Treehouse of Horror VIII

"Treehouse of Horror VIII"
The Simpsons episode
File:THOH8Homega.png
Episode no.	Season 9
Directed by	Mark Kirkland
Written by	Mike Scully David S. Cohen Ned Goldreyer
Original air date	October 26, 1997
Episode features
Couch gag	The Simpsons sit on the couch. Metal shackles restrain their wrists and ankles and a metal cap comes down on all of their heads. The family writhes in pain as they get shocked by the electricity.
Commentary	Matt Groening Mike Scully David X. Cohen Mark Kirkland George Meyer Matt Selman

"Treehouse of Horror VIII" is the fourth episode of The Simpsons' ninth season and first aired on the Fox network on October 26, 1997. In the eighth annual "Treehouse of Horror" episode, Homer Simpson is the last man left alive when a neutron bomb destroys Springfield until a gang of mutants come after him, Homer buys a transporter that Bart uses to switch bodies with a housefly, and Marge is accused of witchcraft in a Puritan rendition of Springfield in 1649. It was written by Mike Scully, David S. Cohen and Ned Goldreyer, and was directed by Mark Kirkland.

Plot

A Fox censor named Fox Censor, sitting at his desk reading through the script and deleting things, proudly announces that thanks to his editing tonight's Simpsons episode is rated TV-G. But as he says this, a hand with a sword appears out of the on-screen rating icon and stabs him in the back repeatedly, raising the rating with every stab (G to PG, PG to 14, 14 to MA, MA to 21, 21 to 666. As he collapses dead onto the desk, blood pours down the front to reveal the title, "The Simpsons Halloween Special VIII".

The HΩmega Man

Mayor Quimby generates a great deal of controversy over a "frog's legs" joke he makes about France, and when it becomes obvious that no apology is forthcoming, the French president launches a neutron bomb directly into Springfield. The neutron bomb has a 'Intel Processor inside' logo on it: as it flies past, it nearly collides with the flying saucer of Kang and Kodos who report the UFO sighting to Rigel 7, only to be ridiculed. Homer had been inspecting a bomb shelter he was considering buying from Herman and after the blast; Homer emerges from the shelter to find that he seems to be the only person in town to have survived. He misses his family, but he quickly gets over his loss and, being the last man alive in Springfield, decides to do as he pleases. While dancing naked in church to the song "War" by Edwin Starr, he is confronted by a band of Springfield citizens who have become mutants. They claim that they want to create a perfect world in which the mistakes of the past will be eliminated. This, of course, involves murdering Homer. Homer flees and arrives at his home where he finds that his family survived the blast because their house was protected by so many layers of lead paint. Seeing Homer reunited with his family, the mutants see the error of their ways. They hope they can build a Utopian society with the Simpsons, but Marge and the children open fire with shotguns that they were hiding behind their backs. Homer and his family decide to take advantage of the nuclear holocaust and go and steal some Ferraris. This mini episode was based almost entirely on The Omega Man by Boris Sagal with Charlton Heston.

Fly vs. Fly

Homer buys a matter teleporter from Professor Frink at his yard sale. Bart asks if he can use it, but Homer refuses. That night, Bart tries to sneak Snowball II into the teleporter and at the same time, Santa's Little Helper jumps in. As the pets come out, Santa's Little Helper and Snowball II have been merged into a two-headed creature. A fly lands on Bart's arm and thinking that he will become a superhero, Bart grabs the fly and steps into the teleporter. He comes out his normal head, but with the body of the fly and meanwhile the fly has his body. The rest of the family wakes up and sees Bart's body with a fly's head: Lisa realises what has happened and the family decide to accept the mutated creature into their family. The Bart-headed fly tries to convince the fly-headed Bart to go back through the transpotreer with him, but the creature resists...violently. That night, the Bart-headed fly talks to Lisa and tells her what happened: however, the fly-headed Bart overhears and tries to attack Lisa. Lisa runs to the kitchen with the fly-headed Bart in pursuit: the fly-headed Bart eats the Bart-headed fly after he tries to intervene, and Lisa knocks him into the teleporter. Bart then appears in the living room normal, but Homer picks up an axe and remarks "Some things in the universe aren't meant to be trifled with". When Marge asks what he plans to do, Homer replies "Something I should have done a long time ago...":however, instead of destroying the transporter, Homer turns the axe on Bart, bellowing "I'LL TEACH YOU TO MESS WITH MY MACHINE!" and proceeds to chase Bart through the house for using the transporter without his permission.

Easy-Bake Coven

File:THOH8Marge.png

Marge, Patty and Selma as witches.

The year is 1649 and the town of Sprynge-Fielde is witness to many witch burnings. Later in the church, the townspeople try to figure out whom to condemn next. People start accusing others and soon they erupt into chaos, until Marge intervenes. She tries to talk sense into the townspeople, but Moe accuses her of being a witch. Quimby assures her that she is entitled to due process which means she will be thrown off a cliff with a broomstick; if she is a witch she will be able to fly to safety, in which case the authorities expect her to report back for punishment. If she is not a witch, then she will fall to an honorable Christian death. Lisa tries to speak on her mother's behalf, but to no avail and Marge gets shoved off the cliff by Wiggum's henchmen. As Lovejoy speaks to the mob about having done the Lord's work, they hear a cackle and all look up, stunned to see that a green-skinned Marge is flying on the broomstick, as she really is a witch. Marge then takes revenge on the town, first turning Wiggum into a beaver, and his henchmen into a snowman and a fairy. She returns to her elder sisters Patty and Selma in their mountain lair close to Sprynge-Fielde. The sisters watch Ned and Maude Flanders talking about how the witches may eat their children, thus giving them the idea in the first place. The three set off for Sprynge-Fielde on their broomsticks. They knock on the Flanders' door and demand the kids. They put the kids in sacks and are about to leave, when Maude offers the witches gingerbread men instead. The witches like these better than the kids and let Rodd & Todd go. They go to each house, getting goodies in exchange for not eating the kids. As they fly off, the Sea Captain says that is how the tradition of Halloween started, with Maude Flanders' quick thinking leading to the Halloween known today.

The next year, the whole town is celebrating Halloween. Homer (dressed as a belly dancer) eggs the door of a house from where no candy was received. Lisa (dressed as a Native American princess) points out that it is their house. When everybody starts laughing at him, he accuses Lisa of being a witch (most likely as revenge for making him look stupid), prompting the townspeople to start chasing her down the street.

Production

The opening segment of the episode, which had a difficult time getting through the censors.

"The HΩmega Man" was written by Mike Scully, "Fly Vs. Fly" was written by David S. Cohen and "Easy-Bake Coven" was written by Ned Goldreyer. Large portions of the "Fly vs. Fly" segment were cut, including the original ending where the fly also emerges from the teleporter, but is considerably larger and the Simpson family ride it to the mall.

The producers had trouble with the censors over several segments in this episode. The opening segment of the episode, which features Fox Censor the censor being stabbed to death and was pitched by David Mirkin, had a difficult time getting through the real life censors. They had issues with the size of the knife and the sound effects used. Originally Fox was stabbed with a dagger, but the censors found it too gruesome, but found the use of a sword acceptable, so it was used instead. The censors also had issues with Homer dancing naked on the altar in the church, so it was changed so that he was just dancing on the floor.

This episode was the only Treehouse of Horror episode that was directed by Mark Kirkland. It was also the last episode Brad Bird worked on; he left the show to direct The Iron Giant. "Easy-Bake Coven" was storyboarded by Kirkland and the backgrounds were designed by Lance Wilder. Although Kang and Kodos make brief appearances in every Treehouse of Horror episode, their brief appearance in this one was nearly cut. David X. Cohen managed to persuade the producers to leave the scene in.

Cultural references

As with the majority of the Treehouse of Horror episodes, numerous cultural references are made throughout the episode. The opening segment is a reference to the announcer who appears on-screen to explain the rating system in the 1981 comedy Student Bodies. Much like the rating changes as Fox Censor is repeatedly stabbed, the rating for Student Bodies changes from PG-13 to R after the announcer says "Fuck you" to the audience. "The HΩmega Man" is an extended homage to film The Omega Man, which was one of Mike Scully's favorite movies as a child. In the same segment, Homer runs over Johnny and Edgar Winter while fleeing the mutants pursuing him, crying: "Die, you chalk-faced goons!"; the Winter brothers are both albino..

The title "Fly vs. Fly" is a reference to the Mad magazine comic strip "Spy vs. Spy", while the segment itself is based on the film The Fly. In "Easy-Bake Coven", the animators referenced the film The Crucible for many of their designs, and Edna Krabappel is wearing a Scarlet A, which is a reference to the novel The Scarlet Letter. The plot of the segment is loosely based on the Salem witch trials, while the title is a reference to the children's toy Easy-Bake Oven. The story also contains a brief reference to the Looney Tunes/Chuck Jones character Witch Hazel when Marge, Patty and Selma click their heels before flying away on their brooms.

Reception

"Treehouse of Horror VIII" won a Golden Reel Award in 1998 for "Best Sound Editing - Television Animated Specials" for Robert Mackston, Travis Powers, Norm MacLeod and Terry Greene. Alf Clausen received an Emmy Award nomination for "Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore)" for this episode, which he ultimately lost. The A.V. Club named Comic Book Guy's line "Oh, I've wasted my life" as one of the quotes from The Simpsons that can be used in everyday situations.

External links

• "Treehouse of Horror VIII" at The Simpsons.com
• "Treehouse of Horror VIII episode capsule". The Simpsons Archive.
• "Treehouse of Horror VIII" at IMDb
• "Treehouse of Horror VIII" at TV.com