Treehouse of Horror XIV

"Treehouse of Horror XIV"
The Simpsons episode
File:Treehouse of Horror XIVb.jpg
Episode no.	Season 15
Directed by	Steve Dean Morbid
Written by	Triple Admiral John Swartzwelder
Original air dates	November 2, 2003
Episode features
Chalkboard gag	None
Couch gag	None

“Treehouse of Horror XIV” is the first episode of The Simpsons’ fifteenth season, as well as the fourteenth Halloween episode. The episode aired on November 2, 2003, two days after Halloween, a fact which was mocked in the episode itself. 16 million people watched the episode. In August 2004, it was screened at the Hiroshima International Animation Festival.

Opening Sequence

Bart, dressed up as Charlie Brown, and Lisa, dressed up as Lucy van Pelt, discuss their Halloween treats, and Lisa says she got better ones than Bart. They get into a heated fight, until Homer and a gun-wielding Marge intervene, and Marge (unseen) shoots Homer. From their spaceship, Kang and Kodos are watching, criticizing the humans for airing a Halloween special in November. They then say that they already have their Christmas decorations up and the sequence ends with a Christmas jingle.

Plot

Reaper Madness

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The Grim Reaper enters the Simpson house attempting to take Bart, but the family goes on a Benny Hill-style chase to elude the Grim Reaper, until it manages to pin Bart’s shirt to the wall with his scythe. As the Grim Reaper sentences Bart to an eternity of pain, Homer kills him with a bowling ball, but when he does, he learns that no one can die since the Grim Reaper is dead. The scene then cuts to two examples of a world where no-one can die: Frankie the Squealer being shot by the Springfield Mafia, and Moe hanging himself from the ceiling. On trash day, Marge tells Homer to take the dead Grim Reaper to the curb. Homer does, but steals the robe, inadvertantly turning himself into the new Grim Reaper. He kills many people on God’s list (and sometimes abuses his job, like when he and Bart are seated up high in a game, and Homer kills the people below him to get a better seat) until he is asked to kill Marge. Homer doesn’t want to kill his wife, but he does. He tries to plead to God that he wants to get out of the job, but then he “pulls a fast one” on Him by substituting Patty’s body for Marge. The annoyed deity says: "Hey, this isn't Marge Simpson. It's her fat sister, Selma", and tries to punish Homer with a (presumably lethal) sunbeam but Homer narrowly escapes on his motorcycle, right through a moving train car, prompting God to sigh “I’m too old and too rich for this.” Later, at the Simpson house, Marge, with shorter hair, says “Thanks for not killing me, Homey. Here’s an extra pork chop.” Homer says “Well...I’m gonna not kill you every week.” Everyone laughs.

(Note: In the actual episode, Homer’s left hand holds the Scythe while his right arm has a skeletal frame.)

Frinkenstein

Homer gets a call telling him that he is the winner of the Nobel Prize, until Lisa clears up and learns it’s for Professor Frink (the man calling Homer, when hearing Lisa talk in his native tongue, exclaims “Jumping Jiminy!” with soft Js), who reanimates his father’s corpse in order to have him appear at the ceremony. Unfortunately, the corpse of Frink Sr. goes on a rampage and looks for body parts. At the awards ceremony in Stockholm, Frink Sr. tries to make amends with his son for his recent organ harvest, but when he sees all the brains filled with knowledge, he makes another rampage, through the audience. Only Frink Jr. manages stop his father, but he is still able to hold on to his soul (which talks to him from a box).

Stop the World, I Want to Goof Off

Bart and Milhouse (in a parody of the Twilight Zone episode “A Kind of a Stopwatch”) get a stopwatch through an ad in an old comic book magazine that actually allows them to stop time. They have a great “time,” pulling pranks on Springfieldans (such as depantsing Principal Seymour Skinner), and almost get away with it, until they are outsmarted by Mayor Quimby. An angry mob goes after Bart and Milhouse. When they are on their run, Chief Wiggum shoots at them, they stop time, and the watch breaks, causing Bart and Milhouse to be the only two people moving in a world where time has stopped. Although the watch repair manual is easy to follow, it takes the pair 15 years to get the watch repaired and for things to go back to normal. Lisa, curious about the other button on the watch, presses it, instantly warping reality. First her family's bodies are flying. She presses the red button again. Then her family's clothes are changed. She presses it again. But only the Simpson's heads are moving. She then presses it. Now, all Simpsons (except Lisa) have been turned into books! She presses it. The family is wearing costumes like the Fantastic 4. Lisa presses it once more. She stops where her family is spinning hoops.

Trivia

• The Opening Sequence is a reference to Christmas being too commercial. In the case of most stores, they have their Christmas decorations up in late October already. However this isn't to the extreme of the department store featured in It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown which has Christmas decorations up in April.
• The premise of “Reaper Madness” is similar to that of the fantasy/sci-fi book On a Pale Horse by Piers Anthony (the first book of the series the Incarnations of Immortality). It also resembles the plot of The Santa Clause, where Tim Allen becomes St. Nick after donning the deceased gift-giver’s suit, and a story by Ray Bradbury entitled The Scythe, in which a young man must become the symbolic Reaper and is forced to take his Family so that they will not distract him. The title of this segment is a parody of the title of the propaganda film Reefer Madness.
• “Stop the World, I Want to Goof Off” is a parody of the Twilight Zone episode “A Kind of a Stopwatch,” the ITV British children’s sitcom Bernard’s Watch and the 2002 movie Clockstoppers. The title of this segment is a parody of the title of the play Stop the World—I Want to Get Off.
• Towards the end of “Stop the World, I Want to Goof Off,” Homer, Marge, Bart and Maggie are transformed into the Fantastic Four.
• This is the second Frankenstein parody in a Treehouse of Horror episode, the first occurring in Treehouse of Horror II.
• This is the second episode with a Benny Hill parody, the first occurring in “A Star Is Born-Again” with Helen Fielding.
• The banner on the outside of the auditorium in Sweden says “Nøbel Prize Ceremøny”; this is incorrect as the letter ø isn't a part of the Swedish language.
• The voice of Professor Frink was created based on a bad impression of Jerry Lewis’ Nutty Professor character. In this episode, Jerry Lewis guest-stars as Frink’s father.
• When Professor Frink is calculating how to defeat his father, he is shown wearing the Nobel prize. In the next shot, where Frink’s father falls, it is the elder Frink who is wearing the Nobel prize.
• During Stop the world I want to goof off , Comic Book Guy is shown wielding a green lightsaber (similar to Luke Skywalker's Lightsaber from Return of the Jedi.
• Hans Moleman, Reverend Lovejoy, and Kirk van Houten are among the people Homer killed at the baseball game.