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Halloween Extravaganza 2006
The Simpsons Treehouse of Horrors
As a kid, and even today, I relish the Halloween special. Back in the day, the networks would actually run real Halloween specials. They'd interrupt the usual programming to show something original like It's the Great Pumpkin, or The Grinch. That's how important the holidays used to be. I don't remember what network it was, but one of them used to have this
cool intro for their specials where the word 'special' would appear and then twist and turn into a variety of different colors. I loved seeing that as a kid because I knew something good was on. They don't do that anymore today. Instead, you have to wait for the regular sitcoms to incorporate the holidays into their scripts. Roseanne was famous for this, and the Simpsons have
done a good job of celebrating Halloween too. Let's take a look at what the Simpsons have done:
Every year, the Halloween Special starts with Marge addressing the audience. She tries her best to warn you that this year's special is especially horrendous and that you may not want to watch it. Usually, Marge begs you to turn off your television and go do something more worth your while. Of course, you're just sucked in at this point. The show then cuts to the intro which has all been redone for Halloween.
One trademark of the Simpsons Halloween specials are that they parody famous films and make social commentary on whatever the current event of the day is. While it's not possible to review all the episodes, let's take a look at some highlights from previous years...
While I don't happen to have these specials on tape, you can actually rent the Simpsons Treehouse of Horrors on DVD. The disc I got came with five years worth of the Simpsons Specials and by a stroke of luck, they were some of my favorites.
Who could forget their version of The Shining where Homer goes mad and tries to kill his family because he can't have any beer or television. The same year also featured the episode where Homer turns his toaster into a time machine and discovers how easy it is to mess with the univers, and the one where the teachers all start eating their students. that was a good year for The Simpsons. Definitely a good year.
The following season was also great with the episodes where advertisements come to life and start destroying Springfield, their take on A Nightmare on Elm Street and the famous 3-D episode where Homer gets transported into the 3rd dimension. I especially enjoyed the Nightmare on Elm Street (Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace) because it did a great job of spoofing just how casual adults always appear in horror films. It seems like every time a teenager is being threatened, their parents just sit by casually or decide to take a vacation.
Why don't parents ever help out? I guess because it adds to the suspsense when they're not around.
The next season contains the episode where Bart discovers that he has an evil twin brother that his parents have been keeping in the attic (this is a classic too), and then we move on to the Pierce Brosnan autoamted house episode, the take on the Clinton - Dole election where Kang and Kodos run for president and teach us all the folly of a two party system.
The disc also contains some other notable episodes including "Hex and the City" where Homer gets cursed by a gypsy and retaliates by unleashing a drunk little leprechaun on her. Why are Irish people always drunk? And who could forget "Wiz Kids," they're take on Harry Potter where Bart tries to turn a frog into a prince and only succeeds in hideously deforming the frog?
And to finish off the disc, they even included a special feature that highlights some of Kand and Kodos' appearances on the Halloween episodes. Those who watch the Simpsons Halloween specials regularly know that these two are a long running joke in the Simpsons Halloween specials.
Overall, this was fun to watch not only because The Simpsons do such great Halloween episodes, but because I haven't seen many of these for a while. Hopefully, you'll be able to get every Halloween episode on DVD soon, it would make for a nice collection. Watching these also made me realize how clever The Simpsons used to be. I don't watch the show regularly anymore and when I catch an episode, it seems like it just isn't as funny as it used to be. Granted, they've been making The Simpsons for years now.
The other thing that always got to me was that FOX would always air the episodes after Halloween. I don't know if they still do that, but by November, my mind is thinking of turkey. It would be nice if they played the episodes
earlier when people are still in the mood for a Halloween Special. And while they're at it, bring back the Halloween Specials we used to see.
This disc has the Halloween episodes from seasons 4-8, so if you're a netflix subscriber, I'd definitely add it to the list. If you have some insight on these, please go post it on the blog, I'd like to hear what you think about The Simpsons...
-Mark
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