TV Review: The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror XXIV

I always look forward to The Simpsons' annual "Treehouse of Horror" episode, but especially this week because I needed something to get my mind off the absence of Breaking Bad.

There has been a lot of hype surrounding "Treehouse of Horror XXIV" because Guillermo Del Toro directed the couch gag. It was released online last week as a teaser for the episode. I've watched it twice now and I still don't think I noticed all the horror references. While Bart writes "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" on the chalkboard, Stephen King is writing it on the wall of the classroom; Maggie is driving The Car; The Birds attack Mrs. Krabappel while sitting next to Hitchcock; Groundskeeper Willie is Hellboy; Carl is Blade and much more! It was the best couch gag ever made and a must-see for all horror fans.

Oh, the Places You'll Doh!

In this Dr. Seuss parody, Homer plays "The Fat in the Hat" and shows up to cure The Simpsons kids' mumps and take them on a crazy trick-or-treating adventure.

I'm not a big Dr. Seuss fan, so I didn't enjoy this much. The entire segment rhymes, just like a Dr. Seuss book, and it irritated me.

Dead and Shoulders

When Bart is decapitated, his head is attached to Lisa's body. Lisa controls all movement, but Bart discovers that he's in control when Lisa sleeps and plans to take over her body completely.

I hated this segment. I didn't laugh a single time and found it to be dull and unoriginal.

Freaks No Geeks

This segment is a spoof of the 1932 film, Freaks. In this version, Marge plays the trapeze artist and Homer plays the strongman. Many other Simpsons characters play freaks (Comic Book Guy is a snail and Barney is just a torso) but Moe is ugly enough to be a freak while remaining himself. Homer tricks Marge into marrying Moe and plans to poison him, then marry Marge to gain possession of Moe's emerald ring. When the freaks discover Homer's plan, they turn him into a human duck.

I really enjoyed this segment because I've actually seen - and like - Freaks. It also gave me the biggest laugh of the episode. Homer the Duck is sitting on the couch and says, "And that kids, is how I met your mother." Then the theme song from How I Met Your Mother plays.

Overall, this episode was a disappointment despite the awesome couch gag. Two of the three segments were pretty awful.

Bob's Burgers and American Dad both aired Halloween episodes tonight and I found them both to be funnier than this episode of The Simpsons.

Rating: 3/5

Here's Guillermo Del Toro's couch gag:

T.V. REVIEW: The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror XXIII

I look forward to The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episode every year (read my list of Top 10 Treehouse of Horror Segments here), even though they have (mostly) been a disappointment for the past several years. I watched my Treehouse of Horror DVD before I watched this year's installment, which was a mistake because the new episode pales in comparison with the classic episodes.

In the opening sequence, the Mayans calculate the end of the world as being on December 21, 2012, but they plan on avoiding it by appeasing the gods with a human sacrifice: Homer.

But Marge saves Homer by tricking Moe into being sacrificed instead. Since they sacrifice the wrong guy, the world is doomed and, in the present day, Mayan Gods destroy the Earth.

I thought this was hilarious, topical and a great start to Treehouse of Horror XXIII (I especially liked the Mayan Crazy Cat Lady, throwing lizards instead of cats).

The Greatest Story Ever Holed

In this segment, Lisa has convinced Springfield to build a particle accelerator instead of a baseball stadium. But when two particles crash into each other, they create a black hole. Lisa warns everyone that throwing garbage into it could make it bigger, but they all ignore her warnings (Homer even starts a business called Magic Craphole Waste Removal).

I wasn't blown away by this segment, but it had its moments. The ending was especially funny.

UNnormal Activity

In this parody of Paranormal Activity, strange things have been going on in the Simpson household and Homer is determined to catch it all on camera.

This was by far the best segment in the episode. Anyone who has seen Paranormal Activity will appreciate this parody.

Bart & Homer's Excellent Adventure

Bart is outraged that a comic book that says 25 cents on the cover is now being sold for $200. Comic Book Man says "The only way to buy that comic for 25 cents is to go back to 1974." So Bart takes Professor Frink's time machine to 1974 to buy the comic and inadvertently meets Homer and Marge.
Bart prevents Homer from dating Marge, changing the future for the family.

This segment had so much potential, but instead, was a huge disappointment. It started as a funny parody of Back to the Future, but then the plot became nonsensical with a bunch of Homers throughout time coming to the future (or present?) to woo Marge. Definitely the worst segment of the bunch.

Overall, I wasn't impressed with this year's Treehouse of Horror offering. But it was worth watching just for the UNnormal Activity segment.

Rating: 3/5

T.V. REVIEW: Simpsons Treehouse of Horror XXII

Hurray! The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror XXII is actually airing before Halloween this year! So I thought I should review it since I haven't blogged about anything Halloween-related yet this year (sorry about that!).

In the opening sequence, Marge is a Switch Witch. After the kids eat some of their candy, she takes the rest and replaces it with toothbrushes, dental floss and mouthwash. Then Homer is supposed to drop it off at Candy for Troops, but instead he drives to Candy Eating Peak to gorge himself and falls down a canyon, getting stuck under a rock in a funny spoof of 127 Hours.

This Treehouse of Horror episode was a bit of a disappointment compared to some of my favourites (read a list of my Top 10 Treehouse of Horror Segments here), or even last year's episode (read my review here), but that is probably because I haven't seen any of the movies/T.V. shows  which are spoofed. Here are the segments:

The Diving Bell and the Butterball

In this parody of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Homer is paralyzed by a spider bite and learns to communicate through farting.

This segment is mostly fart jokes, so I didn't find it very funny. Also, not only have I not seen The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, I have no idea what it's about and have never heard of it until now. At least with the others, I have an idea of what they're about. But there are still a few laughs at the end when another spider bites Homer and he becomes a Spiderman who shoots webs from his ass when he farts.

Dial "D" for Diddly

Ned Flanders begins murdering "evil" people when he believes God is telling him to in this parody of Dexter.

As I've already said, I've never seen Dexter - I know I should probably watch it, I'm sure I'll get to it eventually - but despite this, I still found this segment to be the funniest of the episode. I especially enjoyed the scene where Ned kills Patty and Selma. He puts a sign on the side of the road that says "Free Cigarettes" and then shoves a boulder on top of their car a la Wile E. Coyote.

In the Na'vi

In the future, Bart and Milhouse are sent to another planet to harvest Hilarium for Krusty the Clown, in a spoof of Avatar.

I found this to be the least funny segment of the episode. Unlike the others, this one just has Avatar-related jokes. I enjoyed seeing what Bart and Milhouse would look like if they were part of Kang and Kodos' race of aliens, but that was the only fun part of this segment.

Overall, I felt pretty "meh" about this year's episode. But it's worth watching for Dial "D" for Diddly and the opening.

Rating: 3/5

T.V. REVIEW: The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror XXI

It's still Halloween on Fox tonight! The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror XXI aired tonight, along with Halloween episodes of The Cleveland Show, Family Guy and American Dad. And since it doesn't feel like Halloween until I see the new Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episode, I'm going to do a belated Halloween post and review the new episode.

The opening segment begins with Homer and Bart having a violent - and bloody - fight. Then Professor Frink warns the audience to use their DVR remote to fast forward through the violent scenes, demonstrating but ending up skipping the entire episode. He then says "I don't deserve to wield the remote," and fast forwards himself into a pile of dust.

Then Frankenstein says "Monster go watch The Office, Dunder Mifflin just like monster's workplace." And a spoof of the opening credits of The Office begins with a sign saying "Transylvania Welcomes You" and a building with the plaque "Monster Mifflin" is shown. Inside the building is a mummy getting his bandages stuck in a paper shredder, a zombie nuking a brain in a microwave and other various monsters.

As a fan of The Office, this was my favourite part of the episode. But don't worry, the rest of the episode is funny as well. Here are the three segments:

War and Pieces

When Marge catches Bart and Milhouse playing a violent video game, she forces them to play a good old fashioned board game. They choose a game called "Satan's Path" because "It's gotta be good if Satan put his name on it." It turns out to be even more violent than a video game when the game comes to life a la Jumanji, bringing all the other board games to life as well.

This segment was pretty funny, especially if you can relate to how much Mouse Trap sucks or ever wondered why Monopoly would include a lame game piece like a thimble.


Master and Cadaver

In a parody of the film Dead Calm, Homer and Marge are having a second honeymoon aboard a yacht when they spot a castaway (Hugh Laurie). After they help him aboard, he tells them how he narrowly escaped being poisoned on his boat, but Homer and Marge think he's the killer and is now trying to poison them.

I didn't find this segment to be funny at all, but I've never seen Dead Calm before, so I didn't understand any of the references.

Tweenlight

Lisa falls for the new student, Edmund (Daniel Radcliffe), who is a vampire and wants to turn Lisa into one.

This spoof of Twilight was the funniest of the three segments. I loved the part when they invited Edmund and his father for dinner, much to his dismay:"I'm 400 years old! I don't need a chaperone!" Marge didn't know what to cook, so she killed Ned and served him on a platter. And Homer keeps asking dumb questions: "If a mosquito bites you, does it become a vampire too? If you bite your tongue, does it become a vampire?" I also loved the scene where it shows the vampire area of Springfield, Dracula-La Land, where it shows "every kind of vampire there is." Including Bram Stoker's Dracula, Nosferatu, Count Chocula and The Count from Sesame Street.

Overall, this was a fun episode despite the mediocre middle segment.

Rating: 4/5

T.V. REVIEW: Scared Shrekless

What scares an ogre?

Shrek claims nothing, but Donkey and Puss in Boots aren't convinced, so they come up with a fun/spooky idea of how to spend their Halloween night. They will take turns telling scary stories and whoever can last through the night will be dubbed "The King of Halloween." And to up the ante, Shrek suggests they tell the stories in Lord Farquaad's supposedly haunted castle.

This 30-minute Halloween special is comprised of three stories and the wraparound story of Shrek and pals spending the night in a haunted castle. These are the three segments:

The Bride of Gingy

After Gingy's girlfriend kicks him out, he arrives on the Muffin Man's doorstep and begs the baker to make him a new girlfriend. But Gingy insists on adding tons of sugar to ensure his new girlfriend is sweeter than the last. Despite Muffin Man's warnings that no one has ever made cookies with that much sugar and that he doesn't know what could happen. Well, Gingy's girlfriend ends up a little too sweet...and clingy.

Boots Motel

Donkey and Puss in Boots collaborate on this story, but try to kill the other one off throughout. On a dark and stormy night Donkey and Puss take shelter in the Boots Motel where Puss takes a well-deserved tongue bath. But he's murdered! Or is he? Perhaps it was Donkey taking a shower until he is interrupted by...  a donkey-eating waffle who wants revenge!

The Shreksorcist

Shrek helps Geppetto put Pinocchio to bed, thinking he can handle it because he takes care of three baby ogres on a daily basis. But it's more difficult than he presumes because Pinocchio seems to be possessed.

Scared Shrekless is a fun Halloween special and had me laughing quite a bit. I love Gingy. He's such a cute and funny character. For instance, in one part when he gets scared he poops out candies. And look at his explanation for why his girlfriend kicked him out:

Gingy: "I dunno something about me being too into myself, blah, blah, blah, yak, yak yak."

Muffin Man: "You?! But you are so adorable!"

Gingy "I know! That's what I keep telling her!"

Oh, Gingy. You really are adorable. Scared Shrekless is even better than I expected. I'm not a big fan of kids' movies or T.V. shows, but while this one is kid-friendly it also has some humor for adults. If you missed Scared Shrekless it will air again on NBC at 8:00 pm on Saturday.

Top 5 Halloween T.V. Episodes

The days of the Halloween special seem to be gone. This year practically all the T.V. shows I watch were repeats this week. What happened? It seems like a Halloween episode of a T.V. show would be fun for everyone, the writers, the cast, the viewers. So I guess I will just have to watch some old favourites. Here are my Top 5 Favourite Halloween T.V. episodes.

5. It's the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester - Supernatural

I love Supernatual. I had to include this episode because it's about Samhain. A witch is doing a ritual to summon the demon Samhain and Dean and Sam try to stop her. I love the opening scene. A woman puts away candy for Halloween. While she is taking care of their baby, her husband has a piece of candy and blood squirts out of his mouth. Then he removes a razorblade and falls to the floor, spitting up blood, and his wife finds him dead.

Classic Line(s): Sam: Once he's raised, Samhain can do some raising of his own.
Dean: Raising what, exactly?
Sam: Dark, evil crap and lots of it. They follow him around like a friggin' Pied Piper.
Dean: So we're talking ghosts.
Sam: Yeah.
Dean: Zombies.
Sam: Mm-hmm.
Dean: Leprechauns?
Sam: Dean...
Dean: Those little dudes are scary. Small hands.

4. Petergeist - Family Guy

Okay, I'm cheating here because this isn't really a Halloween episode. But it's one of the funniest spoofs of a horror film I've ever seen. Petergeist is a parody of Poltergeist. After Joe builds a home theatre, Peter decides to build a theatre in his backyard to outdo him. While he's digging, he finds a skull, which he brings into the house and defiles in various ways (peeing in it, using it as a jock). The Griffin house then becomes haunted and Stewie is sucked into the T.V. a la Carol Anne. This episode features a cameo by Carrot Top.

Classic Line(s): Tom: A local family is forced out of their home by ghosts. Who're they gonna call?
Diane: (Sighs) Ghostbusters, Tom?
Tom: No, Diane, their insurance company. That's just stupid what you said.

3. Spookyfish - South Park

This Halloween episode of South Park is shown in "Spooky Vision," which just means it has pictures of Barbara Streisand with "Spooky Vision" written along the edges of the screen. Stan's Aunt Flo gives him a fish as a present and the fish starts killing people. And there's an "evil" Cartman in town, which is actually a nice version of Cartman. The boys realize that they came from the Indian Burial Ground Pet Store and try to set things right.

Classic Line(s): Stan: Dude, my mom's having her monthly visitor.
Kyle: Aunt Flo?
Stan: Yeah, every time she shows up - my mom turns into a total bitch!

2. Slutty Pumpkin - How I Met Your Mother

If you haven't seen How I Met Your Mother, watch it immediately. It is the funniest sitcom I've ever seen. And Slutty Pumpkin is one of my favourite episodes. Ted attends an annual Halloween party on the roof of their apartment building in hopes of seeing the Slutty Pumpkin again. The Slutty Pumpkin is an amazing woman Ted met a few years ago at the same party. How is a pumpkin costume slutty? "It was carved in strategic places." But Barney wants to go to a Victoria Secret party being held on a boat and wastes the night trying to convince Ted to come. Meanwhile, Robin is dating a new guy, but she isn't into doing "couple things," to his dismay. And Marshall and Lily desperately try to win the couples' costume contest at McLaren's.

Classic Line(s): [Barney is dressed as a Devil]
Ted: I have to pee.
Barney: So go to the bathroom.
Ted: No, there's a huge line, and I don't wanna miss the Slutty Pumpkin.
Barney: So pee off the roof. Ooh! Ted. Pee off the roof.
[some guy dressed as an angel turns around]
Angel: Woah. I wouldn't do that if I were you, there's people walking down there.
Barney: Come on, Ted. Who you gonna listen to? Me or Mr. goodie-goodie over there?
Angel: Yeah, whatever, you guys got some weed?

1. Treehouse of Horror V - The Simpsons

It was so hard for me to pick just one Treehouse of Horror because there are a lot of gems, but this one definitely stood out. The first segment is The Shinning, a parody of The Shining. The Simpsons become the caketakers of Mr. Burns' mansion secluded in the mountains. But Mr. Burns cut off the cable and the beer supply, driving Homer insane. In the second segment, titled Time and Punishment, Homer attempts to fix a broken toaster, but inadvertently turns it into a time machine instead. In the third segment, Nightmare Cafeteria, Principal Skinner solves his overcrowding in detention problem by cooking students and serving them in the school cafeteria.

Classic Line(s): Homer: So what do you think, Marge? All I need is a title. I was thinking along the lines of "No T.V. and No Beer Make Homer Something Something".
Marge: "Go Crazy"?
Homer: Don't mind if I do!

T.V. REVIEW: Family Guy's Three Kings

I decided to review this episode of Family Guy because it was shown after The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror episode two Sundays ago. At first I thought it was a new Halloween episode, but then I looked it up on TV.com and found out it aired earlier this year. I'm going to review it regardless because the three segments are all Stephen King parodies and I love Stephen King.

Three Kings begins with Peter sitting in front of a fireplace with a book saying he is going to read three stories from "the greatest author of the last thousand years: Stephen King."

The first segment is a spoof of Stand by Me. It shows Peter, Joe, Quagmire and Cleveland as 12-year-old boys. Peter is Petey LaChance (a.k.a Wil Wheaton), Joe is Joey Duchamp (a.k.a Corey Feldman), Quagmire is Quag Chambers (a.k.a River Phoenix) and Cleveland is Cleve Brown (a.k.a Jerry O'Connell). It's 1955 and the group sets out to find a dead body. They find the body (which is Meg), but the town bully, Ace (Mayor West, a.k.a Kiefer Sutherland), wants to take credit. Even though Petey has a gun, he lets Ace have the body because since they live in the same neighbourhood he'll definitely see him again and he doesn't want to get beat up later. I wasn't impressed with this segment.
The second segment is a parody of Misery. Brian plays Paul Sheldon while Stewie plays Annie Wilkes. Paul recently finished the last installment of his children's book series, Snuggly Jeff, in which he kills off Jeff. Annie (a cross-dressing toddler) is Paul's number one fan and takes him hostage, making him rewrite the book so that Snuggly Jeff doesn't die. This segment was pretty funny. It gave me the biggest laugh of the episode, when Paul hits Stephen King with his car and while in mid-air King says, "This would make a great story," then proceeds to write it. When he falls to the ground he says "Done!"

The third segment spoofs The Shawshank Redemption. Peter stars as Andy Dufresne (a.k.a Tim Robbins) and Cleveland is Red (a.k.a Morgan Freeman). Andy is sent to Shawshank Prison, where none of the inmates like him. He doesn't say two words (literally) to anyone for a month (the two words were vagina boob). Andy asks Red to get him a rock hammer because he claims he likes to carve figurines, but he really wants it to tunnel out of prison. He actually does tunnel out of prison, breaking into a sewage pipe while the warden was watching Friends, hammering in time with the claps in the theme song. Red is released from jail and follows through on a promise he made to Andy to go to a field and dig under a volcanic rock. He finds a box filled with money and a postcard asking if he remembers the name of the Mexican village where Andy said he would be. But unfortunately, Red does not. This was a pretty funny segment as well. I especially liked the part where Andy played Hollaback Girl for the inmates and the song confused them more than anything else.

Overall, I was disappointed by this episode. Out of all the Stephen King works they could've picked they ended up with two that aren't even horror. Granted, those have been made into the two most popular films from his work, but still.... It would've been nice if they chose something by Stephen King that isn't parodied as much. If you want to watch a hilarious parody of a horror film from Family Guy, try Petergeist.

Rating: 3/5

T.V. REVIEW: The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror XX

Two Sundays ago when I turned on The Simpsons as usual, I was shocked to discover that it was a Treehouse of Horror episode! I can't even remember the last time a Treehouse of Horror episode has aired before Halloween. Every year I look forward to the Treehouse of Horror episode even if it doesn't air until November. Last year I posted my Top 10 Treehouse of Horror Segments. But this year I actually get to review the new episode!

The opening was hilarious with classic monsters such as Frankenstein's monster, Wolfman, the Mummy and Dracula walking around Springfield and being teased by the bullies ("Turner Classic Movies called, they want their costumes back.") After changing into more modern costumes (Harry Potter, Jack Sparrow, Iron Man and Spongebob Squarepants) they show up at the Simpsons' Halloween party. When their wives show up, Homer says "It's not cheating if you're wearing a costume," resulting in his gory death.

The first segment was called Dial 'M' For Murder or Press '#' to Return to the Main Menu. It was a parody of Alfred Hitchcock films and shown in black and white. Lisa and Bart want revenge on their teachers Ms. Hoover and Mrs. Krabappel, so they come up with a crisscross plan where Bart will get Ms. Hoover and Lisa will get Mrs. Krabappel. They agree to ding-dong ditch their teachers. Lisa rings Mrs. Krabappel's doorbell and runs away, while Bart kills Ms. Hoover and throws her in the ditch, explaining that you kill the ding dong and then throw her in the ditch. This was a pretty funny episode, especially if you're a Hitchcock fan.

The second segment, Don't Have a Cow, Mankind, is about Krusty Burger introducing a new burger which turns the person who eats it into a "Muncher" (a zombie). But it turns out that Bart is immune to the virus, prompting the citizens of Springfield to find out a way to use his immunity to save everyone. This segment was a bit of a disappointment and wasn't as funny as the other two, but it had its moments.

The third segment was a spoof of Sweeney Todd titled There's No Business Like Moe Business, in which Homer is impaled by the pipes of Moe's microbrew machine. Moe uses Homer's blood as an ingredient in his secret microbrew and convinces Marge that Homer left her because he's gay. But Homer isn't dead.... This segment was great, being a musical with hilarious songs. It also cut away to the audience several times to see their reactions, with Kang and Kodos featured.

Overall Treehouse of Horror XX is a good addition to the Treehouse of Horror episodes and a huge improvement over last year's episode.

Rating: 4/5

T.V. REVIEW: 13: Fear is Real

Fear is boring, apparently. Or that is what I've deducted from the new reality series 13: Fear is Real which premiered on the CW tonight.

The premise of the show is that the 13 contestants are dumped in the Louisiana bayou and have the chance to win $66,666, but have to endure torture and horrors first. They also need to be careful because each week a contestant is "killed" off.

For the first competition, the contestants pair up and one is blindfolded and tied to a chair in the middle of the swamp at night. The other partner has to find them and the last ones back to the cabin have to go through the elimination competition.

Lauren and Kelly, the only all-girl team, come in last. They have to be buried alive and the first one to dig herself out wins. Kelly gets out and Lauren is left in the coffin die. Or we are supposed to assume she died.

13: Fear is Real was excruciatingly boring. 3/4 of the episode was devoted to introducing the contestants, listing off their fears or claiming how competitive they are and why they're going to win the money. The rest of the episode played like The Blair Witch Project or a bad episode of Scare Tactics; just people running around screaming and crying. That definitely does not make entertaining T.V.

This reality series really does remind me of Scare Tactics. (If you haven't seen Scare Tactics, it's a prank show where they try to scare people.) A bunch of people enter into competitions designed to frighten them. Unfortunately, it doesn't frighten the viewers. Sure it may be scary to them while they're experiencing it, but watching someone running around screaming and crying is not scary.

I thought I would give 13:Fear is Real a second chance, but after writing this and thinking back to how dull it was, I think I might skip it. If "reality" isn't scary, I think I'll just stick with my fiction.

Rating: 1/5