TV Picks – Treehouse of Horror

In honour of the Halloween season, three writers offer their picks of The Simpsons‘ Treehouse of Horror specials – which one is best?

Homer³ – Dan Furn

While not exactly horror-themed, ‘Homer³’ is a great example of the show’s ingenuity and boundary-pushing during its glory days. A brilliant concept, this episode sees Homer trying to avoid a visit from Patty and Selma, and accidentally falling into the third dimension hidden behind his bookcase. While it looks a tad dated now, the use of CGI to render the previously cartoon Homer in 3D was revolutionary at the time, especially considering how relatively new the technology was. The third dimension provided plenty of opportunity for laughs and in-jokes, from the many video game, physics and TRON references to knowing lines: ‘I feel like I’m spending a fortune just standing here.’ If that wasn’t enough, the episode ends with a classic landmark scene – a 3D Homer entering our world, walking down a street in one of the shows very rare live-action segments, ending up in an erotic cake store of all places. The show has been experimental since with the LEGO episode and the like, but have rarely matched the success of this segment.

King Homer – Matt Allen

‘Hey, I heard we’re going to Ape Island to capture a giant ape! I wish we were going to Candy Apple Island.’

‘Candy Apple Island? What do they got there?’

‘Apes, but they’re not so big.’

‘King Homer’, despite having no thematic or narrative link to Halloween, is undoubtedly The Simpsons’ best ToH segment. First, and all importantly, the short piece manages to pack in a good number of references to make you feel smarter than the people you’re watching with. Not only does the plot follow that of the only worthwhile King Kong film (the 1933 black and white picture), but the eponymous ape also interrupts and eats Shirley Temple during a performance of ‘On the Good Ship Lollipop’. More importantly, the segment is eminently quotable from start to finish. From Smithers’ quip that ‘women and seamen don’t mix’ to Lenny’s bizarrely plaintive appeal (‘Hey Homer, cut it out. Come on, quit eating me!’), ‘King Homer’ produces a thoroughly compelling few minutes of cartoon comedy. It might be short on horror, but ‘King Homer’ has long deserved a place in the ToH pantheon of greats.

Citizen Kang – Reece Goodall

‘It makes no difference which one of us you vote for. Either way, your planet is doomed. Doomed!’

‘Well, a refreshingly frank response there from Senator Bob Dole.’

Has there ever been a political satire as on-point and as funny as ‘Citizen Kang’? Kang and Kodos imitate presidential candidates Bill Clinton and Bob Dole to take over the Earth – they get exposed despite a series of unusual behaviour (‘we’re merely exchanging long protein strings’), but the two-party system leads to them winning anyway. It perfectly captures the ‘bland pleasantries’ that characterise politics – ‘abortions for some, miniature American flags for others’ – and makes it one of the most quotable and amusing pieces of TV ever. And I don’t think there has ever been a better closing line than Homer’s thoughts on the state of America: ‘don’t blame me, I voted for Kodos.’