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'{{good article}} {{Infobox Simpsons episode | title = Treehouse of Horror IX | image = Treehouse of Horror IXc.jpg | image_size = 235px | caption = Bart and Lisa jump out of a pot in a live-action portion of "Terror of Tiny Toon". To create the splash, an object was dropped into the pot, then the characters were animated over it. | season = 10 | episode = 4 | director = [[Steven Dean Moore]] | writer = [[David X. Cohen|David S. Cohen]]<br>[[Larry Doyle (writer)|Larry Doyle]]<br>[[Donick Cary]] | production = AABF01 | airdate = {{Start date|1998|10|25}} | guests = [[Robert Englund]] as [[Freddy Krueger]]<br>[[Ed McMahon]] as himself<br>[[Jerry Springer]] as himself<br>[[Regis Philbin]] as himself (live-action sequence)<br>[[Kathie Lee Gifford]] as herself (live-action sequence) | blackboard = [[Bart Simpson|Bart]] paints "The Simpsons Halloween Special IX" on the board with a blood-soaked brush. | couch_gag = The family never makes it to the living room; Bart slips while skateboarding and hits his head, Lisa gets catapulted into the roof of the garage after tripping over Bart while cycling, and Homer gets run down by Marge's car. In the living room, [[Freddy Krueger]] and [[Jason Voorhees]] are on the couch wondering where the Simpsons are.<ref name="BBC"/> | commentary = [[Matt Groening]]<br />[[Mike Scully]]<br />[[George Meyer]]<br />[[Ron Hauge]]<br />[[David X. Cohen|David S. Cohen]]<br />[[Donick Cary]]<br />[[Steven Dean Moore]] | prev = [[Bart the Mother]] | next = [[When You Dish Upon a Star]] }} "'''Treehouse of Horror IX'''" is the fourth episode in the [[The Simpsons (season 10)|tenth season]] of the American animated television series ''[[The Simpsons]]''. It first aired on the [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox network]] in the United States on October 25, 1998.<ref name="officialsite">{{cite web |url=http://www.thesimpsons.com/#/recaps/season-10_episode-4 |title=Treehouse of Horror IX |accessdate=2010-10-30 |publisher=The Simpsons.com}}</ref> This is the ninth ''[[Treehouse of Horror]]'' episode, and, like the other "Treehouse of Horror" episodes, contains three self-contained segments: In "Hell Toupée", [[Homer Simpson|Homer]] gets a [[hair transplant]] and is [[Spirit possession|possessed]] by the spirit of an executed criminal; in "Terror of Tiny Toon", [[Bart Simpson|Bart]] and [[Lisa Simpson|Lisa]] are trapped in a special, extremely violent episode of ''[[The Itchy & Scratchy Show]]''; and in "Starship Poopers", [[Marge Simpson|Marge]] reveals that [[Maggie Simpson|Maggie]] is the product of a one-night stand with the alien [[Kang and Kodos|Kang]]. "Treehouse of Horror IX" was written by [[Donick Cary]], [[Larry Doyle (writer)|Larry Doyle]] and [[David X. Cohen|David S. Cohen]], and directed by [[Steven Dean Moore]]. "Terror of Tiny Toon" includes a live-action segment starring [[Regis Philbin]] and [[Kathie Lee Gifford]]. [[Jerry Springer]] and [[Ed McMahon]] also appear in the episode, voicing themselves, while [[Robert Englund]] provides the voice of [[Freddy Krueger]] from the ''[[A Nightmare on Elm Street (franchise)|Nightmare on Elm Street]]'' film series. The episode also features [[Jason Voorhees]] from the ''[[Friday the 13th (franchise)|Friday the 13th]]'' series<ref name="book"/> while various characters visit the talk shows ''[[Live with Regis and Kathie Lee]]'' and ''[[The Jerry Springer Show]]''. In its original airing on the Fox Network, the episode had an 8.6 [[Nielsen ratings|Nielsen rating]]. In [[51st Primetime Emmy Awards|1999]], composer [[Alf Clausen]] was nominated for a [[Primetime Emmy Award]] for [[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series|Outstanding Music Composition for a Series]] for his work on the episode. ==Plot== ===Hell Toupée=== [[Snake Jailbird|Snake]] is arrested for smoking inside the [[Kwik-E-Mart]]. [[Chief Wiggum]] explains that this is Snake's third strike, so he will be [[execution (legal)|executed]] in accordance with the [[three strikes law]]. Before hauling Snake away, Chief Wiggum points out that [[Apu Nahasapeemapetilon|Apu]], [[Moe Szyslak|Moe]], and [[Bart Simpson|Bart]] are all witnesses; Snake vows to kill them all. After the execution, [[Homer Simpson|Homer]] visits [[Dr. Nick (The Simpsons)|Dr. Nick]], who transplants Snake's hair onto Homer's head. When Homer goes to sleep the following night, it plants its roots in Homer's brain. With the hair [[mind control|controlling his mind]], Homer murders Apu and Moe. Bart realizes that the other two witnesses have been killed, and Homer vows to protect him. Homer locks himself and Bart in a room, but Snake's hair takes control of him. Homer tries to kill Bart with a [[sledgehammer]]. Bart begs Homer to fight the hair and, after a struggle, Homer rips the hair off his head. Wiggum bursts in and shoots the hair dead, then wryly comments on how it's been "a bad hair day", causing everyone to laugh. Marge tries to remind everyone about the two murders, but then suddenly gets the pun and joins in. ===The Terror of Tiny Toon=== [[Marge Simpson|Marge]] forbids Bart and [[Lisa Simpson|Lisa]] from watching the ''[[The Itchy & Scratchy Show|Itchy & Scratchy]]'' Halloween special while she goes trick-or-treating with [[Maggie Simpson|Maggie]], removing the batteries from the remote control. When Marge leaves, Bart finds [[plutonium]] in Homer's toolbox and hammers it into the remote's battery slot. When they use the remote, the kids enter the world of ''Itchy and Scratchy'', and begin to laugh at their antics, angering the cat-and-mouse duo who proceed to teach them a lesson. Bart and Lisa are soon hunted by Itchy and Scratchy. Back in the Simpson house, Homer enters the living room and watches the show. Oblivious to what he sees, Homer decides to change the channel, and Bart, Lisa, Itchy, and Scratchy wind up on ''[[Live with Regis and Kelly|Live with Regis and Kathie Lee]]''. They end up back at Itchy's house and urge Homer from inside the TV to use the remote to get them out, who eventually succeeds in doing so just as Marge and Maggie arrive home. Unfortunately, Itchy and Scratchy also escape. At first, the family is scared, but realize how small the two characters are and decide to keep them as pets, and Marge, after seeing Scratchy fall in love with [[Snowball II]], decides to have him neutered, much to his horror. ===Starship Poopers=== Marge discovers Maggie's first baby tooth, which appears to be a sharp fang. Maggie later loses her legs and grows green [[tentacle]]s. Maggie's pacifier sucks contact the alien duo, [[Kang and Kodos]]. They arrive at the Simpson house, coming to retrieve Maggie. Marge reveals that Kang is Maggie's real father and explains how it happened. Kang and Kodos demand that the Simpsons give Maggie to them, and Kang and Homer start to fight until Bart suggests that they appear on ''[[The Jerry Springer Show]]'' to resolve their issues. When an audience member criticizes Kang, he vaporizes her, as well as the rest of the audience and the film crew. Everyone looks guiltily as host [[Jerry Springer]] does a monologue encouraging them to put their differences aside and do what is best for Maggie. However, Maggie attacks Springer, killing him, causing Kang and Homer to fight again, much to Marge's embarrassment. After leaving the studio, Kang and Kodos threaten to destroy every politician in [[Washington D.C.|Washington]] unless given Maggie. Marge slyly implies that the aliens could not possibly destroy ''every'' politician, and they fly off to do so. As the Simpsons prepare to head home, Maggie says in Kang's voice "Very well, then! I'll drive!" and laughs evilly before stating that she needs blood as the credits begin. ==Production== [[File:Regis Philbin at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival.jpg|right|upright|thumb|[[Regis Philbin]] guest starred as himself in a live-action sequence in "Terror of Tiny Toon".]] Like the other ''Treehouse of Horror'' episodes to that point, the segments of "Treehouse of Horror IX" were credited to different writers. "Hell Toupee" was written by [[Donick Cary]].<ref name="Cary">Cary, Donick (2007). Commentary for "Treehouse of Horror IX", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Tenth Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref> "Terror of Tiny Toon" was written by [[Larry Doyle (writer)|Larry Doyle]].<ref name="Hauge">Hauge, Ron (2007). Commentary for "Treehouse of Horror IX", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Tenth Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref> "Starship Poopers" was written by [[David X. Cohen|David S. Cohen]] and was the last writing credit he ever received for the show.<ref name="Cohen">Cohen, David X. (2007). Commentary for "Treehouse of Horror IX", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Tenth Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref> The episode continues the ''Treehouse of Horror'' tradition of having the credits re-written as "scary names". David S. Cohen's executive producer credit is "David 'Watch Futurama' Cohen" is a reference to the show ''[[Futurama]]'', created by Cohen and [[Matt Groening]], which premiered the following year.<ref name="Cohen"/> "The Terror of Tiny Toon" includes a live-action segment starring [[Regis Philbin]] and [[Kathie Lee Gifford]] of ''[[Live with Regis and Kelly|Live with Regis and Kathie Lee]]''. The segment was directed by [[Donick Cary]].<ref name="Cary"/> In the sequence, Itchy, Scratchy, Bart and Lisa fall into a pot of soup that Regis and Kathie Lee are making. The soup splash was created by dropping an item into the pot, then adding the animated characters over it.<ref name="Moore">Moore, Steven Dean (2007). Commentary for "Treehouse of Horror IX", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Tenth Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref> The taping of this segment took longer than expected, so a broadcast of [[WABC-TV]]'s ''Eyewitness News'' that was to take place (the show was and continues to be taped at the facilities of WABC in New York, where it originated in 1983) had to be moved to another studio.<ref name="Moore"/> [[Jerry Springer]] also guest stars in the episode as himself. His lines were recorded by [[Julie Thacker]].<ref name="Scully"/> Much of the animation in "Hell Toupée" was worked on by assistant director [[Chris Clements (animation director)|Chris Clements]].<ref name="Moore"/> Moe's death scene was originally more violent, but it was toned down at the request of [[Mike Scully]].<ref name="Moore"/> The animators looked forward to working on "The Terror of Tiny Toon" because they were fans of Itchy & Scratchy.<ref name="Moore"/> In "Starship Poopers", there is a shot of sound waves emanating from Springfield. At one point, there is a shot of North America and it appears that [[Springfield (The Simpsons)|Springfield]] is located in [[Louisiana]].<ref name="Scully">Scully, Mike (2007). Commentary for "Treehouse of Horror IX", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Tenth Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref> The mystery of the location of Springfield is a running joke in ''The Simpsons'', and a number of fans assumed that Louisiana was where the family lived.<ref name="Scully"/> However, the animators had drawn the waves so that they were coming from the center of the screen, and they never intended to have them emanate from a specific location.<ref name="Moore"/> In one scene, Marge is abducted by Kang and Kodos, who [[lasso]] her then pull her into the ship. According to David Cohen, it is a running gag that Kang and Kodos' abduction methods are never the same.<ref name="Cohen"/> Maggie has a line at the end of the episode, where she sounds like Kang. She was voiced by [[Harry Shearer]].<ref name="Cary"/> Poochie from the ''Simpsons'' episode "[[The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show]]" is seen during the "Terror of the Tiny Toon" segment.<ref name="Cohen"/> Also, the title of the segment "Terror of the Tiny Toon", is a reference of the [[Cartoon series|Animated television series]] ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]'', as well as the movie [[The Terror of Tiny Town]]. The couch gag features [[Freddy Krueger]] from the ''[[A Nightmare on Elm Street (franchise)|Nightmare on Elm Street]]'' film series and [[Jason Voorhees]] from the ''[[Friday the 13th (franchise)|Friday the 13th]]'' series.<ref name="book"/> Freddy is voiced by [[Robert Englund]], who portrayed the character in eight films. Two talk shows appear in the episode. Bart, Lisa, Itchy, and Scratchy accidentally visit ''[[Live with Regis and Kathie Lee]]'', while the Simpson family and Kang appear on ''[[The Jerry Springer Show]]''.<ref name="book">{{cite book |last=Gimple |first=Scott M. |author2=[[Matt Groening]] |title=[[The Simpsons Forever!: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family ...Continued]] |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |date=December 1, 1999 |isbn=978-0-06-098763-3 |pages=50&ndash;51}}</ref> The title of the third segment, "Starship Poopers", is a reference to the film ''[[Starship Troopers]]''.<ref name="BBC">{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/simpsons/episodeguide/season10/page3.shtml |title=Cult - The Simpsons: Season Ten Episode Guide - Treehouse of Horror IX |publisher=BBC |accessdate=2010-08-28}}</ref> ==Reception== In its original airing on the Fox Network, the episode had an 8.6 [[Nielsen ratings|Nielsen rating]] and was viewed in approximately 8.5 million homes. It finished the week ranked 35th. It was the fifth highest rated show on Fox that week, after two games of the [[1998 World Series]], a World Series pre-game show, and ''[[Ally McBeal]]''.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ho-hum series still puts Fox on top |date=1998-10-29 |publisher=The Associated Press |work=[[South Florida Sun-Sentinel]]}}</ref> The authors of the book ''I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide'', Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, wrote, "Another collection of horrors, of varying degrees of wit. The Itchy and Scratchy one is by far the best, and Starship Poopers is only really amusing once the Jerry Springer segment begins."<ref name="BBC"/> Colin Jacobson of DVD Movie Guide gave the episode a positive review saying "The series usually rises to the occasion of its Halloween episodes, and “IX” doesn’t disappoint. Each of the three stories satisfies, as they offer a lot of clever, amusing moments. "Toupée" is probably the best, though, as it’s the most creative of the bunch. While funny, the other two can be a bit predictable."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dvdmg.com/simpsonsseasonten.shtml |title=The Simpsons: The Complete Tenth Season (1998) |publisher=Dvdmg.com |accessdate=2010-08-28}}</ref> Kay McFadden of ''[[The Seattle Times]]'' wrote that the episode is "certainly not on a par with that all-time doppelganger classic, "[[Treehouse of Horror VII]]", [...] still, No. 9's dialogue is sharp and there's reassuring continuity to such beloved institutions as Itchy and Scratchy."<ref>{{Cite news |author=McFadden, Kay |date=1998-10-29 |work=[[The Seattle Times]] |title=The Simpsons still deliver house of everyday horrors}}</ref> In 2008, "Starship Poopers" was named the tenth best ''Treehouse of Horror'' segment by [[IGN]]. They wrote that "While [it is] not the best Kang & Kodos segment, "Starship Poopers" delivers consistent laughs and a great ending, as Kang & Kodos vow to destroy all the politicians in Washington (to the Simpsons' delight) and Maggie creepily laughs and says, "I need blood."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://tv.ign.com/articles/742/742680p1.html |title=Top 10 Segments from The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror |author=Iverson, Dan, Goldman, Eric, Zoromski, Brian |date=October 28, 2008 |publisher=[[IGN]] |accessdate=2010-08-28 }}</ref> In [[51st Primetime Emmy Awards|1999]], composer [[Alf Clausen]] was nominated for a [[Primetime Emmy Award]] for [[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series|Outstanding Music Composition for a Series]] for his work on the episode.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.emmys.com/award_history_search?page=3&person=&program=The%20Simpsons&start_year=0&end_year=2010&network=149&web_category=All&winner=All |title=Primetime Emmy Award Database |author=|work=''[[Emmy]].com'' |accessdate=2010-08-28 }}</ref> ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== {{wikiquote|The_Simpsons/Season_10#Treehouse_of_Horror_IX|"Treehouse of Horror IX"}} {{Portal|The Simpsons}} *[http://www.thesimpsons.com/#/recaps/season-10_episode-4 "Treehouse of Horror IX"] at The Simpsons.com *{{snpp capsule|AABF01}} *{{imdb episode |id=0701280}} *{{Tv.com episode|the-simpsons/treehouse-of-horror-ix-1492}} {{Treehouse of Horror}} {{The Simpsons episodes|10}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Treehouse Of Horror 09}} [[Category:The Simpsons (season 10) episodes]] [[Category:1998 American television episodes]] [[Category:Treehouse of Horror (series)]] [[Category:Halloween television episodes]] [[Category:Television episodes about alien abduction]] [[Category:Fiction about mind control]] [[Category:Television episodes with live action and animation]] [[Category:Television episodes written by David X. Cohen]] [[Category:Cultural depictions of Jerry Springer]] [[it:La paura fa novanta I-X#La paura fa novanta IX]]'