Treehouse of Horror XIV

"Treehouse of Horror XIV"
The Simpsons episode
Episode no.	Season 15
Directed by	Steven Dean Moore
Written by	John Swartzwelder
Original air dates	November 2, 2003

"Treehouse of Horror XIV" is the first episode of The Simpsons' fifteenth season and originally aired on November 2, 2003. In the fourteenth annual Treehouse of Horror episode, Homer takes on the role of Death ("Reaper Madness"), Professor Frink creates a Frankenstein-version of his deceased father ("Frinkenstein") and Bart and Milhouse obtain a time-stopping watch ("Stop the World, I Want to Goof Off"). It was written by John Swartzwelder and directed by Steven Dean Moore. It guest stars Jerry Lewis as Professor John Frink Sr., Jennifer Garner, Dudley Herschbach, and Oscar de la Hoya as themselves. The episode gained 16 million viewers on its first run. The episode was nominated for the 2004 Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore).

Opening sequence

Bart and Lisa, dressed as Charlie Brown and Lucy van Pelt from the Peanuts series discuss their Halloween treats, and Lisa claims that hers are better than Bart's. The two then fight until Homer intervenes and orders them to stop fighting. He throws a burning log at them, but misses and hits Grampa. Homer gets Bart and Lisa rolled up in the rug and "beats the lumps". A gun-wielding Marge intervenes and says that she does not approve of Homer's parenting techniques, and shoots him. Homer's blood splatters on a nearby wall, and spells "Treehouse of Horror XIV". From their spaceship, Kang and Kodos criticize the Simpson family for airing a Halloween special in November.

Plot

Reaper Madness

Death enters the Simpson house attempting to take Bart, but the family goes on a Benny Hill-style chase to elude him. However, Death eventually manages to pin Bart’s shirt to the wall with its scythe. As the Grim Reaper sentences Bart to an eternity of pain, Homer kills it with a bowling ball (in revenge for Snowball I and President John F. Kennedy), 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 puts on the robe, inadvertently turning himself into the new Grim Reaper. He kills many people on God’s list (and some who are not) until he is asked to kill Marge. Homer doesn’t want to kill his wife, and he tries to plead to God that he wants to get out of the job. He then he pulls a fast one on God by substituting Patty’s body for Marge. The annoyed deity tries to punish Homer with a (presumably lethal) sunbeam but Homer narrowly escapes on his motorcycle, prompting God to sigh "I’m too old and too rich for this." At the house Marge gives Homer an extra pork chop. This segment could be compared loosely to "The Santa Clause" movie.

Frinkenstein

Homer gets a call telling him that he is the winner of the Nobel Prize; however, Lisa learns that it’s actually for Professor Frink. Frink is so excited that he decides to reanimate his father’s corpse in order to have him appear at the ceremony. Unfortunately, the corpse of Frink Sr. goes on a rampage looking for body parts. At the awards ceremony in Stockholm, Frink Sr. tries to make amends with his son for his recent behavior, but he goes another rampage through the audience. Frink Jr. manages stop his father, and he is able to hold on to his father's 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 blast pulling pranks on Springfieldans, such as pantsing Principal Seymour Skinner. They almost get away with it, but they are outsmarted by Mayor Quimby. An angry mob goes after Bart and Milhouse. While they are on the 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 fixed and for things to go back to normal. Once repaired, the pair position Martin Prince to take the blame, and he is killed when time returns. However, Lisa points out that Bart has become fully grown and has amassed vast riches. In the interest of being fair, Bart decides to let Lisa use the watch. She then discovers a second button which interferes with reality, causing the Simpsons to undergo various changes such as becoming bobble heads, having their torsos separate from their bodies on jetpacks, transforming into the Fantastic Four and finally start hula hooping to "Rock Around the Clock".

Reception

The episode was nominated for the 2004 Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore).