Treehouse of Horror XX

"Treehouse of Horror XX"
The Simpsons episode
Episode no.	Season 21
Directed by	Mike B. Anderson and Matthew Schofield
Written by	Daniel Chun
Original air date	October 18, 2009

"Treehouse of Horror XX" is the fourth episode of The Simpsons' twenty-first season. The episode first aired on October 18, 2009 on Fox. This is the twentieth "Treehouse of Horror" installment, containing three self-contained stories: In "Dial 'M' for Murder or Press '#' to Return to Main Menu," Lisa is forced into a Hitchcockian murder scheme by Bart; in "Don't Have a Cow, Mankind," Springfield is once again overrun by zombies thanks to Krusty Burger's latest sandwich; and in the Sweeney Todd parody, "There's No Business Like Moe Business," Moe the bartender bleeds Homer dry to create the perfect microbrewed beer. An estimated 8.59 million viewers tuned in to watch the episode.

Plot

Opening

Traditional horror movie characters such as Frankenstein's Monster, the Mummy, the Wolf Man, and Dracula roam the streets of Springfield on Halloween night. After they are teased by Dolph, Jimbo, and Kearney, they get new, more modern costumes from a Halloween store, with Frankenstein's monster as Spongebob, Dracula as Iron Man, The Wolf Man as Harry Potter and The Mummy as Captain Jack Sparrow. They then go to an adult Halloween party thrown by Homer and Marge, but are soon confronted by their wives, who are angry that their husbands lied about going to kill children. Homer tries to intervene as the wives begin to assault their husbands, only to be decapitated.

Dial 'M' for Murder or Press '#' to Return to Main Menu

In this black and white segment, Lisa wants revenge after being sent to detention by Ms. Hoover for disrupting class as she claims another student topped her through a tutor. Bart hatches a "criss-cross" plan and tells Lisa that if she pulls a "ding-dong ditch" on Mrs. Krabappel, he will do the same to Ms. Hoover. Lisa thinks this means ringing the bell at Mrs. Krabappel's apartment and leaving. However, Lisa soon learns that Bart meant for her to kill Mrs. Krabappel (and dump the corpse in a ditch), as he has killed Ms. Hoover. Bart attempts to coax Lisa into killing Mrs. Krabappel with a paper cutter, but she refuses. Eventually, Bart decides to blackmail her into it with help from Willie, who would frame Lisa for the decapitated Skinner to honor his side of the "criss-cross" in which Bart killed Skinner. Realizing that Bart would frame her for these incidents, Lisa tricks him into belief that she was submitting at his will only to get a knife from his hands and attempts to kill Bart in self-defense, beginning a chase sequence. Bart finally finds shelter at a crowded playground carousel, but is left at Lisa's mercy when the other children leave to get ice cream. Lisa, however, recognizing that she wouldn't be better than Bart, says she will never be a murderer, and attempts to throw the knife away. The knife cycles out of control and ends up nailing Bart in the head just as Mrs. Krabappel appears, pleased at his death. Despite her shock for accidentally killed Bart, Lisa agree that's the better and she and Krabappel walk away smiling, leaving the murdered Bart to spin around on the carousel.

Don't Have a Cow, Mankind

Krusty the Clown introduces a new version of his Krustyburger, the Burger², made from cattle that have eaten other cattle in their feed. Upon eating a burger on live television, Kent Brockman begins to comment on the taste before he starts convulsing, his skin turns gray, his irises turn red, and he gains bags under his eyes. He bites Krusty, who, along with Kent, begins biting everyone around him. Twenty-eight days later, Springfield has become overrun by "munchers", with the Simpson family being some of the few survivors. One day, Bart, tired of eating fruits, escapes from his family's barricaded house and eats one of the burgers, but turns out to be immune to its effects. Over the phone, a besieged Dr. Hibbert (who is fighting back quite well until the end of the phonecall) tells them that Bart's immunity may be the key to developing a cure to the epidemic, a genetic "chosen one", and that they must bring Bart to a so-called "safe zone" outside the city. The Simpsons are attacked by the munchers after a failed attempt to sneak out. They are saved by Apu (after Rainier Wolfcastle failed his attempt at being the Simpsons' savior and got eaten almost immediately after his entrance), driving an armored off-road truck (Apu was never infected because as a Hindu and vegan, he cannot eat beef, and he was prepared for a zombie apocalypse since, as a convenience store clerk, he is armed to the teeth). The group tries to leave Springfield, but Apu winds up crashing the truck on top of a pile of smashed cars. Apu goes to push the car off the pile, but the Simpsons drive away thinking Apu sacrificed himself, when he actually wanted the Simpsons to wait for him. After Apu gets killed, the Simpsons drive on but run out of gas, walking the rest of the way to the safe zone. During their journey, Homer is bitten by a muncher Mr. Burns after picking off his nose, thinking he was dead, thus turning him into a muncher himself. The family decide not to kill him in the hopes of finding a cure. They reach the safe zone, where Bart – being immune to the muncher virus – is worshiped as the "chosen one". However, the people there believe that cannibalizing Bart will save them from the virus. The Simpsons, however, think of another solution: vaccinating the remaining populace by having Bart bathe in their food before eating it, thus saving Springfield.

There's No Business Like Moe Business

In a segment presented as if it were a Broadway musical, Moe is lonely and upset that he does not have a girlfriend and is jealous when he sees Homer and Marge together. When Homer falls into the basement of the bar and is impaled by pipes, his blood becomes the secret ingredient in Moe's new beer. Everyone loves this new beer, saying that it makes them feel warm, secure and cozy on the inside. Moe uses this to his advantage and woos Marge, tricking her into thinking that Homer walked out on her because he is gay while continuing to bleed Homer dry. Homer emerges, alive, despite being impaled by Moe's microbrew machine, hurls Moe (or rather, a dummy of Moe as it is a musical) across the room, and reunites with Marge.

Cultural references

The first segment includes parodies of the Alfred Hitchcock films Psycho, Strangers on a Train, North by Northwest, and Spellbound, as well as a reference to the film Vertigo (in particular the Vertigo effect). The first segment also includes a Futurama reference. The student Lisa wants to get revenge on is named "Hubert Wong", a combnation of the names "Hubert Farnsworth" and "Amy Wong". Also, the title of the segment takes its name from the film Dial M for Murder. The second segment features elements of the various Zombie apocalypse films and Children of Men. The title of No Business Like Moe Business is a parody of There's No Business Like Show Business and was inspired by Sweeney Todd.

Reception

"Treehouse of Horror XX" was watched by 8.59 million viewers and was the most watched of "Animation Domination," ahead of American Dad and The Cleveland Show. The show was the fourth most watched episode on Fox after House, The OT, and Family Guy in the 18/49 rating.

Robert Canning, of IGN praised the episode by saying "it was a fine addition to the series' Halloween specials". He enjoyed all of the stories, and said the Sweeney Todd segment was "a nice treat". Robert Canning also mentioned that it was nice for a change to be aired before Halloween.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue issued a press release in response to the segment "Don't Have a Cow, Mankind," taking issue with the line, "What kind of civilized people eat the body and blood of their savior?" Donohue stated, "mocking the heart of any religion always crosses the line, and mocking the Eucharist does it for Catholics. They know this at Fox, which is precisely why they did it."

The episode won an award for "Best Writing in a Television Production" at the 37th Annie Awards.