Original air date: Oct. 6, 2013
- “Treehouse of Horror” has turned me into Linus waiting for the Great Pumpkin. I tune into the annual Halloween episode of “The Simpsons” each year with the expectation of laughter. It never comes. But each year I sit there and watch the writers of a show 17 years past its prime try to pretend it still has its mojo. It was like watching the New York Yankees this season.
- There is a parody of Dr. Seuss‘ “The Cat in the Hat.” It makes a reference to the unsuccessful Mike Myers movie. That movie was in 2003. That really takes me back. I remember “The Simpsons” not being funny in 2003, too.
- The second act was called “Dead and Shoulders.” I wonder how long the writers had been waiting to use that pun on the name of Head & Shoulders shampoo. Not long enough, apparently. The story involves Bart being decapitated and grafted onto Lisa’s body. At one point, the newly conjoined siblings go to show-and-tell. The teacher criticizes Bart’s report as “directive” and gives him an “F-.” I don’t think they were trying to be ironic. If they were, it was a good joke. But I’m afraid they weren’t.
- The third act was about a freakshow. It parodied the classic 1932 noir film “Freaks.” The parody is actually quite well-done. If a person didn’t know about “Freaks,” which was based on a terrific Tod Robbins short story from 1923, which I suppose most people don’t, you might think this was original. It wasn’t. But it was a fairly faithful reproduction of something better, which is about all you can hope for from a “Simpsons” episode in 2013.
- It baffles me that playing “The Simpsons: Tapped Out” video game is so much more fun than watching the show. I would consider the repercussions, but I have spent enough time thinking about “The Simpsons” this day.
Source:
http://newsmanone.wordpress.com/2013/10/06/5-paragraph-review-of-the-simpsons-treehouse-of-horror-xxiv/
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