at the stake, but could be seen in the
crowd at Halloween a year later.
Refs:
TV ratings-Introduced in January, the TV ratings were born amid concerns
of the increase in sex and violence on TV (not just on NBC and CBS).
Based on the movie ratings, they were divided into two
sections-children's programming, which got either a TV-Y, or TV-Y7 for
shows aimed at older kids, and regular programming, which was divided
into four categories. TV-G was for general audiences. TV-PG was for
shows deemed to need parental guidance. TV-14 was for shows deemed
inappropriate for pre-teens and younger; and TV-MA was for shows that
only adults should see (despite the fact that most TV-14 programs would
be rated PG in movie theaters, and even many non-premium TV-MA programs
would be hard pressed to get a PG-13.
The new ratings, which were implemented reluctantly by the broadcast and
cable networks, were immediately controversial. Networks and TV
producers thought the new ratings would lead to censorship, while
activist groups thought the ratings didn't convey enough information
about the show's contents. They also thought that the networks
shouldn't be ratings the programs themselves (like an outside board
could watch and rate every single episode of every single show on the
air).
Unfortunately, the activist groups won, and at the beginning of this
month, the system became more confusing. Last summer, Congress talked
three of the four major networks and the cable networks into adding more
letters--V, S, D, and L--to the already needless ratings even more
confusing (NBC is the lone holdout).
NBC-sytle sex-Many of NBC's sitcoms, including their two most
popular-"Friends" and "Seinfeld"-are, to say the least, rather risque.
In fact, it's a rare Thursday night (or Monday night, or Tuesday night,
or Wednesday night, or Sunday night) when at least one character on one
show doesn't get lucky, and then describes it in a double entrende fest.
CBS-style violence-While NBC features massive bedhopping, CBS shows seem
to have lots and lots of action violence. The biggest culprit is
"Walker, Texas Ranger", since Walker, Texas Ranger's solution to just
about every crime is to beat the perps to a bloody pulp (even though the
show is filmed in my hometown of Dallas, and I occasionally will
reconize some landmark or another on the rare occasions I feel like
killing brain cells.
"The Omega Man"-1971 sci-fi thriller starring Charlton Heston as a
scientist who escapes a plague (the result of a nuclear holocaust) and
has to battle hooded ghouls in an effort to save the human race. It
wasn't well received. It was the second film based on a novel by
Richard Matheson called "I Am Legend" (the first was a 1964 Vincent
Price movie called "The Last Man on Earth). A third version, finally
titled "I Am Legend" and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger is coming out
next summer.
Gary Larson-Cartoonist who created "The Far Side", a truly weird (but
very funny) strip that abounded with cows, insects, mumu-wearing old
women, and other assorted gags. Many of Larson's gags sailed right over
the head of the average reader, and some of them sailed over the head of
just about everybody.
Intel Inside-The world's leading maker of computer chips. In fact, it's
more than likely that the computer you are reading this on right now is
powered by an Intel chip.
Spade & Farley-Comic duo (one fat and stupid, one thin and sarcastic)
who rose to fame on "Saturday Night Live" before being teamed in the hit
1995 movie "Tommy Boy". That proved to be such a success that they
reappeared together in the 1996 film "Black Sheep". That one didn't go
over quite as well. Both of their movies were road films, which had a
continuous pattern of Farley doing something stupid, Spade would make a
sarcastic, than Farley would do something stupid again. Critics were
not amused.
The mutant's car-I may be wrong, but it looks reminiscent of the of the
car from the mid-70's Hanna-Barbara cartoon "The Groovy Ghoulees".
"Spy vs. Spy"-Mad Magazine cartoon about two constantly battling spies,
one dressed in white, one in black, who seem to always be blowing each
other up (or some other gruesome thing).
"The Fly"-1958 sci-fi thriller about a scientist whose experiment goes
horribly awry, resulting in him being turned into a fly. The "Help
me!"'s came from that film's climax. Unlike Bart, the fly did not
escape. It was gorily remade in 1986 with Jeff Goldblum and Geena
Davis.
"Superfly"-1972 blaxploitation film about a Harlem drug dealer who is
going for one last score before retiring.
Easy Bake Oven-Real working oven designed for little girls in the early
60's. These things weren't dangerous, since they gave off almost no
heat, but they did actually cook cookies. Made by Kenner. I'm not sure
if they still make them today, but I think they do.
The Salem Witch Trials-In early 1692, two girls began acting very
strange in Salem, Mass. Doctors concluded that they were under the
influence of witches. The girls accused three women in town of placing
them under a spell. Two of the women denied it, but one, the family
slave of one of the girls confessed, and "reveled" a conspiracy of
witches in Salem. That began a year-long hysteria in the town.
By the end of the year, twenty men and women had been hanged as witches.
The girls weren't the only ones hurling accusations. Respected
townspeople came forward and "confessed" that they had witnessed
witchcraft. Over the next nine months, many innocent people were tried
and found guilty with no real evidence. Finally, in October, the royal
governor put a stop to the madness, and the executions were stopped.
Arthur Miller based his 1952 play "The Crucible" on the trials, but
"Easy Bake Coven" is really not a parody of the play or the movie
released last November.
"The Scarlet Letter"-Classic novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne that everybody
had to slog through in high school (11th grade for me) about Hester
Prynne, a Puritan who had a baby out of wedlock and was forced to wear a
scarlet-colored "A" on all her clothes. The father was the local
minister, who was racked with guilt, espically after Hester's long-lost
husband shows up and guesses the truth about his wife's baby's father.
It's been made into several movies over the years, most recently in a
horrible version in 1995, with Demi Moore, of all people, playing Hester
(there's a story that the crew of "The Crucible" took in "The Scarlet
Letter" during pre-production of their film to see how NOT to make a
film of a classic story about Puritans).
"Bewitched"-60's sitcom about a mortal named Darrin married to a witch
named Sam. Sam's family hates the match, and can never remember his
named, usually calling him Durwood.
FFF
The Mutants: Sideshow Mel, Ned, Dr. Hibbert, Lenny, Moe, Skinner, Mr.
Burns, Capt. McAllister, Chief Wiggum
At the witch burning: Skinner, Mel, Moe, Ned, Rev. Lovejoy, Maude,
Helen, Lenny, Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie, Quimby, Wiggum, Lou,
Eddie, Nelson, Louanne Van Houten, Agnes Skinner, Miss Hoover (the last
three getting burned).
People in costumes: Ralph as a gopher, Sherri & Terri as angels, Nelson
as the Devil, Lisa as a Native Indian, Homer as (I Dream of) Jeannie,
Ned as a shepard, Rod and Todd as sheep, Bart as a pirate, Wiggum as an
aristocrat, Moe as Robin Hood, Skinner as a jester
Creepy Credits
I leave it to others to chronicle the complete list of credits, but here
are refs for some:
Devil in Rich Appel-"The Devil In Miss Jones", an early 70's porno.
Don "of the the Dead" Nick Carry-"Dawn of the Dead" classic 1978 horror
film from George Romero about flesh eating zombies attacking four people
barricaded in a shopping mall.
"La Femme" Sinkota-"La Femme Nikita"-1991 French action film about a
former drug addict turned government assassin. Remade as "Point of No
Return" in 1993 and later turned into a USA series.
Mike "Agent" Scully-Agent Dana Scully, played by Gillian Anderson, is
one of the characters on the Fox hit "The X-Files" (Anderson, of course,
played Agent Scully in [3G01] "The Springfield Files").
Maggie "Area 51" Roswell-Area 51 is supposedly the secret army base in
Nevada where the bodies of the aliens that crashed in Roswell, NM in
1947 were supposedly taken. Seen in 1996's "Independence Day".
Brad "Nervermore" Bird-"Quoth the raven 'Nevermore'". Line from Edgar
Allen Poe's poem "The Raven", as heard in [7F04] "Treehouse of Horror".
Lolee "Lugosi" Aries-Bela Lugosi, star of Dracula (a role he was
typecast in for the rest of his career).
Needful Things Goldreyer-"Needful Things", 1991 Stephen King novel (and
1993 movie) about a mysterious store that opens up in a small Maine town
that has everything any town person would want-but for a price.
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane O'Brien-"What Ever Happened to Baby
Jane", 1962 black comedy/horror about two sisters, one a former child
star, the other now in a wheelchair, who loath each other. Approately
enough, stars Bette Davis and Joan Crawford also loathed each other in
real life. Remade as a TV movie in 1991.
The Thing That Wouldn't Doyle-"The Thing That Wouldn't Die", a cheap
1958 horror movie.
Matt "Death of a" Selman-"Death of a Salesman", possibly America's
greatest play, about a salesman who discovers that his whole life has
been worthless. Written by Arthur Miller.
Domi "Blackula" Dro-"Blackula", an early 70's blaxploiation horror film.
Alexander "Show Me the Mummy" Duke-a variation on "Show Me the Money",
which quickly became last winter's catchphrase of choice after being
shouted out loudly several times by Tom Cruise and Cuba Gooding, Jr. in
the hit "Jerry Maguire".
Norman "Bates" MacLeod-Norman Bates (played by Anthony Perkins) was a
nice young man who ran a run-down motel in the middle of nowhere and had
an unusual relationship with his mother in Alfred Hitchcock's 1962
classic "Psycho".
Mad Mark Richey
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David Simpson
In article <3457B7...@showme.missouri.edu>, Mark Aaron Richey
<c67...@showme.missouri.edu> wrote:
> Mistakes
>
> Don't nuclear bombs destroy everything, not just roast humans?
>
The weapon was identified as a neutron bomb. They generate a blast of
neutrons, which kill animals and humans, but do little property damage.
Only the Greter Springfield area should have been affected. The residual
radiation is supposed to decay rapidly.
--
"There are two kinds of people in the world. Those who think there are two kinds of people in the world and those who don't"
Matt Bathje
On Wed, 29 Oct 1997 16:22:57 -0600, Mark Aaron Richey
>Don't nuclear bombs destroy everything, not just roast humans?
>
I think this was specified as a *nuetron* bomb, not *nuclear* Nuetron
bombs are (theoretically?) able to kill everybody/thing near where it
explodes, leaving all buildings/cars etc. intact.
Matt Bathje
Derek Alexander Pillie
Matt Bathje (m...@xnet.com) wrote:
: I think this was specified as a *nuetron* bomb, not *nuclear* Nuetron
: bombs are (theoretically?) able to kill everybody/thing near where it
: explodes, leaving all buildings/cars etc. intact.
That would be correct. President Carter halted further U.S. investigation
and research into the development of a neutron bomb.
Derek
"Jimmy Carter! He's history's greatest villan!"
"Malaise forever"
- From the episode where Marge shoplifts and go to jail
--
Derek Alexander Pillie------------------------------------------------------
dpi...@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu Munson Hall #404
1 C State Street 2212 I St., N.W.
Lansdale, PA 19446 Washington, DC 20052
(215) 361-2574 (202) 994-9593
My home page is at: http://gwis2.circ.gwu.edu/~dpillie
The OA Online Resources page is located at:
http://gwis2.circ.gwu.edu/~dpillie/oa/index.html
"There is no country where the law can foresee everything or where
institutions should take the place of reason and mores."
- Alexis de Tocqueville
Matthew Hayward
David Simpson (Osm...@magic.ca) wrote:
: In article <3457B7...@showme.missouri.edu>, Mark Aaron Richey
: <c67...@showme.missouri.edu> wrote:
: > Mistakes
: >
: > Don't nuclear bombs destroy everything, not just roast humans?
: >
: The weapon was identified as a neutron bomb. They generate a blast of
: neutrons, which kill animals and humans, but do little property damage.
: Only the Greter Springfield area should have been affected. The residual
: radiation is supposed to decay rapidly.
: --
: "There are two kinds of people in the world. Those who think there are two kinds of people in the world and those who don't"
--
______________________________________________
Matthew M. Hayward
hay...@fas.harvard.edu
hay...@ykindigo.harvard.edu
-Nil Sine Mango Labore-
______________________________________________
Laura Canon
I seem to recall an episode which flashed back to Marge as a little girl
where she was using an Easy-Bake Oven. Possibly the one where Bart gets a
job so he can buy the Radioactive Man comic or the one where Lisa rebels.
Anthony Dean <ad...@expert.cc.purdue.edu> wrote in article
<63ajkr$n...@mozo.cc.purdue.edu>...
> Mark Aaron Richey (c67...@showme.missouri.edu) wrote:
>
> :
>
> : Easy Bake Oven-Real working oven designed for little girls in the early
> : 60's. These things weren't dangerous, since they gave off almost no
> : heat, but they did actually cook cookies. Made by Kenner. I'm not
sure
> : if they still make them today, but I think they do.
>
> My sister had one of those back in the mid-80's; I think I remember
seeing
> an ad for them during a Simpsons episode (in syndication) a year ago.
> --
> +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
> | My Homepage: http://expert.cc.purdue.edu/~adean |
> | Maggie Simpson: http://expert.cc.purdue.edu/~adean/maggie.html |
> +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
> | The Warners: "You don't have fun?!" |
> | Clubmember: "No, we prefer to preach pro-social values 'til they |
> | *spew* out of everyone's ears and all over the ground!" |
> | ---Yakko, Wakko, & Dot in "Obese Orson"'s limited animation clubhouse |
> +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
>
Anthony Dean
Mark Aaron Richey (c67...@showme.missouri.edu) wrote:
: Mistakes
: Don't nuclear bombs destroy everything, not just roast humans?
It was a neutron bomb, which are supposed to mainly destroy humans/organic
matter(?).
: Intel Inside-The world's leading maker of computer chips. In fact, it's
: more than likely that the computer you are reading this on right now is
: powered by an Intel chip.
Not very likely for me
(reading this on a Power Mac 7500/100 at my university's lab, with
an aging Macintosh Performa 636CD at home).
: "Spy vs. Spy"-Mad Magazine cartoon about two constantly battling spies,
: one dressed in white, one in black, who seem to always be blowing each
: other up (or some other gruesome thing).
: Easy Bake Oven-Real working oven designed for little girls in the early
Andrew Gill
Laura Canon wrote in message <01bce574$6ccbe4c0$b6232399@lauracan>...
>I seem to recall an episode which flashed back to Marge as a little girl
>where she was using an Easy-Bake Oven. Possibly the one where Bart gets a
>job so he can buy the Radioactive Man comic or the one where Lisa rebels.
Let's see, where did that come from? Oh, yes--Homer bought it for use in
the car. (Apparently Homer got a car adapter)
Oh, and sorry if this sounds sarcastic.
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Ah, Gavroche--where are you now? Ah, yes: dead.
Jason Hancock
On Wed, 29 Oct 1997, Mark Aaron Richey wrote:
> The new ratings, which were implemented reluctantly by the broadcast and
> cable networks, were immediately controversial. Networks and TV
> producers thought the new ratings would lead to censorship, while
> activist groups thought the ratings didn't convey enough information
> about the show's contents. They also thought that the networks
> shouldn't be ratings the programs themselves (like an outside board
> could watch and rate every single episode of every single show on the
> air).
As you may/may not remember, I was the one who bitched back in January
when a certain eastern Iowa TV station gave OFF a TV-14 rating. They
later reconsidered and gave it a TV-PG, then they stopped rating the
episodes themselves, and then they gave their syndication rights to
another station.
> Intel Inside-The world's leading maker of computer chips. In fact, it's
> more than likely that the computer you are reading this on right now is
> powered by an Intel chip.
And it's seen on a lot of commercials for computers, accompanied by those
four piano notes. (I couldn't help but hum those notes the first time I
saw that missile with the "Intel Inside" label.)
> "The Scarlet Letter"-Classic novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne that everybody
> had to slog through in high school (11th grade for me)
Same here, and I also had to put up with it in junior college as well.
--Jason
Nathan Mulac DeHoff
On Thu, 30 Oct 1997 12:46:47 -0800, in article
<01bce574$6ccbe4c0$b6232399@lauracan>, the one known as Laura Canon wrote
thusly:
>
>I seem to recall an episode which flashed back to Marge as a little girl
>where she was using an Easy-Bake Oven. Possibly the one where Bart gets
a
>job so he can buy the Radioactive Man comic or the one where Lisa
rebels.
It was the one where Bart got a job in order to buy the comic ("Three Men
and a Comic Book"). The one in which Lisa rebelled features another
flashback to Marge's childhood, in which she tells Patty and Selma that
there will be female astronauts.
--
Nathan Mulac DeHoff
vo...@geocities.com or ln...@grove.iup.edu
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Corridor/5447/
"I'm having a wonderful time, but I'd rather be whistling in the dark."
[arock]
:> Intel Inside-The world's leading maker of computer chips. In fact, it's
:> more than likely that the computer you are reading this on right now is
:> powered by an Intel chip.
or a Cyrix chip, or AMD, or DIGITAL, or Motorola...
of course, if you have a Motorola chip, you probably odn't know what a CPU
is...
"So anyway, I says to Mabel, I says..."
Mr Messy
In article <345ae...@news.fastinet.net>, "[arock]" <ar...@dreamsoft.com> writes:
>
>:> Intel Inside-The world's leading maker of computer chips. In fact, it's
>:> more than likely that the computer you are reading this on right now is
>:> powered by an Intel chip.
>
>
>
>
>of course, if you have a Motorola chip, you probably odn't know what a CPU
Sure I do, it's a computer previously used.......
such as the Apple Lisa......
MIKe
Frederic Briere
Jason Hancock <jha...@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu> wrote:
> > Intel Inside-The world's leading maker of computer chips. In fact, it's
> > more than likely that the computer you are reading this on right now is
> > powered by an Intel chip.
> And it's seen on a lot of commercials for computers, accompanied by those
> four piano notes. (I couldn't help but hum those notes the first time I
> saw that missile with the "Intel Inside" label.)
I, for one, was anticipating the missile to be slightly off-target after
an erroneous division... (But I guess that's old news, now.)
Boy, I can't wait for missiles to be equiped with MMX processors! Maybe
we'd get to see US Army ads with those annoying Intel spandex-suit Power
Rangers...
--
<*> Frederic Briere <fbr...@abacom.com> (hyrule.ddns.org)
alt.tv.simpsons FAQs can be found at http://www.snpp.com/
"Fear not, those capsules will turn up within this century!"